FLASH!!! GREAT HORNED OWL NEST IN NYC AND TULSA NEST ABANDONED!

PHOTO BY PAT GONZALEZ
Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus

Tour guide and wildlife lover, Pat Gonzalez has been making the rounds of New York City's green spaces and has come up with a jewel of a discovery--A Great Horned Owl nest!


This mama Great Horned Owl and her new bundle of joy (there is another one inside that tree that I know of) live inside a hollow of a dead tree about 20 feet off the ground. I am standing on a slight incline about 12 yards away and have my 15x zoom lens all the way out. At first, mama was all alone and nice enough to allow me to do a nice photo shoot. Then a small, white, wide-eyed fuzz-ball popped up. The only other experience that topped this was my encounter with the red-tailed hawk back in February! Enjoy.

Pat Gonzalez

Kay and Jay of Tulsa Inexplicably Abandon Their Nest
From Tulsa Hawkwatcher Sally of Kentucky--

Since yesterday morning Kay has abandoned the eggs, refusing to sit on them even when she came back to the nest. Jay did the job of sitting on those eggs all day yesterday, all night last night and well into today, until Kay started coming and then he would leave, then he would return, she'd come back and he would leave again then return, then she would come again, and over and over until neither has returned tonight as 8:30 p.m. We on the forum are sad and confused but we hope that they continue to be a strong, healthy pair and decide to nest on the tower again next year. We wish we could understand what is going on to cause this behavior.

If KJRH continues having the camera trained on the nest, I for one want to see what happens next. Also I would like to know how Kay and Jay do this summer, though people on the ground in Tulsa will have to keep watch and let us know!

Sally

Thank you Sally for your diligent updates. It is a sad loss when a nest fails. Particularly in this case when we are at such a loss as to what went wrong. I too, would very much like to be able to know how the story of this pair plays out over the coming months. But in the meantime there is a kind of grief that settles in where watching the hawks you know so well, used to be.

The first year that Pale Male and Lola's nest failed I watched the nest daily anyway, though we all knew it there could not possibly be a chance of a hatch that season. I learned many things about behavior. And as the seasons have progressed with repeated failures, it is not that I have stopped watching Pale Male and Lola, they are beautiful to watch, are were my first loves when it came to Red-tails and are very very special to me. But I have now learned to also watch other nests during a season and get to know those pairs as well. Though often focusing on the Cathedral Nest the past few years as it has the next best visibility.

Keep in mind though that sometimes watching multiple nests can also bring multiple despair as was the case in 2008. But in other seasons it can bring many different kinds of joy. As the old saying goes, one takes the bitter with the sweet. In the end, we can experience life more deeply, learn more, and become better ourselves by living both.

D.B.

P.S. This is the second post in the last few hours so keep scrolling down to make sure you've seen the first of the day.

Kay Leaves the Nest for Hours Again, Pale Male and Co. Plus What Happens When Eggs Don't Hatch

Screen Capture by Kentucky Sally of the Tulsa Hawk Nest Forum
http://www.kjrh.com/content/news/hawks/default.aspx


An update from Sally about Kay of Tulsa's behavior on Thursday--

Drama continues...
Kay left the nest at 7:52 this morning and did not return until 4:56 this afternoon with an incredibly full crop. Jay has sat on the nest all day. She only stayed about an hour, calling while sitting and obviously full, then stood up and left. Jay is still on the nest as of 6:57 p.m.



Can a male keep the eggs warm enough -it is supposed to be 34 tonight-over that long of a time period without the brood patch females have?
If nothing else, this nest is giving us lots of questions to ask and things to learn. I attached a screen capture of Kay's crop. I think she ate a softball!
Sally



And the question remains, Sally, what is going on with Kay? Looking back, perhaps Kay's behavior was a little out of the ordinary even before she took to the nest.



