Red-shouldered Hawk Territory--V

I am having to shift creative focus, from wildlife viewing and sketching, to sending out submission letters for my novel. Why spend all that time writing it, if I don't pursue publication, right? I've always planned to do that. I simply needed to hold it for a while, the way you hold an infant close to you when its newly born. I am a writer as well as an artist. And though every publisher will tell you that more than one focus scatters your interest, it can't be helped. There is truth in this. Dividing your time is a challenge. But now that I have discovered who I am, I refuse to go forward leaving either behind. And so there is this dance, this back and forth journey, both creative endeavors, both requiring deep commitment, both rewarding in and of themselves. The hawks. Yes, I visited them yesterday. Neither of the adults were around and as I ventured into the nest yard, I felt its emptiness, as though no one were home. But knowing this was probably my last opportunity to see the juvenile, I stayed the duration of four hours and visited the gardens and sketched while waiting. In time, a juvenile began calling in the nest area. I saw him in flight several times, though when he perched, I could never locate him through the leaves. He returned to the nest area, flying within it from perch to perch, then exceeded its boundaries to cross the road and travel to neighboring areas, noted both visually and by the distance and direction of his solicitous calls. Though he is seen from time to time by the residents, it has become less and less likely that I will see the hawk family. And so, I will now devote my hawk watching time to using the inspiration they've given me to finish my sketchbook and select some favorite images to paint, all of which I will share with you as they are completed.In the meantime, I want to introduce you to several other Red-shouldered hawk lovers and observers that I have met along the way. This has been another amazing part of the journey, the connection that blogging has given me to others who have enjoyed similar experiences and captured these in their own unique ways.

Leonard is a professor and journalist in Marietta, GA. You must visit his video and though the outcome of his story is uncertain at this time, mobbing is a turnabout reality for hawks, one in which nature provides for the predated as well as, the predator.

Mary Howell Cromer lives in LeGrange, KY. She launched her blog, Red-shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove this week to display her journal and photos of the Red-shouldered hawks that she has spent hours observing the past several years. She has experienced both happy and sad endings, as well, and given aid to the parents a time or two. Don't miss her fun images of the juveniles.

And Jay at Down to Earth, created a wonderful diary post about her experiences with Red-shouldered hawks living in and around her property in eastern North Carolina. Visit her beautiful images, including a juvenile visiting the bird bath.

And last, but certainly not least, you must visit Larry Jordan's Red-shouldered hawks at Birder's Report for a northern California look at this beautiful species. To see my entire series of posts on this family of Red-shouldered hawks, click this link. The above images were taken at various times during my observations. The sketch is of the female with prey brought to her by the male. The second image is the male taking the remains of the female's meal to another perch to eat. The dragonfly is a ballerina ! a very small male Blue dasher. The perched hawk image is the male; the hawk in flight, one of the adults.

Red-shouldered Hawk Juvenile

I don't have beautiful photographs to show you, but I have seen the juvenile Red-shouldered hawk and can show you some sketches. I can also show you a fuzzy image or two.
I thought about entitling this post, "leaves, leaves, leaves!" But each time I think about complaining about what I can't see because of the leaves, I remind myself that this incredibly thick canopy protected the nest and its young from sun, wind, rain and interference perfectly. And this old-growth, thick forest is the habitat of these amazing Red-shouldered hawks.

The real fun of this visit was the amazing moment of seeing the juvenile, a stationary mass that on passing glance as I lowered my binoculars, looked like a clump of fallen leaves. That I spotted him at all was the unexpected peak of Friday's visit. Seeing him clearly confirmed what I could only speculate before, that he/she has fledged and is flying from branch to branch within the nesting territory but not yet hunting. On a prior visit, I witnessed the male's strike and heard the calling of what I believed to be two juveniles as the male brought the prey to the nest. The parent then flew to the back of the nest house. This was another moment of lucky timing. My reading confirms this is typical care of hawk young at this age of maturity. The juveniles are now 48-51 days old. The parents leave the juveniles alone for much of the day, visiting only long enough to drop off prey. Even though the image above is not clear, you can still see a small amount of white and brown streaked breast feathers.
Sketchbook note: "I could not have been more surprised. I was looking at the nest through my binoculars and noticed what I thought was a clump of leaves. A second look and I discovered this beautiful juvenile perched on a low branch near the nest. Today marks 48 days counting from April 26 when I first saw a nestling. The parents hunt now, drop prey off and leave again. Although I heard calling in the distance, the adults did not return during my 3- hour visit."

