The Cathedral Nest, Turkey Copulation, Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte

Isolde peeks above the rim of the nest at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

After numerous visits by Rob Schmunk to view The Cathedral Nest, he finally sees some Hawks--

I still don't know whether there's been a hatch at St. John's or not, but at least I saw both Isolde and Norman today.

Isolde was sitting up in the nest at 5:25 and looking around. One pic I took shows her with an odd sideways look toward that back corner of the nest where the nestlings were always hiding last year. Maybe there's been a hatch, but maybe not, because she soon hunkered down and I didn't see her again over the next 30-40 minutes.

Noman showed up 10 minutes later. Stood on the edge of the nest for a couple minutes, and then he flew over to the scaffolding for 10-15 minutes. He was obviously casing the joint for prey, and subsequently made one of the worst swoops I have ever seen to grab at something in a tree alongside St. Ansgar Chapel. More of a controlled fall almost, as he was swooping downwards but had his wings scooping air like a parachutist. Anyway, he missed. He subsequently perched atop St. Luke's for a couple minutes, and was buzzed by a small bird a couple times.

To see Rob's full report and his photographs go to his blog--http://bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com/

What is that going into the bushes--but that was later...

I was watching the back of a White-crowned Sparrow mulling the fact that the species is another example of the "eyes in the back of the head" coloring.

It was gray and rainy but the White-crowns had just arrived back in the area from their winter digs and were hot footing it around eating like little demons to stock up for further travel, when my cell phone rang. It was Gaylord, a farmer who lives near Thresherman's Park and who knows that I've been looking to see some of the elusive easy-to-spook Wisconsin Turkeys. Gaylord told me he'd seen some Turkeys. In fact he'd seen a Tom that was so big he thought at first it might have been an emu. He gave me directions and off I went in a big hurry as I'd been called before and come up empty as the turkeys had gone by the time I got there.

But wonder of wonders he was still there. Albeit extremely far, far, away across a winter wheat field. Just stopping the car makes the hens head for the woods, but the Tom is still displaying. I fear that if I get out of the car to digiscope he'll head for the woods as well.

I attempt some photos through the window of the car. I've a feeling they may be very bad but I'm fascinated and I don't want to scatter them.

Tom's tail spreads even further.

It looks like he's lying forward on his breast.

His tail shifts again.

Wait there's a hen coming out of the woods to the right. She looks. She stretches her neck forward and cocks her head. She looks extremely curious.

Is he lying down? I'm completely unfamiliar with Turkey display behavior. Okay that's it. I have to see better. I get the scope, attach the camera, turn it on and do the best I can for the fastest photo possible. But by the time I get it on the ground...

Mr. Tom Turkey has made it to the woods and is walking into the bushes. But even with the glare one can see he is huge and he is beautiful.

After bringing the photos up on the computer, I became rather suspicious that what I'd been watching was Turkey copulation. If I'd been as familiar with turkey copulation as I am with the Red-tail model, I'd have been able to decide yea or nay. But I just didn't know enough.

What to do?

I went to the Milton Family Restaurant during Friday Fish Fry. It's frequented by local folks of every level and I figured there had to be somebody familiar with Turkey behavior. Sure enough, when I presented the photo to a friendly farmer and his wife at the next table (after finally deciding how one asked this question in a small town restaurant) I started small, "Is this more than one turkey?" Then just blurted out, "Is this a photo of Turkey copulation?" He looked, laughed, and said, "That's what it looks like to me."

So there we have it, from people who know. Those are photos of turkeys copulating. Which also explains why the uninvolved hens beat it to the woods immediately when the car stopped but the Tom (and his partner) were a touch busy to hot foot it immediately.

Photo by William Walters.

Then it was back to the migration. I spied my first female Goldfinch of the season.

But she was rather shy when it came to a close up and stuck her head in the feeder.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are moving through.

And of course, eating those high calorie sunflower seeds for energy.

