The camera is up - let the viewing begin....soon!

Fasten your seat belts, and get ready to start your hawkwatch engines -- the new camera is now in position at the nest!!


On Thursday, Gene Mancini told us on the Hawkaholic Facebook page that the installation of the camera was underway, and yesterday our intrepid photo-journalist, Kay Meng, took these pictures of the spiffy new camera. It is located outside the window, so we won't have to contend with weird reflections.

To my inexpert eye, it also looks as if the camera may have some rotational capability so we can keep better track of nest antics.

As Kay was checking out the nest, she was treated to the unforgettable sight of one of the parent birds (haggards) flying nearby in yesterday's bright sun.








Absolutely no question that these are red tail hawks!

John Blakeman on Love in the Sky!

John Blakeman, our Ohio expert on all things hawk, sent me his thoughts on how our hawks are looking in the photos from last week (see previous blog post), and exciting details of upcoming red-tail romance!

"Great photos, capturing the regal elegance and essence of winter red-tails. And you were correct on every point, especially about the birds' contentedness in the cold weather. Unless it's way below zero (F) for an extended time, several days or longer, these big hawks are entirely comfortable in winter weather. The fluffed-up feathers act like a thick down coat, keeping the hawks' body cores nice and toasty. They are masters of all they survey at this time of the year. Few other wild animals can live so comfortably in winter. Experienced haggard red-tails need worry for nothing.

Now this pair has surely stayed in the area for the winter. They did not migrate to the South. They were content to hang around, albeit not as closely to the nest site as in the breeding season. But now, they've detected that the day length, the photoperiod, is no longer declining. For them, the seasons are changing, prompting closer attention to the nest area.

Toward the end of January, the birds will start courtship flights, with the male ascending high over Philadelphia, then plunging with wings folded right toward his mate circling just a few hundred feet above the street. Start looking for these flights, some of the most impressive maneuvers of any raptor, fully matching the prey-killing stoop of a peregrine falcon.

Most people watching hawks in the city tend to look for perched red-tails. Soon, it will be time to be looking high in the sky, watching for soaring red-tails with dangling feet, a profoundly sexual signal between the pair, with the female saying to the tiercel, "Take off, get way up there, and show me what kind of a love dive you have."

No eggs will be laid until sometime in March. This is only the second year for the pair (at least at this site), so they aren't likely to be early. I wouldn't expect any eggs until mid-March, perhaps not even until the third or fourth week.

Yes, another reproductive season is on its way. Keep us posted, if you will."

--John Blakeman

They're back!

When Gene Mancini posted this Christmas Day message on the Hawkaholics Facebook page -

"Merry Christmas everyone. Our Pair have been very close to the building the last two weeks, and spending lots of time in the nest."

- hawkaholics everywhere were excited to learn that the parent haggards were clearly interested in their nest and the surrounding area.

So Kay Meng and I decided to go down to the Franklin Institute last Monday to see if we could see the haggards for ourselves. It was a gray, windy, winter morning and after about 30 minutes of wandering around checking out all the usual spots where we had seen the hawks during the summer and fall, we had to get out of the frigid wind and warm up. We sat in the window of a little coffee shop behind the Institute where we could look out onto the Parkway and watched the corner of the building where the nest is.

Suddenly we saw that familiar wing flap, white underbelly and red tail as a haggard zoomed in and disappeared across the front of the building. We raced out to the street in front of the nest hoping to see mom or dad but no birds on the nest.

We walked around to the main entrance of the Franklin Institute and stood in the sun at the top of the grand staircase looking out over the Swann Fountain over to the Free Library, figuring that if a haggard were around we would eventually see it, and that we could warm up a bit in the sun while we waited.



And our waiting paid off when a haggard flew in and perched on the decorative molding above the windows to the left of the entrance.




We thought it was the male as we remembered he had darker feathers on his face. He clearly was enjoying being out of the wind, warming up in the sun.





And then, the best moment of the morning! The female flew in to join the male, and

Kay was firing away on her camera and got this great shot as the female flew in.



The sun highlighted their beautiful red tail feathers.
















It had been a long time since we had seen both haggards together - back in the summer when they had been busily feeding the eyasses and supervising their first attempts at hunting. You can clearly see the difference in body shape - the female (left) is bigger and rounder, and the male has more of a wedge or rectangular silhouette.


We could also see the difference in color of the feathers on their faces. Mom (left) has a much lighter colored face than dad.