Cheryl Cavert, who has taken many grand photographs of these hawks, reported that she observed an episode of copulation in which Kay seemed "uncooperative" initially. I've not seen an episode of non-cooperation on a female Red-tails part. Not that it doesn't happen, I've just not seen it. At the time I thought perhaps their footing or balance was wrong, or that Kay was uncomfortable for some reason. But now with the current aberrant behavior on Kay's part, I begin to wonder if there wasn't something out of the ordinary going on even that far back.



Can males who have no brood patch, keep eggs warm enough during cold weather? They certainly can for short periods of time or we'd never see a hatch. And I have noticed on Pale Male's part, the other males in Manhattan building nests may do it exactly the same way, we just aren't able to see them as well on regular basis, that he takes more care to fluff his belly feathers down over the eggs than Lola does. But then she doesn't really have to because of the brood patch.

As to the long term, the only information I found that compared incubation by males and incubation by females had to do with a question of reverse sexual dimorphism--the females being bigger than the males. Some thought that the females were larger because their increased would do a better job of incubating eggs. This possible reason for reverse sexual dimorphism was discounted as both sized birds were found to do an adequate job of incubation. Though the brood patch wasn't taken into account, one could surmise from the findings that conceivably the female might do a better job, but the male's incubation was good enough for continued viability of the eggs to be maintained in various weathers and temperatures. In other words, perhaps males would take slightly longer to hatch eggs but they'd still get there.



Beyond the fact that the Tulsa nest site has a solid bottom in the tower platform so no wind can puff up from underneath and is well twigged for insulation as well. As far as I can tell it shouldn't be a problem. Far more worrisome are the lapses in egg coverage.




It is drizzling and both birds stand where they are partially protected by the building overhang. Lola eats the pigeon that Pale Male has just delivered with her back turned. While Pale Male studies the nest or scans the territory.


Formels need a good portion of food daily while incubating. Pale Male has just brought Lola an entire pigeon, including the head which at times is left behind or eaten by him in order, we surmise to reduce the weight for the flight up to the nest. This particular pigeon was so meaty that Pale Male had to rest on a terrace mid-way up in order to be able to get it to the nest. Lola ate just about everything edible on the pigeon including the primary feathers of the wings.

Another good question from Sally--

Donna,

Does Lola take a long break with her meals? And do you know if there is any "usual" frequency of meals for a nesting female-I apologize if this has been answered already. I was just curious if there is a usual length of time she is off the nest. If Pale Male is bringing her food she obviously doesn't have to catch her own, so does she go off and preen and stretch a bit? Kay seems to take long breaks 45-60 minutes usually, and I don't know if that means she's hunting for herself or if she's just chillin' taking a good break. Of course I know the limitations of comparing the two birds but what else can we do?

Thanks again.

Sally as you comparisons are limited, as Red-tailed hawks make many of their own decisions depending on their personal preferences as opposed to built in wiring "normal" normal behavior includes a broad. But we can look at what some of the behavior of the Manhattan females in regards to break length.

Lola rarely if ever takes a break of 45 minutes unless she has been on the nest well over the usual incubation period. Pale Male does all the hunting as far as we can tell during the incubation on that nest.

Early on in incubation Lola doesn't appear to be comfortable about leaving the nest for anything more that 5 to 12 minutes for personal business. And during those 5 or 12 minutes Pale Male is sitting firmly on the eggs. She often eats quickly on the nest, at which time, PM will stand on the nest with her, scanning the territory for something that might be a potential danger to her.

About midway through the incubation period, Lola seems more comfortable about eating at a stash point off nest or taking the food Pale brings to the nest to a spot a few buildings away to eat. She eats in a voracious and business like manner common in hawks. Then does a little quick preening and if she isn't on the nest, returns to it. These breaks last from about 12 to 20 minutes. Pale Male sits on the nest when she leaves it.

