John Blakeman Gets a Once in a Lifetime Valentine-Zephyr Comes Back!!! And Great Horned Owls in the Window Box

 Photo courtesy of John Blakeman
Last fall after deciding that his falconry days were over and his current falconry bird, Zephyr was up to making her own way in the world, John Blakeman our Red-tailed Hawk Answer Man for lo these many years, released Zephyr back to the wild.
And quess what just happened! 

Donna,

I just looked out into a black oak in my backyard, 100 ft from my house, and Zephyr, my falconry Red-tail that I released here last September was sitting regally in the tree. I pulled out my digital telephoto, and got the photo.

Sure would be fun if she finds a tiercel, who would build her a nest nearby. The days are discernibly     lengthening and sex hormones are starting to flow.

I'll be watching all of this closely.

--John Blakeman

The email below is John's response to his daughter who emailed that she believed his ID that Zephyr was the above hawk in the first photograph....and then...

 Photo courtesy of John Blakeman    Zephyr at the window.

 Rachel,

You, nor anyone else would (or should) believe this. Zephyr flew up and tried to land on the window sill behind the dining room table. She saw me standing at the window, and wanted to fly over and see me.

So, I went to the basement and pulled out a frozen sparrow and quickly (5min) thawed it in some hot water. I put on a falconry glove and got my falconry whistle and stepped out of the basement door to see if the hawk was still around. She was, sitting on a cross arm of the clothes line. I lifted my glove, with the dead sparrow, blew the whistle, and the hawk flew instantly, 100 ft straight to my fist; just as she might have done a full year ago when still in captivity.

She landed and started to eat the sparrow, exactly as she would have done when she was my falconry hawk. She felt entirely comfortable on my fist --- but she was not tethered. She had no jesses or leash. She was completely free, but elected to spend about 5 minutes pulling apart the sparrow and eating it on my glove. She even allowed me to feel the ends of her talons. I wanted to see if they had gotten sharper. They were needle-sharp.

She dropped a few pieces of sparrow flesh on the ground while eating, and then dropped down to retrieve the after eating the main course. She then elected to fly right back up onto my fist, to finish her short repast.

Fortunately ---- no one would otherwise believe me ---- I was able to snap digital photos of her eating on my fist.

Then, when finished, she was still hungry. I tried to toss her off, but without the sling action of the missing jesses, I couldn't fling her. She just gently flew a few feet and landed on the ground. I turned around and started walking under the deck to the back basement door. She flew ahead of me and landed on the hose reel next to the door. I think I could have enticed her inside, just as she had done hundreds of times before.

I'll have a nice piece of turkey neck thawed for tomorrow afternoon, when  I will attempt to replicate this remarkable episode.

I got photos of her main big front talon, which was missing a big gap. She's caught a squirrel, which bit out a dry chunk of her talon --- no harm to her.

Stunning. I released Zephyr about Sep 12 last fall, and have seen her flying or perched in the area no more than 6 to 10 times, never once as close to the house.

This will be fun.

Love,

--Dad

 Photo courtesy of John Blakeman
John Blakeman and the visiting Zephyr on his fist of her own accord, having a snack.

John, I cannot wait to see how this turns out.  And indeed, this is going to be grand fun!  

You don't suppose that as it is mating season that Zephyr hasn't returned to see if you're available?

 It was Valentine's Day after all!

As many of you know my internet connection has been intermittent therefore I've been missing many of your emails....keep your fingers crossed about my connection and I'll keep catching up!
 
 And just in from Robin of Illinois, the Great Horned Owl Window Box Nest!

http://www.hancockwildlife.org/index.php?topic=VictoriaGHOwl#camera1

Pale Male and the Octavia Go For It, Clarence the Cooper's Hawk Makes an Appearance, and Quicksilver and Squirrel the Kitten Fight Over the Watering Can

Courtesy of http://www.palemale.com/
Pale Male and Octavia do a little sky courting.

 Al Olson, a newer hawkwatcher in Central Park, reports that copulation is well underway and he has seen Pale Male gift the New Girl with two pigeons and and a squirrel in the last few days.  Al commented,  that she was a "lusty eater".  

Woooo hooo!

All's well so far.  Keep your fingers crossed!

 It was seriously snowing and as is usual in this circumstance the juncos, sparrows, and assorted others were at and under the feeders stocking up.
Some of the larger and more "me habituated" birds were on the back step availing themselves of sunflower seeds not in the sunflower seed feeder.  Even though not one was at that feeder.  What did they know that I didn't?  They were seeking a more sheltered spot to feed?  Better in the weather or was it something else?

I was pleased to see the male Cardinal, as I'd begun to think he'd been lost, not having seen him since the previous snowfall though his mate had been around frequently.

 The Mourning Doves though feeding on the step seemed more vigilant in the direction of the yard than they were about me. 

And there was a sentinel on the wire that Friend often watches from when he's looking out for Doorstep while she feeds.

And there was a timidity about some of the sparrows on the sparrow pile that I found suspicious.  As they appeared suspicious that there was a predator out there somewhere.

The next time I looked most of the female sparrows had disappeared, and the males had congregated at the top of the pile.

Two minutes later when I looked again, guess who was sailing across the back yard from the right and landed neatly on the sparrow pile, now devoid of visible sparrows.

It's Clarence the Cooper's Hawk and he's giving me the eye.  I admit I'm not sure Clarence is male but the other juvenile Cooper's that has been haunting the yard is slightly larger.  We'll go with that.

Plus this hawk, much like Pale Male doesn't seem to mind me  at all. 

He stares at me and I stare at him.

 Then he's back to hunting.

Then the other side.

Then he leans ever so slightly.

And he's off!

He goes for the side perch.