Even though it was so cold and windy, they seemed quite content to perch and preen and look out over the city from "their" building.




To our inexpert eyes, the birds looked in superb health with beautiful plumage, much different from the scruffy molting hawks at the end of the summer.

After watching them up there for close to 20 minutes, it was as if the female said, "You want some really cool pictures? OK - here I come, right at ya!"

Fortunately, Kay's photo-reactions are razor sharp, and she got these amazing images when it seemed the hawk might fly right into us!












She alighted on a ledge on the other side of the main entrance, only about 30 yards from where they had been sitting together.

And that's where we left them. It was just so great to see them together, comfortable in their urban environment, and looking so fat and healthy! The only thing that would have made this a more perfect hawkwatching experience would have been to see them on the nest, but we know that's coming soon!

An eyass sighting - one of ours?

Yesterday, a large hawk landed in a tree right outside the front of my school (Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia) and gorily devoured the unlucky squirrel it had just caught.






Over the course of the next hour, students and faculty gazed up in excitement or horror, disgust or amazement, as the hawk systematically tore into and gobbled down its prey.








In many households on Friday evening, this event must surely enlivened the dinner table conversations of "What happened in school today?"












I sent pictures of the GFS hawk to John Blakeman for his reaction. Here's what he thought:

"Your bird is definitely a red-tail, almost surely a female, from the size. This is an eyass, hatched last spring.

There is a small chance that it is one of the Franklin Institute eyasses. The fact that it sat there and ate the squirrel with all the kids below suggests that it's used to people and the urban environment. But most likely it's merely a bird "in passage," what falconers call a "passager," an immature in its first migration."

As Germantown Friends is only five miles (as the hawk flies) from the Franklin Institute and Art Museum area, it is possible that this was one of "our" eyasses! It certainly was completely unfazed by the commotion of hordes of children racing around underneath squealing in excitement, taking pictures of it with their cellphones, and then - as squirrel body parts and bits of fur began dropping to the ground - dodging out of the way and screeching!

John Blakeman also gave an update on his new red-tail falconry hawk - Zephyr II - as she undergoes her training.

"In early October I was able to trap a nice big female passager, named Zephyr II. She's sitting nicely in my mews now and learning the role of a falconry hawk. She's particularly calm and is learning all of her lessons well. She is doing daily vertical flights to my fist, and will soon be doing horizontal flights on a creance (long tethering cord) in my backyard. In two or three weeks she should be ready to take into the field, in pursuit of cottontail rabbits.

Unlike last year, we had a very fine hatch this year, with good numbers of passagers in the landscape. Zephyr was trapped at 1250 grams, and is now flying at about 1175 g. As she continues in the daily flights, she will approach her trap weight as she builds strong flight muscles. No more fat, just strength---and all with good personality. She never tries to "foot" (grab) me, or bite.

It's a pleasure to have a hawk once again. And Zephyr needn't be concerned anymore where tomorrow's meals will come from. She doesn't even have to worry about getting drenched or cooled in a midnight rainstorm in winter. She's living better now than her wild consorts."

As the Nest Grows......on the silver screen?

If you've been following recent posts here and on the Facebook page, you'll know that the haggards have been upgrading the nest!

They've been flying frequently to the nest carrying sticks and leafy twigs and we now have pictures, kindness of Gene Mancini from the Franklin Institute. Gene took these last week, and you can definitely see how much deeper and denser the nest appears.







All we need now are two or three eggs, and the picture will be perfect!



I made a quick visit to the nest early yesterday morning to check it out for myself. From the ground looking up, the changes are not so dramatic as from looking at Gene's pictures, but there are definitely many more sticks poking up and out from when I last looked at the nest.

I hung around for 15-20 minutes but saw no sign of the parent hawks. I then took a walk to check out the spots close by where we watched parents and eyasses all summer - the Library roof, the meadow, the tree alley, the Franklin Institute roof, the monuments, etc. - and saw no-one. The same was the case when I went up to the Art Museum and looked all round there. I guess the haggards have either migrated, or were hanging out some place where I was not.

The other big news is the possibility of a documentary film about our hawks! The Franklin Institute is working with Mika Lentz, a documentary film producer, to research the possibility of a film.
Here's Mika's post on the Hawkaholics' Facebook page last week:

"Hello Hawkaholics,

My name is Mika Lentz and I am a documentary producer in Philly who has been hired by the Franklin Institute to research the possibility of a film project on the Hawks. If you have any photos or video of the Hawks and/or the nest from last year and would like to share, please contact me at mika@lentz1.com. I would love to hear from you and I will keep you posted if the project takes off. Thanks for your help!"