Photograph by William Walters
And look there, something to look forward to--there are sure to be any number of Battles of the Bath. But never fear, I'll be back to investigate the NYC crop of eyasses very soon.

Speaking of Red-tails, Mai Stewart had a question for John Blakeman--

Hi John -- Just read Donna's website & was wondering, in light of the behavior reported on the above pair -- is it likely that they would/could have eggs this late? I know nothing about the cycles of RTs -- what do you think? Is it really possible? And if so, that could/would somewhat ameliorate the disappointment of 927.
Best, Mai


Mai,
The 7th Ave pair could, indeed, have a late hatch.

That is the goofiest pair I've ever encountered, anywhere. Their nest site is so un-Red-tail. No self-respecting Red-tail should be even perched on a concrete and asphalt NYC city street, let alone have it's nest up on a building there. Pale Male at least gets to see wooded greenery across the street in Central Park. The 7th Ave pair sees just more big city urban streetscape. That pair is weirder than some of the people in the city.

Sincerely,
John A. Blakeman

They can and they have before. Keep your fingers crossed and knock wood. Sooner or later we will see what Charlotte and Pale Male Jr., the Red-tails of the Unexpected, have come up with for this season.

Donegal Browne

Good News about Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte, Raising Baby Squirrels, and Blakeman on Peregrine Nest Failures

Photograph by Brett Odom
Guess what folks? It sounds like Charlotte and Pale Male Jr. are getting serious about the season after all! Brett Odom sent the news---

Hey Donna,
The activity at 7th Avenue has definitely increased both yesterday and today. Instead of just flying in, landing at the nest and flying out. Junior and Charlotte have engaged in aerial acrobatics in the air space between my building and 888 7th Avenue and over the Park both today and yesterday. Today, they both sat together on the roof of the 7th Avenue building within inches of each other, which is very rare. And there MAY have been copulation during that time.

Someone came into my office while I was watching them so I cannot confirm that it happened. But I was able to see them out of the corner of my eye and could tell that they weren't just sitting still, there was some aggressive movement. Junior then flew off while Charlotte sat there for over 30 minutes. She then flew over to another part of the building and finally flew away at 6PM.Even if it wasn't copulation that I witnessed, this is still a good sign. Perhaps she is getting broody.

Regards,

Brett B. Odom

And we know that Junior and Charlotte have been successful with a late start on the season before! In 2005, after their first clutch failed, they double clutched on the Trump Parc nest, hatched two lively, healthy eyasses, and got them trained to take care of themselves before winter blew in. Perhaps they'll do it again!

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Here's one for the "You Just Never Know" category. The other day, a lovely woman named Carol Vinzant, who I didn't know, called me on another matter. Well, we got to talking about this and that. Then somehow got onto the topic that animals have personalities just like humans.

It turns out Carol is a squirrel rehabilitator. When a baby squirrel falls out of a nest and can't be rescued by her mother or a litter is orphaned, Carol gets a call. She says it's fascinating. Some squirrels are shy, some cuddley, some aggressive, and others just want to be in your pocket. And to prove her point she sent me this photo.

Carol said, "And here’s one of my baby squirrels. I don’t think this is the recommended feeding technique, but one of them is only comfortable in my pocket for feeding."

She's also working on a Wildlife Tourism Website--A place to find out where to visit animals close to home without having to go to the Antarctic or the Fijis. More on that as it progresses!

******************************************************************

Then in came a note from Eagle Ellie, who sent in the Norfolk Eagle link---

Donna,

It’s been exciting reading about all the red-tail hatchs but at the same time very disappointing about Pale Male and Lola.