A break of 45 minutes would be extremely unusual for her unless it is past the hatch date by a good deal many days. On these breaks, when she is actually starting her retreat from the nest, she eats, bathes, preens, and does some strength flying. By the time she returns, she has to wait many minutes for Pale to evacuate the bowl so she can get in--and immediately replace some of the twigs to their original position which Pale moved to make the nest more comfortable for him or more to his taste at any rate.

My suspicion is, she has to wait so long for him to rise out because Pale has gotten into the bowl and is taking a wee nap.

Isolde of the Cathedral of St. John nest, often retrieves the food from the stash point, whips back into the nest and eats it there. There were times in the 2oo8 season when she had to do her own hunting as Norman was young and not altogether reliable about remembering to hunt for her. A few of those breaks may have been around the 45 minute mark. Though as Isolde sits in a spot where she can scan for prey while sitting, I believe she often has good hunting spots in mind and therefore doesn't have to do much waiting for prey to appear and can hunt and eat rather rapidly. There were occasions when Isolde wasn't fed, made sure Norman was on the nest, left to hunt, eat, then returned and sat on the roof of the building across the street watching the nest with Norman on it.

Often with her previous mate Tristan, this had been the pre-position for a nest switch. Whether she was just taking her ease or waiting in fact for Norman to get the idea that he should leave to the rear while she flew in the front wasn't clear

Charlotte, the female of the Southern Central Park pair, on occasion does her own hunting as a preference because there are episodes in which she looks disgusted by what Pale Male Jr. has brought and wants something else. So she rejects the prey he has brought. "WHAT, pigeon again!"and goes and gets what she wants, perhaps taking about 30 minutes from start to her return to the nest.

5/18/07 The eyasses on the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, watch as their mother heads their way with prey.

5/18/07 Isolde tears the prey and feeds them. Carefully making sure that whoever was fed first the last time isn't fed first this time. Or if the largest eyass had been first last time, she will give her a couple bites, then feed the other. If the first attempts to horn in she vocalizes deep and sharply and the larger eyass lays back while the smaller is fed. I know that both Isolde and Charlotte do this sort of portioning out of prey. I expect this is a learned behavior of more experienced parents, though I have no way of knowing for sure.

I also don't know that if there were a shortage of prey how the distribution would differ if any.

5/18/07 Note this is the same date as the above photographs. While other nests have progressed from hatches to eyasses already up off their haunches, the Fifth Avenue pair have been doggedly still sitting on their eggs. Lola's breaks have been becoming more extended daily.

And on this day, Lola has finally left the nest possibly for good. Pale Male has been sitting for hours, and is watching with focus (and concern if one reads hawk facial expressions) for her to return.

5/18/07 Towards dusk he is still there waiting for her to return. I believe this was the last day in which she sat the eggs that season. I was not there at deep dusk to know if Pale Male spent the night on the nest. As far as I can find out there has not been a confirmed sighting of him ever overnighting. Doesn't mean he hasn't, just means I don't know for sure.

A DISCUSSION ABOUT EGG VIABILITY AND WHAT HAPPENS IF THE EGGS WHEN EGGS AREN'T VIABLE AND THE NEST FAILS


From Tulsa Hawkwatcher Bob McCargar
Donegal-

I wrote to Blakeman and asked if the hawks could sense whether the eggs were viable or not, and about the "cold and wet nest and Kay theory. Here's what he said:


With certainty red-tails have no understanding or perception of egg viability or health. If they did, my red-tails back in my breeding trials in the early 70s wouldn't have so diligently sat on the wooden eggs I used to entice sitting before real eggs were laid in later years. Unhatched hawks in eggs do not make any noises that communicate to parents, at least not until the last days before hatching. And the bird will sit for many weeks on dead or wooden eggs. They don't count days of incubation. They merely give up when the day length is no longer expanding, when summer approaches, and nothing has hatched. The wet feathers and nesting material should have prompted the bird to get right down on the eggs and keep them warm. Again, this was very aberrant nesting behavior on the part of the female. I can't explain it. And let's see what happens. If the egg hatch, it will be a remarkable new piece of incubation knowledge regarding the lengthy cooling period of the eggs. We frequently see unprotected open cooling periods of 10 to 20 minutes, but seldom anything at all beyond that. Periods of 20 to 30 minutes are presumed to be the cooling limits to viability. I wouldn't be too concerned if this happened in the first days of incubation. Before the embryo begins to develop significantly it can withstand long periods of coolness. But after a week or so of constant incubation, the egg is committed to reasonable warmth during continuous incubation. Keep me posted on what happens.
John A. Blakeman


