More Fabulous Fifth Avenue Fleglings on the 4th from Johnson and Eagles Take to a Human Reconstituted Nest When Land Owner Chopped Down Their Nest Tree

 Photos and commentary in italics by Jeff Johnson.  Commentary not in italics, mine.

Donegal,

Saw my first fledgling after entering the Park from 79th Street and winding along through the trees West of the Arch Bridge. It looked to be one of the Kerbs Cafe Duo, the one with a Peach breast/striped belly band. She{?) wasn't doing any begging when I spotted her. Metadata time read 1451. [12:51 PM]

 Getting over to Kerbs Cafe I found there was a fledge perched on the now favored limb, being photographed by July 4th families. It's the same size as the fledge I just saw and because the "Kerbs Duo" appear larger than the remaining fledge of the 927 Trio I'll refer to these two as females. This one has the mottled belly band. You can see a pronounced yellow breast due to the auto color used in PhotoShop CS6.

 Now the other female has flown over from the tree I just left and perched on a limb in the upper left corner.

 While the Kerbs Cafe Duo delighted the holiday throng (myself included) I was also struck by how many squirrels were out and about. Maybe lured out by hopes of visitor supplied treats.

(The italics button is being quirky so my stuff will have to be something other than black until it shapes up.) 

 You may well be spot on Jeff about the influx of squirrels and the possibility of treats.  They've also likely figured out that if they are close to crowds of people the hawks are less likely to dive in and make a grab for them.  Though Pale Male has been known to do just that.  Rather startles the tourists.

I made my way back toward 76th Street because I heard that 3rd fledgling with the opera star lungs and "his" insistent feed me song. 

Near the entrance on 5th Avenue I was again fooled into scanning trees and street level perches because the begging was so loud and clear. An out of place tuft of white along the railing  at the uppermost terrace on the North end of 76th Street proved to be Mr Fledge 3.

The building in question just south, just right of 927, was called by hawk watchers, the Fisher Building, in an homage to Dr. Fisher, an original Pale Male lover. 

 Just incredible windpipes…he(?) sounds like he's on the sidewalk across the avenue. Metadata time reads 1508. [3:08 PM]

 He flew off (every frame I took was unusable) and I headed back toward theSailboat Pond area by the walkway parallel to 5th Avenue. Nearing "Alice" a fledge overflew me from out of the NNE and alighted on a branch about a 100 feet south of me. Sunlight reflecting off its body let me find it just NNW of the cafe patio near where the Duo so often like to beg.

Closer look at the fledgling from a better angle. I wanted to think it was the fledgling from the railing I'd just been watching and it looks small in size, but the markings look to be Peach breast/striped belly.

There is also a difference in the shape of the head between the sexes of Red-tails, though most of us aren't 100% proficient in telling the difference, particularly in fledglings.  NYC birder and Photographer Francois Portmann explains the look of females as "hawkier".  It sounds odd but he's right. The best time to try to get a grip on it is during nesting season when the hawks are paired up and you can often see them side by side for comparison or tell them apart by behavior.  

The gifted British raptor expert Jemima Parry-Jones can not only sex a raptor at a glance she can tell you its age as well.

 It changed to a tree above "Alice" where it stayed for a while before flying into the north Kerbs Cafe trees.

Metadata time read 1545.  [3:45 PM]

 Rather than immediately start begging the fledge pounced on twigs and...

 Dived into the brush to pursue some squirrels. Beautiful Red-tail. Metadata time read 1601. 

 So I had spent about ten minutes prowling about in the brush below the 5th Avenue wall trying to get some decent frames of the fledge play/hunting twigs and squirrels. I follow the fledge as it emerges out into the open glade adjacent to the Kerbs Cafe north patio. "PLOP" …imagine the sound of a thawed Cornish Hen being thrown down beside you…that's what a rock pigeon dropped as a meal by Pale Male sounds like.

 In the instant I looked at the dropped pigeon and brought my camera around it was covered by one  fledglings and challenged by a second fledgling. Thinking I was going to conclude my fledgling spotting recons without ever experiencing a food delivery, I almost had one for a hat.

Completely hilarious.  Be careful what you wish for.  One of the hazards of hawk watching. Particularly with Pale making the drop.  Humans tend to be just another part of the landscape when he's on a mission.  Rather like a shrub as he's so human habituated.  

 I think it was the fledgling I'd followed out from the brush that claimed then mantled the dropped meal but It happened so quickly I'm uncertain.