There is finally some good news, however, regarding the Norfolk Botanical Garden eagles that I had emailed you about back in March. They had a hatch on Sunday!!! YEA!!! After losing five eggs in two clutches this year, the sixth egg of the second clutch hatched and they have been very busy taking care of their little eaglet! http://www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/

Unfortunately for our Richmond peregrines, there wasn’t a happy outcome. (Please see attachment.) They were off to a good start laying a clutch of four eggs but, sadly, something went terribly wrong and their nest failed. Since it appears to have been a rare incident, I was wondering if perhaps you or John Blakeman could comment on it. Last year this pair laid their first clutch on a bridge but water washed the eggs away. A second clutch was laid at a nest box on Riverfront Plaza (which is where they nested again this year) and they successfully hatched and raised four. You can check out the Richmond falcon cam and updates at www.dgif.virginia.gov/falconcam2008 The falcons have nested here since 2003 having used other nest boxes in the city and without any problems.

Thanks again for everything you do and for keeping us so well informed!

Ellie

I sent Ellie's email off to John Blakeman and here is what he had to say--

Ellie,

I haven't a clue as to the cause of the nesting failure at Richmond.

But take no concern. It is quite unnatural for a falcon pair to consistently produce offspring every year, especially for younger, less experienced pairs. As with Pale Male in New York, the most important fact is that the pair remains active at the nest site, meaning that they will return next year and have another attempt.

Everyone should rejoice in merely having these birds around, to watch what they do. The production of eyasses is an additional, but not annually assured event.

My regards.

Sincerely,

John A. Blakeman

Pale Male and Lola in the New York Times Plus Urban Hawk Updates and Illinois Eagles!

Reprise: The Fifth Avenue Ballad of Pale Male and Lola

Pale Male and Lola were at home in their Fifth Avenue aerie on Wednesday, but there will be no little ones in their nest this year.

By THOMAS J. LUECK
Published: May 1, 2008

April is the cruelest month.

Or so it was, again, for Pale Male and Lola, the renowned red-tailed hawks of Central Park. For the fourth year, the pair spent part of March and all of April tending eggs that Lola laid in a 12th-floor nest on the facade of an opulent Fifth Avenue co-op that fronts the park.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/nyregion/01palemale.html?ref=nyregion


An Update from Brett Odom on Our Hawks of the Unexpected--Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte at 888 Seventh Avenue--

Donna,

I was in Florida from Thursday to Sunday and the low cloud cover on Monday made it impossible to see the nest at all so I have nothing to report for those days. On Tuesday, both Charlotte and Junior were at the nest for a few minutes in the early afternoon but left together and I didn't see them again for the rest of the day.


Today, however Junior arrived at the nest first around 12:25 PM and Charlotte arrived at the nest a short time after him with twigs that she placed on the nest. They stayed for a few minutes, exited and flew in circles on the thermals between the buildings for a while. Junior twice attempted to land on the roof during this but missed both times and hit the side of the building instead. He didn't hurt himself either time and they both flew off towards the Park around 12:36 PM.

Brett B. Odom

I don't know but that site seems not only dangerous for eyasses but kind of hard on tiercels as well. I'm glad to hear that Pale Male Jr. is alright.

What is going on with Charlotte and Jr.? Are they having difficulty making eggs this season? Why are both Red-tail pairs that have some of the best territory in the city having problems? It seems hardly fair at all.

Richard Fleisher, another long time watcher of Hawkeye and Rose at Fordham tries his luck at seeing their eyasses from the roof of Dealy Hall---

After the sun came out Tuesday afternoon I went out and spent a considerable amount of time watching Hawkeye and Rose. No doubt Chris is right about there being a newborn chick in the nest although I had no success in seeing anything resembling an eyeass. Even from the vantage point of the Dealy Hall roof, the height of the nest makes it very hard to see the bottom of the nest (that was true even with a 60x eyepiece attached to the scope). From down below, the nest is much too dense to see through it. Observing Hawkeye and Rose's behavior there is little doubt, however, that they are tending to at least one eyeass. Even when Rose flew off of the nest to finish her meal (she flew onto the cross on a nearby building (Martyr's Hall)), Hawkeye was perched on the railing of Dealy with a clear view of the nest (we know that is the case because that is the same spot from which Chris and I tried to observe what was going on in the nest. So at the end of the day, pictures of the chicks will have to wait. I will try again tomorrow, weather permitting.