It's going to be an anxious couple of weeks for the Tulsa forum members.

Bob.

From Bob McCargar--
One of our members had a computer failure, and so she's been going to the local library in Bartlesville. She found your friend Marie Winn's Red Tails in Love, and used the computer there to send this note:

Hi, bobd and company: Still no computer at home, but I wanted to post something relevant, even if not on the observation thread. In light of the dramas we are seeing and have seen at the nest, here are a couple of thoughts for your consideration from Marie Winn's Red-tails in Love book. I think you will find truths here that touch your hearts:

"Bird-watching is a sport, a hobby, a skilled occupation. Hawkwatching is an obsession. Like love, it exhilarates. Like love, it brings anxiety. Birdwatchers watch and listen, ever in hope of something exciting just around the corner. Hawkwatchers exalt and despair." (p. 204)

"The red-tail fledglings hung around a few weeks and then they, too, were gone, God knows where. Only unhappy stories have real endings, after all. You never find out how the good stories end." (p. 263)

-----------

We've all exulted with Kay, Jay and Thunder over the past year. We've had our despair, as well, with little Spirit. Maybe we will despair again this season. Maybe there will be another unhappy story with a real ending. But then we will still have Kay and Jay, and we will still have one another, hawkwatchers all. We will exult again, sooner or later, and one way or another. And we will continue to hope that Thunder is out there living her own hawk's life--and that, for us, may be the Good Story with the hidden ending.

(An aside here. If you have not read Marie Winn’s glorious book, Red-tails in Love, run do not walk to the book store or the library and get it! You will be so very glad you did. Marie also has a second book, Central Park in the Dark, which continues the saga of the Watchers of Central Park with some cameo appearances of the Red-tails with the inclusion of the night creatures-the owls, the raccoons, the moths.)

From me--
Bob, thank you for keeping me in the loop. John’s great isn't he?

He's right of course the parents don't know if the eggs will or won’t hatch. Every failed season, the last five I believe, Lola sits for an extra month and the weather becomes hotter and hotter up there on the building, she becomes more bedraggled and worn. Poor bird, she gets itchy, she gets giant bags under her eyes, the flies torment her, and when the pigeon spikes from the undercarriage were still poking up through the lining of the nest, her brood patch became completely purple from bruising. But she still did that extra month.

Pale Male faithful and diligent to the end keeps bringing her food and taking his turn at the eggs. They both seem to know "something" isn’t right but not what. They begin remodeling the nest, searching for new materials and poking them in with focus.

Then Lola’s breaks get longer and longer and Pale Male sits and waits longer, looking very concerned, watching for her to return to the nest. Then a day comes when she just can't do it anymore and he will sit all the day long waiting to be relieved. His little face staring out searching for her return. Then if he sees her sitting nearby, he'll fly off the nest. He’ll raid a passerine brood of a chick and fly back and forth in front of the nest, trying to tempt Lola into returning. She may fly to the nest for his offered treat but then she leaves very quickly again. Her hormones are no longer urging her to be there and it has been physically miserable for her for weeks. He then often takes the egg sitting job for himself until he too can't do it anymore.

Then they start their journey from the nest in the reverse order of how they came to it at the beginning of the season. Copulation, courtship dancing in the sky, nest refurbishment, until they pass once again into the trees of Central Park to do the things they usually do come winter but a little earlier as there are no fledglings to train.