And peers.  There are no doubt rustling sounds coming from the pile and he's hoping to flush someone.  No luck.

He waits.

And watches with intensity.

   Then peruses the entire area.

1:51:23PM And he's off once again.  Note how low he stays to the ground, masked by the rise in the ground and the snow bank.

1:51:24 PM And he stays low though shifting his angle of flight.

  1:51:25 PM Once masked by the boughs he rises slightly for the gap.  These guys are incredibly quick and agile flyers. 

1:51:25PM  He tips sideways past the boughs without dislodging any snow.

1:51:25PM And then the little bugger does a perpendicular turn straight up to who knows where.  Check the times.  The last three moves were all done within one second.

I'm so glad he isn't out to eat me.

QUICKSILVER VS SQUIRREL THE KITTEN 

 Quicksilver was attempting to gain access to the carrousel cupboard.  It is never too early to scout possible nesting cavities just in case a female African Grey happens to wander through the back yard or even the living room come Spring.

11:56:48 AM And Squirrel the Kitten is watching him.  Squirrel is quite partial to cavities himself.  He's constantly being accidentally shut in closets.

Note the bottom of the watering can up center in the photo.  It's about to become important in the next chapter. 

 11:59:05 AM When I returned to the kitchen a little over two minutes later, this is what I found.  They aren't supposed to be doing this.

Exactly how they came to these  positions I'm not sure.  Though Silver often perches on the handle of the can and obviously thinks that Squirrel shouldn't be there. 

(By the way, I've started clipping the tips off Squirrels claws.  Squirrel only does paw play with Silver.  After having his nose sharply pinched by Silver leaping at his face, he keeps his face, and therefore his teeth away from Silver.  It may not seem that way from the photos but I really monitor all this very closely. )

  This is interesting.  When Silver goes into the crouch similar to his position in the water bowl before hopping to the edge and shaking water on the kitten, Squirrel pulls back.

 11:59:13 Silver can't reach Squirrel so as is typical he bites what is handy.  A warning?  Misplaced aggression?  I don't know for sure.  I haven't found a way to test it yet.

 11:59:21 AM  I can't see what Silver is doing back there but whatever it is, the kitten doesn't trust it and pulls half back.

11:59:25 AM The banging starts and Squirrel goes into full retreat.  Silver is banging his beak into the watering can with about an inch of water in it with great force.  It resonates very nicely.  This is an anti-cat trick of Silver's of long standing.

When Silver was only about 6 months old, he got off his perch in the living room while the resident human was in the shower. Bad parrot! Suddenly said human heard a banging on the bathroom door.  The human opened the door and there was Silver with Bowie, one of the NYC cats who was standing a few feet away watching the proceedings. 

Silver learned two things.  If you banged on doors humans opened them and an added plus, that the cat who might be shadowing you was taken aback.   He's used head banging on resonate objects for both ever since.

11:59:26 Silver keeps banging and the kitten retreats even further.

 11:59:32 AM  I say, "Hey guys, what are you doing?" Evidentally neither of them had registered that I was there, so typical to their individual species,  Silver stops and looks at me from behind the side handle wondering what the upshot of my presence will be, i.e. he'll just find himself back on his perch or will this rate a "time out", and Squirrel pretends he had nothing to do with any of it. 
 
And last but not least inn from Robin of Illinois, prosthetic fins for a Loggerhead Turtle after a likely shark attack.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/02/loggerhead-sea-turtle-gets-artificial-flippers-after-shark-attack/

Keep your eyes open you never know what you'll see!
Donegal Browne

Starr Saphir Dies, Great Horned Owl Nest Cam, and Pigeon Rides Car

 Photo courtesy of NPR
 

Some sad news in from NYC Bill, Starr Saphir, the Grande Dame of Central Park Bird Guides has died....

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/nyregion/starr-saphir-bird-watching-guide-in-central-park-dies-at-73.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Great Horned Owls often take over the nests of other raptors and in this case the GHO took over a nest with a cam!  Just in from Sally of Kentucky-
 

Oh yes, we have a GHO mama laying eggs in the abandoned failed Sequoyah Wildlife Refuge eagle nest. The resident eagle pair that I follow on the Sutton Center cams had laid two eggs mid December, and the week before they were to hatch in January the adults were off the nest a lot, apparently disturbed by intruding eagles in the area.  The eggs were left unattended for long periods and I think I remember the female not coming back even overnight one day. Anyway, they continued to incubate them on and off for a couple of weeks past the hatch date then gave up, I guess. I last saw an eagle there on January 29th; the hatch window opened the 16th if the eggs had been viable.

Last week a GHO took interest in the nest- now containing only one un-viable eagle egg, and started brooding the eagle egg! I have my first captures of her February 5th. She laid her own egg alongside it on February 7th.  I have one capture of the eggs on the 8th. I included two of my screen captures from http://www.suttoncenter.org/pages/live_eagle_camera      

LOTS of pics posted on the Hancock forum.  http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=419536&mode=&show=8&page=221

Sutton does not have night vision cams so we do not know what happens at night and are eagerly awaiting a clear sky on full moon!  I hear that the Wolf River eagle nest is also now occupied by GHO who has laid her own egg.  I believe those eagles had not yet nested this year.  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/WolfRiverCam-New-London

Aren't wildlife cams providing us with such interesting information?

Sally

Gleaned by Robin of Illinois, we know that smaller birds have been known to catch rides on raptors as a handy place to peck the bigger birds in the head but now they're catching rides on cars?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/bird-hitches-ride-surfs-car_n_2648681.html?utm_hp_ref=good-news&ir=Good%20News

Coming soon, Clarence the Cooper's Hawk, Quicksilver and Squirrel the Kitten fight over the watering can, and video.  

And yes, I know, I know....video.

Donegal Browne