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #42 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds and the habitat they live in.

A Bad Hair Day?

It looks that way. But actually, I think she's just had a bath.

Though I should be accustomed to it now, I still marvel at the silence of a Red-shouldered hawk's movements. It's not that I'm doing nothing while waiting for hawk activity. I may be photographing other birds or working on a sketch.

But I keep watch over the roof line and the tree limbs and I listen. There was nothing hawk-like happening, or so I thought. In the next minute a loud piercing call filled the air. I looked around and there she was perched on the roof. How long had she been there?

Still feeling some unease, I picked up the camera and started shooting. It's certain that is how it is most of the time. They see me well before I notice them.

On the other hand, it felt nice to be treated like scenery again. I took a good look at her through the lens and couldn't help but whisper, "Look at you, you're all wet!" Hawks bathe just like other birds, but the change in their appearance is more dramatic!

Time to get this mess preened up.
The nestling is ready to fledge any day now. I visited the nest today and briefly heard a nestling call softly. I wish I could show you an image, but I couldn't locate him through all the leaves. I think it's likely he was on a branch near the nest. Whether I'll see him fledge or after he fledges will be a matter of luck and timing. But I'll be sure to give you a final report.

To see my previous posts on this family of Red-shouldered hawks, click the link.

A Glimpse of the Nestling

I think I had the most fun creating this sketch of any thus far in my red-shouldered hawk sketchbook. Partly, this is because it is a recreation from memory and imagination. But the rest of it, I'm sure, is that I saw the nestling again for the first time since April 26th. Seeing the nest is a complicated matter now. First, I had to understand the vast change in the hawk pair's attitude once the nestling hatched. Then the rains came.
After weeks of frequent rain and warm temperatures, the deciduous trees leafed out with a lush, thick canopy and there is now only one spot, and I mean a spot, that is open enough to view a small portion of the nest edge. And that's only to get a view of the nest. Seeing the nestling is a whole different matter. You have to be there just at the right moment when he happens to be active, and on that side of the nest!

I viewed the nest from this spot after I arrived on my May 15th visit and concluded that I wasn't going to see much from this angle. I refer to this as the back of the nest, a more narrow place between two limbs. The larger entry to the nest, where I caught the image of the nestling, is 90 degrees further around to the right of this view.

But conclusions come and go. Don't hold too tight to them. Just as I was about to leave, the resident called me over to ask if I had seen this view. I had my binoculars in hand so I took another look thinking, 'but you can't see anything.' Wow! Did I get a surprise treat. There was the nestling stretching and flapping those tiny little wings. It was 87 º F and humid on this visit. Both hawks were off the nest at least some of the time. From the neighboring property, I spotted the female perched on a low limb on the far side of the nest. My view of her was actually from down hill in a wooded area looking up, with the driveway nearly at my eye-level.

The female is never far away but sometimes she hunts while keeping watch. She flew past me once and landed at the base of a tree but I couldn't see if her strike was successful. Another time she landed on the roof for an instant and lifted off toward the nest. This is when I heard a series of eager peepish calls to which she responded. At first I thought it might be both adults but then I heard the male calling in the distance. I spent four hours on this visit, observing the hawks and listening from the neighboring property. Well worth it. I will have my recorder ready next visit.

There are many other birds to watch as I'm sitting with the hawks. The cardinal in my last post is one of them.

Next, I'll show you the bluebirds in red-shouldered hawk territory.

To see all my posts about these red-shouldered hawks click the link. The first post will be at the bottom.

Red-shouldered Hawk Territory-IV

“I felt a bit like this chipmunk on my last visit. He heard the hawks calling and disappeared into a crack in the rocks. The male hawk is very territorial now and rightly so. He is currently doing all the hunting and is the primary protector of his family. There is a fine line between observing and interfering and I’m trying to walk that line.” Sketchbook notes, 5-2-09.
On my last visit with the hawks, May 1st, the tree limbs were drooping, heavy with wet leaves and I was unable to see the nest. I moved to the location where I first began to see the hawks, which I will refer to as house one. Though I can’t see the nest here any longer because of the canopy, I can hear and sometimes see the hawks’ activities. I also get to enjoy their habitat which is thick with old growth, deciduous hardwoods, some pines and a forest floor blanketed with Mayapples, ferns and blooming Rhodendrum, among others.

In my notes on this visit I wrote the following: 10:59, two hawks flying just beyond the trees behind the house, pursued by a calling crow. I couldn’t firmly identify them as the pair. 11:26, both hawks are off the nest. One flew past me and landed on the roof, the other shortly followed and flew over the house. They came from the direction I had previously seen the two hawks.