Situational awareness should have made me aware of what was about to happen. I got locked into getting a "twig hunt" photo and missed a much better opportunity. I'm sure the fledglings were aware of what was about to happen.

 Fledge 1 mantles her recovered meal and keeps a wary eye on her sibling.

 Twelve feet overhead Pale Male watches his charges decide what to do with the fresh meal he's just provided. Note the tufts of feather along his spine. I wonder if he's been pecked upon recently or if he hasn't groomed himself yet after his strenuous flight.

At this time of year, Pale Male likely doesn't do much preening in the daytime.  Things are pretty hectic for him.  In fact the only time I've seen him do much preening at all is after he's gone to his roost and is preparing to sleep.

Also before long adult Red-tails go into molt.  The feathers he's wearing now have been with him for nearly a year and so are well used.

Pigeon delivery scene. Pale Male is directly above the fledglings and concealed by the leaves from this angle. Metadata time read 1624.

 Fledge 1 begins to have her dinner. Metadata time read 1627.

 Pale Male continues to overwatch the fledges. Visible in upper left corner.

 Fledge 1 continues to hungrily eat her dinner. Metadata time read 1645.

 While these two fledges sort out their dinner arraignments I moved out by the Sailboat Pond to check on the 927 Nest and hope to see Zena. Almost missed another opportunity by staying too focused. While using binoculars to get a close look at the nest I almost missed  Pale Male and Zena soaring about fifty feet above 5th Avenue. I watched them make several circuits along the buildings and Park area. They ascended several hundred feet up going in and out of sight lines  for about three minutes. Metadata time read 1650 on this frame, so Pale Male must have decided that his meal delivery was proceeding as it should and left his vigil within minutes of when I left. Remarkable to think what it must be like to have the ability to be firmly on the ground in Central Park and then on a whim, be riding thermals hundreds of feet above the same place.

 Back with the two fledges which had the dropped meal, it looked to me that the same fledge was still gorging.

 But the second fledge was growing impatient with watching from her tree branch.

 Without much resistance the first fledgling surrenders the remaining meal to second one after it drops to the ground. Metadata time read 1701, which means the first fledge had only been eating roughly 25 minutes. Its crop doesn't look very pronounced from this angle. Have the two been swapping turns…do Red-tail fledglings do such a thing?

Well Jeff, that's quite a good question.  I've not seen them do it, which by no means that these two haven't worked out a system as these are the two that tend to hang together, yes?  Though it would be unusual.

My conjecture in the past has been that one fledgling has had enough and leaves the rest to another.  Or perhaps the first was full enough not to want to bother protecting the less desirable parts that are leftovers.  Or as  we've no way of categorically saying it never happens (never say never with Urban Red-tails in particular as they're quite an adaptable group), and Red-tails can be cooperative perhaps they did trade off. 

In what I thought a surprise move, the fledgling which had been eating dashed off into the nearby brush pursuing squirrels. This is the same group of scrub I'd been  in earlier and with the same Red-tail fledgling I think.

Red-tails do have perseverance, and long memories concerning prey.  Besides being freshly fed can bring on fresh energy, and these youngsters are no doubt wired at this age to get this hunting thing down. 

 Besides, who wants to be outsmarted by a squirrel?   

At first I thought this one was full of spirit to decide it wanted to chase squirrels in the heat of the day so soon after just eating. But looking at the crop it doesn't appear very large. Maybe, I have it wrong, this is the fledge that dropped from the branch, but it didn't wrest the pigeon from the one who was eating and now it's so hungry it's decided to try some impromptu hunting tactics.

See the silhouette of her chest?  If this fledgling hadn't eaten for a long time likely her upper chest would be concave. 

 He really enjoys the  scenic view for his grandstanding pleas and he has faint coloration, so maybe Pale Male gives him singular attention. For his vocal efforts alone, this one deserves it.

Here's my theory about about our little loud friend.  He's smaller so therefore will likely not compete successfully with the two possible females below in the bushes.

If he is a male, when he grows up he'll be quicker than the females, more agile in flight, and require fewer calories.  And I've always thought that as the boys don't have the brute strength, they have to learn to be more clever besides being quicker.  Opera Boy is being quite clever to get up there on the roof where he's plain as day and well, raise the roof as well, instead of trying to compete with the big girls down on the ground. 