Rich


Eagle Photographs by John Steffen
Eagles just south of the Marshall County Conservation area near Lacon, Illinois along the Illinois River.

Photographer John Steffens said he thought there were two eaglets in this nest...

...when suddenly a third popped up!

They are rather all lined up like one of those Bop-em games now aren't they?

Not to worry mom and dad aren't going to let anything like that happen!

Donegal Browne

URBAN HAWK UPDATE: Hawkeye and Rose Do It Again and Hilary Reports on the CCNY Nest!

Photograph Donegal Browne

Hawkeye on the left and Rose on the right.

Chris Lyons confirms that indeed Hawkeye and Rose have had a hatch! Here is his update:

Donna,

I just got up on the roof of Dealy Hall--which was chilly, wet, and windy, not that you asked. Rose was in the process of tearing up what looked to be part of a squirrel, and was quite obviously trying to feed it to somebody. I'm pretty sure I saw feeding going on a week ago (Tuesday, 4/22), and I've seen various familiar and promising behavior patterns from the parents over the past few days--but this was much more obvious.

I also saw a little grey blob moving around under her, but it wasn't terribly clear--I couldn't be 100% sure it wasn't part of the nest lining, or her fluffy undertail coverts. I needed a bit more.

After watching for about five minutes or so, the little grey blob finally got up high enough so that I could see it had eyes and a beak. I only saw one, but there could definitely have been more. The one I saw did look to be about a week old. Didn't hatch out in the last day or so, of that I am certain.

The nest is extremely deep--even with the high vantage point provided by Dealy Hall, and a high quality scope, the eyass(es?) simply can't be seen most of the time, even when feeding is in progress.

No photos, sorry. I forgot my camera, but even if I'd had it with me, I doubt I'd have gotten anything useful. Light was poor, glimpses were few and brief.

So Rose started sitting on March 20th, hatching (probably) began on or around April 22nd, and the presence of at least one eyass was 100% confirmed today. In the past, we've had to wait longer to see the first chick--the Dealy roof really helps.

Chris

Yea! More eyasses enter the urban world in New York City. Speaking of which, Hilary Sortor did some hawkwatching up at the CCNY Nest. She saw and heard some very interesting behavior when a raiding party of American Crows came by. Here's her report.

Donna,

We had a cloudburst around 1:30 pm. I remembered reading (maybe from your blog???) that the brooding female will shelter the eggs or chicks from rain, and then she needs to dry off, preen, fluff up, etc. when it's over. So I went out at 2:30 when the sun had come out and there she was, sitting up high in the nest. I saw her extend a wing, lift her tail, preen her chest, etc. After a few minutes of this, she sat back down and was mostly out of sight. I went back inside because I had a ton of work to get done.

I came back out at 4:45. I had just gotten to the nest when the male flew by the nest, so I didn't see exactly where he approached from, although it wasn't over the roof of Shephard Hall, as in BV blogger's sighting. He approached from the north flying southwards. He went by without stopping and I saw him soar down into the park. Since I couldn't see any activity in the nest, I went for a walk in St Nicholas park to see if could find him. I made a circuit of the places I've seen him without luck. After I came back and stood around for awhile, the female emerged from the nest at 5:27. She made a tight, soaring turn over the roof of Shephard hall that I would need to diagram for you to describe accurately. Then she landed on one of the gargoyles on one of the turrets on the tower where the nest is. She was about 12-15 feet from the nest, in a higher and slightly projecting perch, so she had a wider range of vision than she would from the nest. She started fluffing and preening, fanning her tail - it was beautiful even without the scope since she had blue sky behind her. This went on until 5:35 when the first of three crows passed by, flying east to west. I've not seen the crows actually fly past the nest before. They've flown nearby, as they did last week, but not actually on the north side of the tower where the nest is. She watched the crow fly off, then she made a series of short cries. I'm not very knowledgeable about bird calls, but to my untrained ears, she sounded like she was in distress - it didn't seem like a threatening or warning sound. As soon as the crow had flown far enough away, she took her eyes off him and circled back to the nest. Once in the nest, she clamped down tight, I couldn't see her at all. I kept looking around to see if the male would come. I wondered if she was calling to him. One more crow flew by, roughly same flight path (or maybe it was the first one looped around for another look? would they do that?) The female made one more series of cries (I'd say there were perhaps a string of 6-8 short cries, but I was just trying to take it all in). The male did not show up in the time before I had to leave to go to class, but a third crow flew behind the tower where the nest is, also east to west. The female could not have seen this third crow from where she was and was silent. I left for class around 5:52.

