What Is That Hawk and Do the Teneyke Eagles Have a Hatch?

It is a blustery day.   There is a constant veering 30 plus mile an hour wind.  And the birds are doing remarkable, amazing feats of flying.  So much so that it took me half a field of flight to get the  camera on this one.

What is the raptor above?

A brown posterior, long tail, and a white rump patch?  

That's a female Northern Harrier.   Her flight in this wind is  a wonder to see. 

And then she is gone...veering, twirling, riding the wind out of sight!

She is such a wonder, in fact,  it is hard to catch one's breath.

And how might the Teneyke Eagles and their nest be dealing with this wind?

 Dad is preening his feathers and Mom stands on the far edge of the nest looking back at me.

Two days ago I came to take a look and it appeared that Mom might have been leaning down to  feed but it wasn't definitive.  She leaned down into the nest repeatedly but perhaps she was just eating herself.

 Today she appears to be leaning down and looking intently into the bowl of the nest.  It is time if not past time for a hatch.

 Then she goes to the far side of the nest and sits half down.  Remember when she was sitting eggs she was lower?

 Then she is up and looking fixedly down into the bowl.

Then half down again.  (No this is not at all crisp even though I'm using a tripod, but keep in mind the tree is moving in the wind and I'm pretty much about to be blown away myself.)

Some pigeons fly over.  Dad keeps an eye on them but Mom keeps her eye on me and stays down.

Yup, we're both still here.

And the birds fly back in the opposite direction.  We all watch.  And we all wait some more.  It's a standoff.

And it stays that way.  

Two days ago....

I saw  this.  Maybe it was feeding behavior.  Maybe it wasn't.

 But this isn't getting either of us anywhere.

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY.

But on the way home....
Remember the Red-tailed Hawk nest that I've been watching in the row of trees.  So far there has been no hawk sitting it and I strongly suspect there should have been if it were going to be used.

But on the way home...

I saw this nest not far from the nest that was in use last year which has remained inactive this year as far as I can tell.

When I got home and was able to zoom in on it with the computer...

I'm thinking that THAT is the  tail of a sitting Red-tailed Hawk!

I'll just have to get CLOSER!

Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne