Rosie Now Visible at Night, Tundra Swans, and Sandhill Cranes

The HawkCam adjuster worked on the NYU Cam today and now, once again, as was the case in previous years, one can watch the NYU nest of Rosie and Bobby at night!  When the eyeasses hatch  there is actually quite a bit of action after dark and now we will all have a chance to study it!
 
But earlier in the day...

 I was out driving around looking for Red-tailed Hawk nests when I looked over at a flooded field a few miles shy of  the Illinois border  and there were a flock of very white, very big birds...and they looked very much like swans, swimming around in the vernal lake. 

 Unfortunately it was a very big wet field on private land.  I drove around the field and finally found a pair close enough to identify.  Tundra Swans!

Then back to the area with a broader view of the flock.

 And arrived just at the moment a flock of Canada Geese was coming in for a landing.

I'll try again tomorrow and bring more magnification with me.

 A flock of Sandhill Cranes had just passed over when a minute after, another pair, apparently late off the mark appeared trumpeting madly, in an attempt to catch up to their brethren  on their way toward the Sugar River.

Perhaps tomorrow will bring a Red-tail nest!
 Coming soon, due to reader's  questions...the idiosyncrasies of Pale Male and Octavia's nest location at 927 Fifth Avenue.
Donegal Browne 

EGGNANT at The Franklin Institute, Washington Square Park Hawks, Isolde and the New Guy at The Cathedral Nest,

Photo by Kevin Vaughn  http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/


Della Micah host of the blog, Hawkwatch at the Franklin Institute wrote referring to the Franklin Mom as they and the hawks wait for the first egg of the season-

"Optimistically, hawkwatchers comment on how "eggnant" she appears!"

I was delighted!

 There is a good deal of "cross pollination" amongst hawkwatchers and here is a delightful example of it.  The use of the word "eggnant" to refer to the appearance and demeanor of a formel who is on the verge of laying.

The Back Story.

Back in 2005, the year Pale Male and Lola's nest  was rebuilt by them on 927 Fifth Avenue after its very well publicized and heavily protested removal by the coop board of that building, dozens of hawkwatchers turned to hundreds beside the model boat pond as the world watched whether or not the pair would be able to nest successfully after the disruption.  

And as we watched Lola become heavier, all those yummy food gifts, slower, sometimes a bit drowsy during the day, and obviously hormonal as she perched in trees or on buildings, often with feathers a bit fluffed.  

Marie Winn, who wrote "Red-tails in Love", Stella Hamilton, and I, stood in a group of watchers on the edge of the Model Boat Pond observing Lola's pre-egg laying demeanor.   

This is the same Stella Hamilton,  who this season was the Downtown Plaza Hawk Watcher when the Uptown/Downtown team went out to observe just what Pale Male, Octavia, Mr. Plaza and Mrs. Plaza were all up to.  

As we all stared at Lola, suddenly Stella said, "She looks eggnant!"    And a name for the "condition" was born.  And as it turns out is now in use by hawkwatchers far afield from New York City's Central Park.

How grand!

Next Up! 

 WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK HAWKS!

PonDove, moderator of the NYU Hawk Chat Room reports that there are three eggs in the Bobst Library nest of Bobby and Rosie at New York University.  She also has word that the NYU HawkCam will be running, if all goes well, by the middle of next week!  

And don't forget you are all invited to join The Chat Room.


ISOLDE AND THE NEW GUY-- AT THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE!

Isolde has a special place in my heart as I've watched the Cathedral Nest for days on end in previous seasons.  Here is the news I've gleaned from other watchers of  the Cathedral Nest so far this season.

James O'Brien, of the Origin of the Species blog, http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/, caught Isolde flying off the nest for a break on Sunday!  On Friday he reported that her tail was visible over the lip of the nest.

 Therefor I deduce that Isolde she was only sitting half down on the nest so her clutch was not complete as of that day.

On further investigation...

Rob Schmunk, of http://morningsidehawks.blogspot.com/, and the keeper of  careful Cathedral Nest stats, reports that on Sunday Isolde's tail was also visible, which means in my opinion, that she was still only sitting half down on the nest that day.  And as keeper of careful stats, Rob reports that this pair has started a week earlier than usual this year.

(The term "eggnant" appears on Rob's blog earlier in the month as well!)

Among other contacts,  I've sent out a query to Chris Lyons of Fordham asking after Vince and Rose.  I'm hoping for news about them soon as well.

Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne

Pale Male of Fifth Ave., Rose and Vince at Fordham, Violet and Pip at NYU

Photo courtesy of palemale.com
Don't let that fluffy little head and those big round eyes fool you. Pale Male is surveying his kingdom and nobody with wings stands a chance if they invade his airspace.

Photo by Richard Fleisher All rights reserved
The Fordham nest of Rose, in photo, and Vince.