What's bothering me is I can't figure out where the male is perching when the female is on the nest. I was thinking about your picture of Pale Male on the oreo (?) building, how he keeps an eye on the territory from there. I can't figure out where this male would have the best view, except for some elms that are directly across the street. I saw him eat part of a rat's haunch there once, but I couldn't find him there today, or on top of any of the surrounding buildings. The only thing I can think of is that he could be on the Engineering building across the street from the Shephard Hall nest, but he's perhaps sitting on a structure that is set back from street view (like Pale Male ?). I wonder what the crows would think of that, though: I'm pretty sure he'd be in their line of sight vis-a-vis where they like to perch on the south side of Shephard Hall. It's a mystery to me.

The Bloomingdale Village blog has some wonderful pictures and behavioral descriptions of the CCNY nest today in the 4-28 post : http://bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com// .

Hilary

I told Hilary I'd respond to some of her questions in the update on the blog, and that will be up in tomorrow's post. Until then...

Donegal Browne

Pale Male and Lola, Whistle, Cocky White-throat, Night Sky Rainbow, Paper Wasps, Mystery Dirt, Errant Red-wing, Dueling Preening and More!

Lola sits the nest.
I've received many emails asking after Pale Male and Lola. They are continuing to do what they have been doing. Taking shifts on the nest, watching for intruders, eating, hunting, taking baths, "talking" to each other, flying to stretch their wings, and continuing to sit on the eggs--just in case. They will continue in these activities in response to an arc of hormones. If the eggs do not hatch they will eventually leave the nest in the way that they first came to it. Whereas they would come to the nest for short lengths of time growing to longer ones to sitting full time on the high side of the arc, as it begins to descend it all goes backwards. They will leave the nest for short amounts of time, lengthening over days and weeks until they go back to their lives in Central Park full time until next breeding season.


Pale Male keeping vigil from atop Stovepipe, one of his favorite viewing spots to watch prey, check on Lola and the nest, hunt, and survey the territory in case of intruders.

Isolde looks down into the nest at her eyasses, 2007. This is the "look" we have been hoping to see from Lola. In this case, we can see just the top of an eyass head. At first you just see the formel look, as the eyasses are too small to be seen above the sides of the bowl.

And the other "look" we've been hoping to see, also from 2007. We see this eyass but at first we only saw Tristan and Isolde staring into the bowl for many minutes without seeing what they were staring at. This is the strong cue for a hatch which we've been looking for from Pale Male and Lola.

Remember Whistle in Wisconsin who hot wings it to the train tracks when the train goes by to nab rodents flushed by the train? Here she is circling above the Piggley Wiggley grocery store. Across the street is a lawn as big as a field in front of an apartment complex. She circled, spied prey, and swooped down. In this case coming up empty but she's experienced and smart. She won't go hungry.

The White-throated Sparrows are back in Wisconsin. This is a white striped male. Research has shown that for whatever reason, females prefer the tan striped morph. Though this guy has personality so I'm sure he'll buck the trend.