Mika has been working with Lone Wolf Documentary Group for 9 years. She has worked for clients such as Discovery Times, The History Channel, NOVA/WGBH, and National Geographic Specials. She has contributed to several award winning documentaries which include "Failure is Not an Option" for The History Channel, "Hitler's Lost Sub" for NOVA,"To The Moon" for NOVA,"Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack" for National Geographic Specials and "Fire on the Mountain" for The History Channel.

Let's keep fingers crossed that this all works out. It would be really exciting if this publicity and visibility for the Franklin Institute could generate funding to color band next season's eyasses and their parents, and perhaps even attach GPS monitors to all the birds. It would provide a unique research opportunity to learn more about this new species - The Urban Red-Tail Hawk.

Stay tuned!

Birds of Many Feathers

Toward the end of the summer, we hawk watchers found it increasingly difficult to tell which molting haggard (adult hawk) we were observing. Red tail feathers looked less brilliant, spots and mottles on their chests seemed to move around, and unless we were lucky enough to see both haggards at the same time when the size difference between the male (smaller) and female (larger) was apparent, we could only rely on trying to match up recent photos with earlier ones. Sometimes, a bird looked so different that we even wondered if a new haggard had arrived on the scene!

So, as always when these knotty hawk questions arise, I contacted John Blakeman and asked him if the birds' markings changed during the summer and as they molt.

John's reply:

"Right now, in September, the hags can look decidedly different from their near-perfect winter splendor. They are just now finishing their molts. The long flight feathers are probably already replaced and in perfect new condition.

But their body coverts, the small non-flight feathers all over their bodies are in horrible condition at this time of the year. Many of the coverts are new, in pristine dark brown coloration, without any ragged edges, but a lot of the lighter-colored, partially bleached and worn coverts yet remain. Additionally, at this time of the year a lot of the coverts have dropped out and are being replaced, leaving yawning gaps in feather continuity.

Right now, the birds can look pretty ragged and disheveled. This is really apparent on the head and neck, in many cases, but by mid October, all the feathers should be new and evenly colored, ready for winter. Dishevelment will have passed.

Even so, there can be moderate new feather patterns, especially on the chest and belly. As they get older, they tend to lose more and more of the remnants of the immature belly band. Old adults often have no dark markings on any part of their chest or abdomen, although that is highly variable from bird to bird.

--John Blakeman

Why the September Sticks Are Important

Wasn't it exciting to read Gene Mancini's post about the haggards' activity on the nest along with Carolyn's recent sightings of them flying in with new sticks? John Blakeman is equally excited by this, and explains why this is significant, and a good omen for our future nest watching:

"The reports of the haggards tending the nest with new sticks here in September should be regarded as very encouraging. Here’s what this means, as I see it.

Many raptors, especially larger, resident ones, particularly bald eagles, will tend nests in the autumn. Bald eagles actually often construct their nests at this time of the year. I've never encountered a new red-tail nest constructed in the fall, although that certainly may happen.

But haggard red-tails that spend time and effort in bringing twigs to last spring’s nest are in just superb status. All is well. This pair has ample food and prey and can therefore respond to the very slight nesting tugs brought on by the now rapidly-declining day lengths.

Normally, in mid-winter, the birds respond to increasing day lengths, with frequent copulation and nest building activities. Then, it’s all very serious, with focused intent. It’s the real breeding season. In autumn, there is no biological imperative to be getting a nest ready for eggs and eyasses. That’s still a half-year away. Still, the tugs of changing day lengths are having their effects, and in this case the haggards can respond to them, at least in a cursory manner. I doubt that either haggard will actually sit down in the nest and start arranging sticks or lining in any useful manner. Most likely, it will just be the carrying around and casual dropping of sticks on the nest. All pretty cursory stuff, but it indicates that all is well. These are happy, contented hawks.

No doubt, barring any accidents or pathogens, they will be back again in winter with serious intent. Life is good for them. We should have every expectation of another wonderful season watching this pair raise and fledge eyasses again.

And in 2010, they will be experienced parents, having already sent three eyasses successfully into the Philadelphia skies. And because of the cooperation of The Franklin Institute, we should get to watch all of this once again. What a delight. Great things are aligning once again.

–John Blakeman