Lola was photographed playing with a juvenile not her own, in one of those failed years after she and Pale Male had left their nest. Perhaps she was playing with one of Pale Male's grandchildren..

The hawks do not seem to grieve as we might and do, they are practical and take things as they come. They will start all over again when the cycle of the seasons returns them to January's nest building and it all begins again. So we try to take a cue from them, and every season there are hawkwatchers sitting on The Bench even now-- watching with their fingers crossed...hoping.

Beyond that, as you know these birds are beautiful, they fill us with wonder, and the surprises never stop no matter how many years you watch. Sometimes the surprises are terrible and in other years so full of joy they are nearly miraculous. Marie is right; hawkwatching is an obsession.

How could one not want to see what happens next? We wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Every year we hope beyond hope that Pale Male and Lola will succeed, and then deep in the season, comes the despair—at least so far. If Pale Male and Lola are ever successful again, there will be true exaltation in New York City and in many other places too, as so many know the Fifth Avenue Hawks.

I have my finger's crossed for Kay and Jay too, though I don't logically know how the eggs could still be alive. But do remember the hawkwatchers adage..Never Underestimate a Red-tail. Besides there is always the next hawk season. When not only do the birds begin anew but the hawkwatchers once again gather together as well, a flock of old friends return to their former places almost as if they have never left. They catch up with each other, and with eyes ready for wonder, wait and anticipate just what this new season may bring.

Donna


From John Blakeman—
I wouldn't take any concerns about the pair failing to return to the nest site next year. They've been there now for, what, two yeara? If they didn't come back, it would almost surely mean that both birds would have died. After red-tails nest consecutively at sites like this (and at 927 Fifth Ave in New York), the birds will come back. They aren't coming back because eggs hatched or failed to hatch. It's the nest site itself, one that they've grown accustomed to and feel "at home" in.
********************************************************************
Donegal Browne

Urban Hawks-Pale Male Jr., Charlotte, Kay & Jay plus Ospreys, Eagles, and Dinosaur Hip Bones

Photograph of Charlotte heading for the nest by Brett Odom
Where did the bark/dried stalk come from in Charlotte's beak? Did Charlotte go and get it and leave the eggs? Or did Junior just drop it off at the door and take off again?

Here are some thoughts from Brett Odom, chief watcher of Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte, the Southern Central Park Red-tails in NYC--

Hey Donna.

I just thought that I would provide some additional info you wondered about with regard to my question to you. I had also thought about the air coming from the vents being warmer than the outside air, but didn't think it would be warm enough to keep the eggs at the 99ºF which is my understanding the temperature at which most avian eggs need to be incubated. There was no rain on this day so that is a plus. The eggs were dry.

As for leaving the nest to hunt. I have not seen Jr. in the past 5 days. So I haven't seen him bring any food for Charlotte. That isn't to say that he hasn't brought any prey to her, though. The layout of my office keeps me from having an eye on the nest at all times. I could easily miss a drop off.

Also, I'm not sure where the stick came from. I turned around and Charlotte was already on the ledge with the stick. I don't know if Jr. dropped it off, she brought it in or if the wind blew it off and she went and retrieved it.It's Monday morning at 9:15AM and I can tell that one of them is sitting on the nest now. I just can't tell who it is yet through the grimy window. I only see movement whenever they move their head.


Photograph by Brett Odom
And a second email from Brett when he caught Junior in the act--

Well, I sent out that email to you this morning a little too soon. I just happened to turn around and see Jr. at the nest today. I didn't see if he brought food or anything with him. I just noticed him perched on the ledge and then he took off for the Park.

Hi Brett,

Thanks so much for the updates. Also got your second email saying that you'd seen Jr. Sounds like he is doing some very quick ins and outs. So he most likely has been doing his support-the-nest job quite swimmingly as he always has though it is difficult to catch him at it.