After sunset the other day, in a blinding rainstorm, I came out of a store and spied this rainbow--in the dark. It was quite a mystery for me. Was there just enough sunlight to create it or was it being created by the large amount of artificial lighting in the parking lot across the way?

An extremely large paper wasp nest hanging in an tree at Thresherman's Park. Wasps are considered beneficial to agriculture as they eat corn earworms, armyworms, tobacco hornworms, and harmful caterpillars. They live communally and they have an edge on bees when it comes to stinging. A bee's sting is a one shot deal. The stinger remains in the stingee. Whereas wasps on the other hand have a lance like stinger and can just keep on stinging.

There are about 700 species of paper wasps world wide. So it's easy to run across them. If a paper wasp is near, the recommended behavior is to cover your face and stand still. Swinging, slapping, and other aggressive movements just upset them and they'll have more of a tendency to get agitated and sting. If you are stung there are several old home remedies. In the field, you attempt to find someone with tobacco, get some, spit on it, and slap it quickly onto the sting. I've tried it and it helps. When you get back to the kitchen get a handful of baking soda, moisten and plop on the sting, This also helps. If you've never been stung my one, you've not idea how intense it is. A wasp or hornet sting is far more painful than that of honey bees.

Also at Thresherman's park, they were digging holes for a foundation for a 1920's Sears kit house. But the mysterious part, is the soil. All the holes after a slight layer of top soil and just below the layer contained pure sand. Except one. Very weird. Look at the closest pole base on the left. When they hole was dug, it was the only place that contained large amounts of clay, while the rest were pure sand. Just that little pocket, but why?

Another abberation. We're all used to mixed flocks of Starlings, Grackles, black birds of various species. But by this time of year, all the self respecting Red-wings have staked out their territory and are singing their guts out attempting to collect their harem for the season. Except the Red-wing under the picnic table.

He's still hanging out with a mono-flock of Grackles. Why?

Well, this guy looks pretty mean. Maybe he won't let Red-wing leave. (That's a joke.)

Left Barn Swallow was sitting on the wire for about a half hour before Right Barn Swallow showed up. Right didn't even glance his way, but started immediately to preen.

Left looked hostile for a moment but then he decided to preen vigorously as well. Now Right looks hostile.

Left looks hostile and Right begins to preen at fast forward.

Left looks the other way and pretends that Right isn't there.

Right keeps going...

And going...

Then goes mad preening his chest. Left is still ignoring him.

Finally he can't take it anymore, and screams at Left. Left flips his head and leaves. Rather like he'd planned it the whole time.

The Wade Farm: Here is the nest of Christopher Red-tail, though Chris didn't make an appearance nor did we see any activity at the nest.

And a wonderful Raccoon moment photographed by Eleanor Tauber. She really does have a knack for Raccoon photography.

And talk about luscious, Eleanor photographed these tulips at the Conservatory Gardens in NYC.

I can practically smell them from here.

Donna Browne

HAWKEYE OF FORDHAM

All photographs by Christopher Lyons

This is Hawkeye. The dynamic tiercel of the successful pair of Red-tailed Hawks that are currently nesting at Fordham. Christopher Lyons, diligent observer of the nest, sent me an email about a lovely encounter he had with Hawkeye up on the roof of Dealy Hall, which affords a view of the nest--and Chris got pictures.

Hawkeye gave me a nice surprise yesterday afternoon--I was watching the nest, still trying to confirm the presence of hatchlings, and he landed on the railing, just a short distance away. He stayed around ten minutes, apparently not much bothered by the presence of myself and several maintenance workers who were up there with me.

(Does the expression on Hawkeye's face in the photograph look like anyone we know? D.B.)