I was surprised that both were away from the nest at the same time. Crows raid hawk’s nests; hawks raid crows nests. And crows harass hawks anytime, for any reason or none.

All of this happened within seconds. I was watching two juvenile squirrels grooming and scratching when the first hawk landed on the roof. I assumed they were juveniles because they were just leisurely hanging out together and didn’t even notice the hawks. And I had just spotted a chipmunk stretched tall beside a rock when one of the hawks began calling. The chipmunk ducked back into the rocks.

Are chipmunks smarter than squirrels?

I did see one of the squirrels slinking down the tree, peeping out periodically from one side or the other. I wasn’t sure if he was being cautious or curious.

And during a quiet moment, while listening to a Wood thrush sing, I spotted this thrush foraging in the leaves, dwarfed by some of the mayapples. I think it is a Veery but it is my first, so I would love for someone more experienced to confirm the ID.

Sketchbook image of female tending to young.

This is the fifteenth post in a series on this pair or red-shouldered hawks. To see the entire series, click here. The last post will be the first in the series.

We Have a Nestling!

At least one white fuzzy-headed nestling was looking over the edge of the red-shouldered hawk nest during my visit yesterday. I can't be sure yet, if there are any others.
Even if I hadn't spotted the youngster with my binoculars, I would have known the nestling was there just the same. The female was sitting higher on the nest and at one point appeared to be feeding young. She also flew from the nest to a branch near me with prey remains in her mouth. It was at this point that I stepped onto the driveway to snap an image, just as I’ve done many times before and the male let me know this was not okay. How did he let me know? I’ll show you in images.

The first image is the male alert and resting on a perch nine days earlier, taken while I was standing in nearly the same spot on the driveway. The second is the male on this occasion, assuming an aggressive posture after landing on a limb near the nest. And below you see the male flying toward me. This, in itself, is nothing new. Both hawks have flown toward me many times before landing on a nearby branch. But this time I could hear the wind under his wings as he passed within inches of my head and when I saw him turn and fly toward me again, I got it (!) and retreated several feet under the canopy. Either this happened because there was young in the nest or the male was upset that I was standing in the driveway between the female with prey and the house where they often exchange prey. In hindsight, probably both. After I retreated, both hawks landed on the roof indicating a prey exchange, though I couldn't see it from my new position.

Below, the female is mantling on the roof. This posture is often used to protect prey. She may have the prey under her, however, she lifted off without it and returned to the nest. Eventually I ventured to a closer but less conspicuous sitting position on the steps near the driveway where I could view the nest. I received no further attention from the male and the female preened while on the nest indicating she was unbothered. I couldn't say the same for myself.

It was while in this position that I raised my binoculars and spotted the fuzzy white nestling looking over the edge of the nest. And all those leaves that make it so hard for me to see, they are perfectly shielding the nest from rain and the hot sun. The timing of nature is so amazing. Stay tuned. I have no idea what will happen next.
This is the 14th post in a series on this nesting pair of red-shouldered hawks. To see the entire series click here. The bottom post will be the first in the series.

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #35 to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

Red-Shouldered Hawk Territory---III

"Today's observations were all about the house." Note: Apr 17th. I know that seems like an odd thing to say about red-shouldered hawk territory, but my photos and observations were mostly of the female playing around the house--on the roof, on the gutter, on the porch railing, on a patio table and the back railing.This is the house that shares the property with the nest. Both hawks stayed close to the nest on this three-hour visit, within sight of each other and/or calling to each other. That is to say, one was incubating on the nest, while the other remained nearby.
I’ve skipped a visit to bring you up to date and will go back to some other observations in my next hawk post. I was out of town over the weekend so I was feeling a bit of hawk withdrawal. Besides that, I especially wanted to check to see if we had hatchlings in the nest. The answer is, not yet. How will I know? Hummm….I’m guessing that I'll see something different, different activity, more attention to the nest, sitting higher on the nest when incubating maybe. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.
What I wanted to show you today looked to me like playing. Fun to watch. It was the first time I could capture that beautiful back view of the barred wings and tail while landing. This was what I saw out the window, the first time I saw one of the hawks.

You also get to see more views of those beautiful russet shoulders, the trait that gives these hawks their name. She looks quite at home, doesn't she?

To see the entire series on this nesting pair of red-shouldered hawks, click here.

Next: Greenery for the Nest (unless of course we have babies!)
Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #34 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.