And update from Rich Fleisher, one of the chief watchers of the Fordham Red-tailed Hawk Nest. No white fuzzy heads yet but Rich, a seasoned hawk watcher, has reason to believe there is a hatch.

Donna, I wanted to update you on the Fordham nest. Keep in mind that what follows is speculative since the nest is on the ledge of one of the buildings and we have no view into the nest. My strong suspicion is that we have chicks (at least two possibly three). I base this conclusion from watching Rose. First, she is sitting high along the edge of the nest where a few weeks ago she was barely visible sitting much lower in the nest. Second, she can be seen clearly shredding food and lowering her head as if to feed. Given the different directions she faces is why I assume that we have multiple eyasses. I have taken recent pictures and as soon as I get a chance to process them I will send some along as well as positing on my Flickr site. I will keep you updated. If I am write we should see some signs of the eyasses sometime in the next week or so. Rich Richard Fleisher Professor

And an update on the next mystery question that is asked after feeding behavior is observed. Just how many eyasses are up there? The Fordham nest is the only nest in which we have observed a hatch of four eyasses in the city. Though the fourth eyass appeared to have died almost immediately after hatching.

This nest is also special in that it is the only nest in which fledglings regularly go back and forth from the nest, to the trees, to other buildings and then back to the nest. Sometimes several times a day. This behavior is far more similar to fledglings that come from rural nests than to the rest of the urban nests perched on buildings, where most often, once off the nest the fledglings ordinarily do not return to their hatching site as it is too difficult to get there with their rudimentary flight abilities.

More from Rich--

Donna,

Follow-up to my email of the other day updating the status of the Fordham nest. Still no little white heads but I continue to be convinced of multiple hatchings. I have gotten around to finally positing onto my flickr site photos and videos that I shot this week. In the video that has both Rose and Vince it is interesting to explicitly compare how much bigger she is. Note that in the video Rose is on the left and further back and yet strikes me as a much larger bird.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/profman_wildlife_photos/

I will keep you up-dated.
Rich

Rich,
Just looked at the videos. Very nice! I'm thinking you may well have a multiple hatch also. In 3254, is Rose mantling to shade an eyass or has she spread her wings to cool herself? Or do you know? :-) It appears to me that Vince is giving the bowl on his side of the nest, the I'm-watching-one-of-my-offspring looks. And if Rose is mantling somebody on the other side that obviously a multiple. But perhaps she's just hot. You're right. Rose is a big girl isn't she? I never noticed this disparity in size with Hawkeye. Perhaps Vince is in the tiercel mode of Pale Male, Pale Male Jr and Tristan--Small, blindingly fast, and very clever.

And on to Violet and wee Pip at the Washington Square nest located on a window ledge of the NYU Library.

Photo captures made with thanks to Livestream
Pip rustles around under Violet who very shakily attempts to go over on her side. Her damaged leg must be the one that is currently propping her up so Pip has more room to move. Then like all good Red-tailed Hawk Mom's she checks the perimeter just in case there might be a marauder out there. First she looks towards Washington square.

Then at the window. Pip wriggles some more. Violet once again shakily readjusts her body.

And as all birds do, even young ones, Pip peeks an eye open to look around before going limply back to sleep for a short amount of time before the next look.

Longtime NYC hawk blog reader and contributor Mai Stewart, has gleaned more comments from the CityRoom blog concerning Violet--

Mary

New York, NY

May 17th, 2011

5:55 pm

It sounds like the people that the DEC sent in were not anywhere near as experienced as Horvath in rehabilitating hawks. It is such a shame that NYU did not allow Horvath to capture Violet so he could remove the identification tag and put her back in the nest with her baby. I worry about what is going to happen to her.

our wildlife is precious

nyc

May 17th, 2011

3:51 pm

Violet can barely put any weight on her right/ damaged/ badly swollen foot. She clearly cannot hunt.
What's going to happen after this eyass fledges in 6 weeks or so, assuming her foot/leg have not deteriorated [further] and Violet has lived that long? What is her life going to be like, especially if she can't hunt for herself?
Once the eyass fledges, Violet will spend almost no time on the nest. How will it be possible to capture her and remove the band then, if she survives the next 6 weeks?
Shame on DEC. Violet deserves better!

Donegal Browne

Pale Male "Smiles"

Photo courtesy of palemale.com
PALE MALE "SMILES"

Okay, just try and tell me that Red-tail Hawks don't have facial expressions and body language beyond basic alert or relaxed.

You know, there are other reasons that Pale Male is famous beyond the fact that he picked a very media savvy crowd to watch him and publicize his antics.

He has charisma. He is interactive with humans. He is remarkably cute faced at times, in much the same way that babies of many species have the built in cute factor that presses the buttons that make their caretakers continue to be caretakers even when the going gets tough .

AND for the next few days Red-tails in Love author Marie Winn will be answering questions on the New York Times website which hosts Bobby and Violet's Hawk Cam over at NYU.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/answers-about-red-tailed-hawks-part-i/