I suspect little guy would like nothing better than a food drop up there on the roof where he could conceivably eat in peace. Which he might well get without anyone seeing it happen as Pale would likely come in from Sixth Avenue to make the drop to keep the fledglings in the park from seeing it.  He does pay attention.

Let's hope the 927 Fledgling Trio, as well as all the rest of New York's fledglings continue to stay healthy and thrive into adult life.

Jeff

From your mouth to God's ear.

Next up a grand success story gleaned by Robin of Illinois, people can make a difference! 

The eagles watched while it was being made, and then they used it!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/07/04/bc-eagle-nest-replaced.html

Axed eagle's nest rebuilt by B.C. Residents

CBS News

(Note: This pair of eagles had been nesting in the original tree for many many years, raising young, to the delight of their good human neighbors. The good neighbors wanted them back, even though their first nest and tree had been (illegally) destroyed by the property owner where the first nest tree was situated.)

A pair of bald eagles is resting safely in their new nest after some Vancouver Island residents scrambled to build them a new home when their old tree was chopped down. Residents of Campbell River's Galerno Road were outraged and devastated in February when an eagle nest tree was cut down by a property owner. Janis and Jim MacDougall said it was heartbreaking to watch as the displaced eagles tried without success to quickly build a new nest and they became desperate to help.

So one day at the end of March, they recruited a tree-climbing friend who spent five hours atop one of the MacDougall's trees weaving a new nest with rope, branches, grass and leaves sent up by the work party below, along with bits of the old nest, and a big chunk of salmon for a housewarming gift.

Janis says the eagles watched the entire operation from a nearby tree.

"The next morning the eagles went in and they've been there ever since. They laid an egg pretty much right away." It was April when the egg hatched. Since then the eagles have raising a young eaglet in their new home.

These days the MacDougall's are watching the nest for glimpses of the growing eaglet, which is soon expected to begin learning to fly.

"Everyone's just ecstatic. [It's] amazing that we were able to help. It really is," said MacDougall.

Maj Birch, the founder of the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society, said she has heard of few other cases of eagles taking over artificial nests, and praised the community's efforts. "It is kind of heartwarming that people would go to that effort to try and reconstruct something that these birds could use. And what is amazing even more is that the birds took so readily to the nest," said Birch.

The Conservation Officer Service is investigating the possibility of charges under the Wildlife Act for the destruction of the original nest. The tree had been labeled with a Wildlife Tree tag under the provincial Wildlife Tree Stewardship (WiTS) program.

This is the second post in the last few hours so if you've not been here lately do scroll down for the first post!

Donegal Browne--Stay tuned!

Johnson Pale Male Updates, Franklin Institute Near Miss Landings, and Squirrel Freeze Mode

 Photograph courtesy of Scott Kemper
And a head's up from grand gleaner of Wildlife News, Robin of Illinois, scroll down the blog, link below, for some delightful pictures of near miss landings at the Franklin Institute--http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/

 Photo by Jeff Johnson
 Pale Male and Zena's fledge and its late day meal. You can see a Blue Jay above her scolding and possibly about to make a fly-by strike at her head which is taking some of her attention.

 

 Photo by Jeff Johnson
And Mr. Jay is not about to leave anytime soon. The juvenile has been presented with unprepared pigeon she's having to figure out how to deal with besides.  Life is just one thing after another for a young Red-tailed Hawk.

  Photo by Jeff Johnson, plus following commentary
 Late this afternoon I saw Pale Male hunting along 5th Avenue and 79th just as I walked into the Model Sailboat Pond near the Hawkbench, so I decided to proceed north thinking to catch some frames of his activity. Pale Male had gone to perch on his favorite antenna so I returned to the Sailboat Pond where I encountered a fledge in one of the trees beside the Kerbs Cafe area (north). I'm calling it Fledge 1 because it's the first I spotted today. Look at how full the crop is…I never saw any parental interaction today or meals left, but clearly such is happening.

 Photo and commentary by Jeff Johnson
 Pale Male began a little more soaring over 79th Street and Zena had magically appeared on her 927 Nest watching Pale Male's efforts (she was peering in his direction anyway).  Scanning from Zena to look at Pale Male I happened upon Fledge 2 in a tree just to the right and back  of Fledge 1.