Not long after he flew off, he landed on the Collins Hall pediment, and stayed much longer than he usually does--he didn't bring food, nor did he take Rose's place on the nest. It seemed to be more of a social call. They were both quite interested in the contents of the nest, and I thought a few times that I could see eyasses, but even through the scope, from a vantage point higher than the nest, it was impossible to be sure. I haven't really seen anything that looked like feeding since Tuesday, but I don't get to spend much time per day observing them, and I could be missing feeding time--or I could have jumped the gun. We'll see. Rose does seem to be tending to something, and I often see her mantling over the bowl of the nest, when the sun is beating down into it. I'm hoping things will be less ambiguous by Monday.


(See Hawkeye on the railing to the left and then look right. There is the pediment with his nest. D.B.)
In any event, it was sure nice to hang with Hawkeye. He was an exceptionally cooperative photographic subject yesterday--I didn't try to get much closer (it pays to have a 12x optical zoom), but when I changed positions, he continued to appear relaxed and at ease. Even allowing for anthropomorphic tendencies I know full well exist within me, I have to say--he looked happy.


After looking at the intimate photographs Chris had taken of Hawkeye and seeing how at ease he was with humans at such close proximity. I told Chris I'd say that human habituated Hawkeye could well have been urban hatched and raised. In fact, now no scientific evidence for this thought whatsoever, but his skull, brow, and expressions reminded me a great deal of Pale Male and I asked Chris for what he knew of Hawkeye's history.

Best as I can tell, Hawkeye has been Rose's mate over four years now. I strongly suspect neither had been mated before.

The chronology as I know it:

2004: Built nest on fire escape facing out on Creston Avenue, hatched two eyasses. Due to concerns over the nest being too visible and easy to access, Chris Nadareski removed it, and the young, who ended up being reared and released upstate. Not long afterwards, Rose was found with a injured wing, and spent several weeks with rehabilitators Bobby Horvath and Rebecca Asman, who banded her, then returned her to the same area, where she seems to have quickly reunited with Hawkeye. I'm assuming it was Hawkeye, anyway--I don't believe he would have abandoned the territory, or accepted a new mate so late in the breeding season.

2005: Built nest on an oak tree on the Fordham campus (less than a three minute flight from the 2004 nest), fairly close to the ground, fledged two young. The choice of nest sites for this and the previous year strongly indicates a young and inexperienced pair.

2006: Moved to Collins Hall pediment, fledged three young.

2007: Fledged three more on Collins.

2008: Nesting on Collins again (crosses fingers, knocks wood).

I agree he must have been hatched in an urban setting, and acclimatized to human presence. I would also agree that if one of the Fordham pair were directly descended from Pale Male, it would probably be Hawkeye. But that's not a scientific opinion (and I'm no scientist). Anyway, Rose is also well-used to people. Bobby and Rebecca were very impressed with her composure when she was recuperating with them.
(I had suggested to Chris that perhaps as Hawkeye knew Chris so well, Hawkeye might give him a cigar and invite him over to see the new babies, here's his response. D.B.)
Even if Hawkeye invited me up to the nest, I have this thing about heights. So just as well he's not going to. ;)

Chris Lyons

As Chris says we've absolutely no scientific proof that any of the urban hawks are related to one another in any way. They could all be from hundreds of miles away, self select for non-fear of humans, tolerance of the urban environment, and have a taste for pigeons and rats. We don't know. But, we do have fun with our flights of fancy as to who might be related to whom. So in that whimsical vein, I counted backwards to figure out if it was even conceivable that Hawkeye might be a son of Pale Male.

Chris said that Hawkeye and Rose had been bonded for over 4 years, so let's make that figure 5 years, plus one would assume that Hawkeye was at least 2 when the pair got together, making Hawkeye approximately say--7 years old.

Which takes us to the breeding season of 2001. In that season, Pale Male's mate was Blue and they successfully fledged three eyasses. Therefore in our whimsical flight of fancy, it is possible that Hawkeye could be the son of Pale Male and Blue. Without DNA that's a big "could" when all we have to rely on are time frame, visual clues, and behavior--but it would be fun if he were, wouldn't it?

Donegal Browne