Wednesday Miscellany

 Photo courtesy of palemale.com

 

927 Fifth Avenue, the nest of Pale Male and Zena,  is quite possibly the best nest site in Manhattan for the hawks and for viewers as well but no nest site is perfect. 

 

 A foible of the 927 nest is that in the afternoon the sun beats down on it and the inhabitants.  They have to pant the heat off.  

 

Zena attempts to shade the eyasses with her body or by mantling them with her wings.  It's still a scorcher up there on hot sunny days.

 

Though the sun is no doubt pleasant for the formel in Spring when things can get downright chilly up there. 

Speaking of young birds, yet another clutch of Robins has appeared.   

 And another litter of mini-cottontails is hip-hopping around the yard.  These are from the doe who lives under the hedge. 

Though parent Grackles appear sleek and shiny if somewhat arrogant, young Grackles give a rather dull rumpled effect.   Somehow they all have a disreputable look reminiscent of bag ladies. 

And up in the Maple, here are nest mates, a young Starling and young Cowbird taking each other on while Dad Starling scans the ground for foodstuffs with a complete lack of concern. 

 

Timeout--It is the moment for today's question with the photo answer. 

 

 Here's the question. 

 

 What happens when you disturb yearling sheep who've gone into the woodshed for an afternoon respite from the sun.

             THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS!

 And what happens when you disturb Rocky the Goat during siesta time? 

 Rocky's head pops up and he holds to have his portrait taken.  Or perhaps he just wants to know how the camera tastes.

 

And now back to our regularly scheduled birds.  And this one's a treat. 

 

When I threw out the seed remains from Silver the African Grey Parrot's bowl for the wild birds, I'd forgotten Silver had also been eating some fried chicken.

 

The next time I looked out there was Bohemian Robin.  (That's his new name as he eats corn, bread, mango and who knows what else.) 

  And one of the what elses appeared to be fried chicken.  Adaptable Bohemian Robin Dad had just stuck a very large chunk of hard crisp chicken skin into his offspring's beak.

 Unable to deal with it, young Robin had just dropped it from his beak and gone back to expectedly staring at dad.  Check out the expressions on both their faces.  I've seen these looks between parent and offspring in any number of species.

 

And now to more Raptor News!

 After the death of Franklin Dad, the Institute nest was in real doubt.  Now things are going beautifully at the Franklin Institute Nest thanks to Franklin Mom and T2 the wonder step-dad-

 http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/

 

In from Robin of Illinois, some good news from Facebook-- Eagle freed from tree entangled in kite string.  

 

 

Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society

Early this morning Steve Harding of Timberwolf Tree Services freed an eagle that was entangled in kite string and dangling from a tree 40' up. Efforts by MARS staff to free the eagle the night before failed and so Steve was called to come and help this morning at first light. This isn't the first time that he has performed tough rescues and he deserves a big thank you once again!

And Washington Square Park's newest fledglings, Boo and Scout--

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/category/hawk-cam-live-from-the-nest/

Valkyrie Hunts, Blackwater Eagle Feeding, Sutton Egg Turning, Tulsa Status, and the Wisconsin Great Horned Owl is Back

Photographic Art of Valkyrie, the Tompkins Square Red-tail by Francois Portmann who says, "Here's, a little precision strike at Tompkins Square Park!"
www.fotoportmann.com/


Screen Capture courtesy of the Blackwater Eagle Cam.
R. of Illinois says, "Blackwater adult feeding two tiny tiny gray chicks."


Courtesy of the Sutton Eagle Cam.
http://www.suttoncenter.org/eaglecam.html
Capture made by Maizie of the Tulsa Hawk Forum
Bald Eagle parent turns the three eggs. Note the foot and talon position.

How are Tulsa's Kay and Jay? From Jackie of the Tulsa Forum—"Still no eggs!"

It was 61 F. today so I was out in the muddy yard doing a little winter clean up when what should I come across, but another neatly decapitated Bunny. Yes, it looks like the Great Horned Owl is back in town.

It amazes me that there is no blood on the ground, on the fur, on any in the area in which I find these rabbits.

Yesterday, late afternoon, I kept hearing a rolling call that made me think owl but I couldn't actually place where I had heard it or from whom. I searched and the sound seemed to move around the neighborhood, or more likely was echoing differently off the buildings as the caller shifted the direction in which she was directing the sound.

After finding the rabbit, I then searched the neighborhood for a possible roosting spot. Though it eventually became near time for Owl to start preping and preening before fly-out, not one crow, or jay, could be heard mobbing any bird as is the usual harassment tactic, before a fly out. I admit I did not get even close to what a full hunting area might be for a Great Horned so I'll keep checking. There is a small woods with a mowed field in front of it, across the street and beyond the high school which will be my next search area. We'll see what can be found.

Speaking of finding things, I found this scat within a foot of No Head Bunny. I've just looked through hundreds of scat photos without coming up with a match. The closest was that of a fox. But it seems completely unlikely that a fox would just leave a nice fresh bunny body just lying there. Does anyone know what owl scat looks like? I couldn't find any photos but this doesn't have any of the "white wash" that most bird scat has due to it's uric acid content.


The Geese began to move two days ago and now the Starlings have returned too. This afternoon I heard the twittering of Goldfinch and lo and behold two males were disputing territory. Spring is at least thinking about happening. Though the weatherman says we're going to have more snow on Sunday night.


Out at Thresherman's Park, the six Crow family group that overwintered here seems to have increased by two suddenly.


And hardy Steam the Red-tailed Hawk tiercel who hunts Thresherman's Park and who I have watched faithfully guard he and his mate's territory through two hard winters, sits on a favorite pole hunting. And I wouldn't doubt keeping an eye out for his mate to return safely from her soujourn south, where I believe she winters. There, without the heavy snow cover she can more easily find the higher number of calories she needs for her larger size and return healthy and plump for the upcoming breeding season.

Donegal Browne