 Photo and commentary by Jeff Johnson
 Now I have a distant view of both parents and two fledges within 100 feet of each other. They seem to really like this stand of trees. Moving in behind the tree where Fledge 2 is I try for a frame with them both in it just to present some scale and proof of identity. As I move around to do this naturally Fledge 2 moves along into another branch forcing me to move deeper into the brush near the wall along 5th Avenue. It's a poor frame but if you look at the upper right and lower left corners, Fledge 2 and 1 are in the same frame.

  Photo and commentary by Jeff Johnson

 Just as I began thinking about differing angles something plopped on the sleeve of my jacket !!! Fledge 3 was saying Hello from directly above me.

  Photo and commentary by Jeff Johnson

All three fledges were in the same copse of trees !!!  Three Red Tails within 100 feet and being paid next to no attention by Blue Jays or any other birds.

Fledge 3 moved to a lower branch on a tree alongside the wall at 5th Avenue and I wasn't able to get a frame with the trio together. Fledge 3's Hello was about the size of a Silver Dollar and looked like pancake mix. A tissue wiped most of it away on scene. Just for interest I included a frame I shot after I got home. I prefer to think of it as a greeting, since I might not have seen him/her otherwise…but maybe the fledge didn't like my jacket or decided it needed to be sent to the dry cleaners!

Jeff has fallen prey to one the good news/bad news aspects of juvenile Red-tail Hawk hunting.  You've been alerted to a Red-tails presence but you've a green and white splotch on your clothes. Often much larger than the spot above, by the way.  

Machine wash hawking apparel recommended as it frees up more funds for subway fare and equipment. :)

  Photo and commentary by Jeff Johnson

 I included a frame of a squirrel lying flat along a narrow branch with its tail curled over itself. It didn't appear unhealthy, in fact it was a plump specimen. It made no attempt to do anything except move its eyes ti watch everything I was doing. What behavior is this ?

This squirrel is absolutely fine.  She has just taken the stance of a squirrel who has discovered she is in too close a proximity to multiple hawks.


Squirrels are quite cheeky and will scold or even take on a juvenile hawk or even  an adult for cause. 

 Yes, squirrels can tell the difference between an adult and a juvenile as can the Blue Jays, Catbirds, Robins and all other birds who enjoy mobbing raptors.


When dealing with a single hawk all the squirrel has to do is scurry from the top of a branch to the bottom or round the trunk of a tree to the other side to elude the hawk.  Experienced squirrels know to stick to the trees and not try a scamper across the ground where they'll be an easy dinner for an experienced raptor.

The squirrel in question has realized that she has been caught  in an area where multiple hawks might cooperate to nab her.  Scampering to the other side of a tree trunk doesn't work very well if there is a second hawk on the other side.

(Whatever the Red-tailed literature may say, Red-tails do hunt in tandem on occasion and the squirrels know it.)

Therefore she has gone into squirrel freeze mode.  She has flattened herself on the branch and laid her tail over her back, which changes her silhouette.  Lack of movement of course reduces the likelihood of pulling the hawk's focus to herself.  I've not decided whether the squirrel has just found itself on an exposed branch in these cases or whether it is a choice to give her a 360 degree range of vision.


It is also possible that the laid tail above the body, beyond camouflage  might have a tendency to fool a hawk into closing her talons early in a strike, causing her to grasp more tail than more important squirrel parts.


Always helpful Ohio raptor expert John Blakeman filled me in on a terrific fact about squirrels which helps explain why though Red-tails find them very tasty, they don't eat more of them.  

The factoid?  A squirrel's hide is extremely tough and a Red-tail must strike them just right in order to bag them. 


An inefficient strike can lead to a miss which wastes energy or worse from the hawk's point of view may result in a nasty squirrel bite which is an uncomfortable injury with the possibility of infection.


Plus a squirrel is quite strong and agile particularly for lighter weight males who need to have even nearer to perfect technique to be successful.   Pale Male being the not only the Monarch of Central Park but the Sultan of Stealth is a terrific squirrel hunter and has courted many a female with meaty squirrel meals.

And yes, while in this behavior only the squirrel's eyes will move to follow the action, which in this case included you.


Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne

A Pale Male Report and Why Do the Play Patterns of Young Squirrels and Young Nuthatches Look So Similar?

 Photo courtesy of palemale.com

Pale Male, the ever diligent Dad, with a pigeon, Columba livia, which will help feed his family for the day.

Today's Pale Male Report, from longtime correspondent and now blog contributor Jeff Johnson--

Ms Browne,

Two fledges were in the Park on Cedar Hill just north of the Sailboat Pond at 1800 today. [6:00PM, D.B.] I got a few frames of one with a whopping big meal.