Even at Pale Male and Lola’s nest on Fifth Ave, which has a very broad view to catch the hawk coming and going plus numbers of people watching, we still miss switches at times because everyone for whatever reason looked away at the same moment. Personally I think the hawks try to time their switches to just those sorts of moments.

They do keep an eye on our eyes so they are aware of where we are looking.

Also sounds like Junior brought the stick, dropped it off, and zipped back out again. He is a busy bird who seems to be taking his many responsibilities seriously.

By the way, in 2005 Junior did a wonderful job teaching Little, the fledgling tiercel, his personal bag of very clever pigeon hunting techniques. Junior started training the moment that Little was off the nest.

Which could be something to look forward to watching this upcoming season if all goes well.
D

*****

TULSA'S KAY AND JAY INCUBATION LAG

More very helpful information on the weather during Kay and Jay's nest absence from Kentucky Sally of the Tulsa Hawk Nest Forum--

It was 36 degrees in the morning after she left because I remember checking that, and the eggs were in the sun for a while when she first left, and the temperature warmed during the day. According to Wunderground the temp warmed quickly in the morning to 40 at 10:00am, 45 by 12 and 50 around 2:00pm, reaching 60 by 4:00pm. Wind was very still in the morning and increased a bit by evening.

Sally

http://www.keepky.org/html/2008_nest_cam.html

From our Blackwater Eagle and Osprey reporter Robin of Illinois--

The Blackwater Osprey Cam web log, has links to a variety of other osprey cams around the world. Finland has some spectacular ones but these pictures are from the Kentucky Osprey Cam (link above). The first photo shows the light color that the osprey are soon after hatching, and the second one shows the osprey young in their "reptilian phase."

http://www.keepky.org/html/2008_nest_cam.html

See the lizard-like creatures sleeping on the left side of the nest? Those are young sleeping osprey. Dinosaurs as progenitors of birds?

As to Dinosaurs being progenitors of Birds? Absolutely. Back when dinosaurs were “definitely” considered cold blooded the progression wasn’t noticed. Then a few flying dinosaur fossils were found if for one place China, in which—Wow! Those look like the images of feathers on that dinosaur fossil! Then the debate began, starting with “Are you sure those weren’t FAKED?” More feathered Dino fossils were found. Hmmmm. Then paleontological anatomists and avian anatomists began some cross pollinating talk and got into the game. And my, my they realized that there was a portion of the hip in birds and in dinosaurs that was exactly the same.

According to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, it is now “believed” that yes, the progenitors of our avian friends are dinosaurs. Also if you have watched birds very much live and keep their movement in mind as you watch the Jurassic Park movies you will see that the special effects folks used birds as models for the movement of the dinosaurs. I particularly found movement similarities in Jurassic park to be acutely familiar from watching Quicksilver, my African Grey Parrot.

From the Blackwater Eagle Cam and Robin of Illinois http://friendsofblackwater.org/wordpress/eagle09/,

Lisa posted this close up photo of what the current eaglets would look like up close, with their gray down and their pinfeathers growing in.

Lisa writes: "The beaks and talons of young bald eaglets grow faster than other parts of their bodies, and by about mid-April, their beaks and talons will be close to adult size. Full-size beaks allow the eaglets to feed themselves and full-size feet allow them to hold on tightly to the nest when they're moving around during windy weather or when they're flapping their wings in practice for eventual flight." Further down in the web log, she has links to some awesome photos from the Norfolk Eagle cam, adults, feeding their eaglets.

Our favorite Squirrel rehabber, Carol Vinzant, isn’t only interested in Squirrels, here is her offering for today—

Madeleine Pickens is trying to start the world's biggest wild horse sanctuary. The Bureau of Land Management wants to allow shipping horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter instead.

****

Click on this URL to take action now

http://capwiz.com/madeleinepickens/utr/2/?a=12943361&i=92651486&c=

Donegal Browne