I'd not seen any interaction with either of the parents, but it's difficult to believe that the fledge caught it. It would be master hunting skills developed overnight !

From the size and tail feathers I think it was a Rock Pigeon.

Just behind the fledgling you can see a Blue Jay about to hassle him/her. Blue Jays and Sparrows were really giving the fledgling fits. Their harassment was dedicated and persistent so that the fledgling dropped the meal onto the walkway underneath its perch after about fifteen minutes.

When bystanders couldn't be persuaded to stand away, Lincoln Karim picked the fledgling's meal up and moved it to a more remote spot where it would retrieve it.

 I had to depart scene before the fledge reclaimed its meal, but I'm sure it happened.

Jeff

Many thanks Jeff, we can't wait to see the photos!

 Next up, like many of you I've been watching juvenile passerines come to my feeders for years and though I've often seen adult White-breasted Nuthatches feeding, not until today have I observed the juveniles attempting to figure out how to access sunflower seeds from the wire feeder.

Initially I was so fascinated by the antics I didn't even go grab my camera for fear of missing something.

Young Nuthatch was climbing up and down the feeder in the manner he'd use a tree-- up, down, poke, poke.  Forget those handy dandy perches.  Then he'd stick his beak in and instead of pulling the seed out and then eating it, he was attempting to shell it and swallow with his bill still inside the feeder.

Then to add insult to injury, another juvenile, typical of sibling squirrels, jumped out of the air at the original one and they both took off for the high branches of the adjacent Maple.  

Where they each took a place about a foot apart on a branch and continued the game of Jump At The Sibling.  Sibling 1 jumps in the air at Sibling 2 who veers off and and then jumps back at Sibling 1 who jumps back.  Very similar to the antics of young squirrels.  Interesting.

After that sequence, they then chased each other up and down the trunk of the tree.  Also very squirrel-like.  Weird to have young mammals and young birds playing such a similar "game".

Then it struck me.  Not strange at all!  Both species spend a great deal of their lives rapidly perambulating  up and down on the bark of trees often with their heads in the lead.

Similar activity in species,  even those who are two footed with wings and those with four feet and no wings in different branches of the animal kingdom, can lead to similar "play" in their young.

Wow.

You just never know when you'll discover that what  may seem odd in the beginning, ultimately turns out to make perfect sense once you, attend to it and don't discount the similarity just because the creatures are in different man made categories .

But we knew that.  Sometimes we just have to be reminded yet again that attending can fill our lives with wonder.

Donegal Browne

the Sandhill Cranes Scrum Continues, Blue Jays Arguing, and a Weird Squirrel

Taking up where we left off, Claire and Jamie have managed to get ahead of Baffled though J and C seem to be overlapping each other during the endeavor. Bright seems to find this hopeful and has actually flown a bit closer to the group.


Baffled brakes a little.

Jamie extends his lead.

But Baffled now slides under Claire.

Progress but still rather scrum like...more to come in the sequence.

So what's this about Blue Jays, you ask?

October 18th, I saw my first Blue Jays in Wisconsin since last Fall's migration. For whatever reason, quite possibly West Nile Virus, there appear to be few to none Blue Jays during the breeding season in this area. And it isn't as if they don't speak up or are hard to find if they're around. And example being the pair I saw, screaming at each other and having an aerial battle.

Many people believe that Blue Jays don't migrate. They do. It's just that the Jays seen in the winter aren't the same ones that you see in your area during the breeding season. The population doesn't suddenly all go to South America or something, each local population appears to just slide a bit south come Fall.

I thought the pair on the 18th might be my only sighting as there are ever so many fewer than there used to be.

But no, today I looked out the patio door and there were two beauties eyeing the feeding area.

They got down to serious eating.

Suddenly one looked up and stared.

Which seemed to make the second do the same. Number One then nipped a sunflower seed out from in front of Number Two while he was looking up. Then possibly because the camera made a sound Number Two took to his wings.

Ah, oh, busted by Number One as well.

Though not to be intimidated, she first turned her back, took a beat and then flew off.

And then there was the weird squirrel, who hung by her back feet with her front feet on the ground for at least 30 minutes after I first noticed her. Now it was a pleasant day, and the sun was shining on her directly, but somehow it just seemed an unusual position to take a sun bath.

Any thoughts?