The Eagle, That Leads to the Eagles Nest, and the Red-tailed Hawk Part 1

This is my last photo of the day, just as the sun was going down. And this is the Red-tailed Hawk I'd been looking for, though not his nest as yet. 

But while I was looking for him, I found an Eagle's nest.

I'd met some people on a walking trail who said they'd heard there was a Red-tailed Hawk nest toward the west and also that the Eagle's nest of last year had blown down and an Eagle pair also likely had a nest somewhere "over there".

Thankfully the railroad tracks were going in a handy direction...giving me some "public access" through the countryside amidst all the privately owned land.

I'd walked along for about a half hour being screamed at by Red-winged Blackbirds, they're very tense this time of year, when I saw a large speck in the top of a tree.

  

 Then the large speck took to his wings toward the east...left.

A Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, going somewhere with purpose.

He then curved back in the other direction again and flew the length of a field back to his perch.

Flying past the nest.  See it near the top of the tree center?
 It's well over a mile away, so I try digiscoping.

It is too far away even for digiscoping. 

There is an Eagle's head there but its tough to see. I look around for the nearest farm house.  Perhaps they own the site and I can get permission to get closer.  Gulp.  I gather my stuff and start trekking for it. 

Raptor watching is ever so much easier in Central Park.  Though...Central Park doesn't have an Eagle's Nest.

More to Come!

Donegal Browne

More Thoughts on Rose of Fordham, Great Horned Owls, and the Collins Hall Nest

 

  Courtesy of http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130319/flatiron/death-of-red-tailed-hawk-caused-by-rat-poison-says-epa

 

Blog reader Linda Maslin, of Blue Bell, PA, emailed me a link, above, to a picture and article about the Red-tailed Hawk which died of secondary rat poison in Madison Square Park in mid-March of this year, asking if that hawk might indeed have been Rose.

Linda,  if the hawk in the photo is the hawk who was poisoned she is not Rose.   Rose's belly band was more like paint dripping as opposed to spots and she also was banded.  

 

Fordham is in the Bronx and Madison Square Park is in Manhattan so the distance is not impossible but unlikely, as in March as territorial lines are hardening up by then.

But once again thanks for sending it.
Best, D

 

       photo Donegal Browne-- Rose of Fordham in a happier season.

 

I'd also emailed Chris Lyons of Fordham, a major watcher of Rose and Vince, asking if he thought that their son, named Alpha Son, who joined Rose in Great Horned Owl baiting might also have met his end with Rose?  If  indeed, that is as suspected, she died in a battle  with the Great Horned Owl Dad.  Both Alpha Son and GHO Dad, are currently missing from the New York Botanical Garden.

Chris wrote-

 

I'm not clear about this whole Alpha Son thing, but I doubt Junior [Great Horned Owl Dad at NYBG,  DB] could take both of them out at the same time. 

 I haven't seen Vince in the last week either, but that doesn't mean anything, with breeding disrupted.  I would assume I'll see him with a new mate at some point, but normally the Fordham Hawks are well into nesting by now, so maybe it's too late for this year.  

 

I hope the Collins nest won't be abandoned, but that'll be up to the new missus, whenever she comes along.  Always possible, I guess, that an established pair could show up and claim the territory.   It's too good a territory to stay vacant, that's for sure--more worried about the owl mother finding a mate.   We know a lot less about how many unattached GHO's are in NYC.   

Photo Donegal Browne
The Collins Hall Red-tailed Hawk nest at Fordham University

Chris,

I'm leaning more toward Alpha Son hitting the thermals for  the RTH adolescent migration.  Though as its now been proven that Red-tails do have a tendency to return to their natal territory for breeding,  we may not have seen the last of him.  I like that thought very much.

I would think that unattached GHO's in NYC would be rare.  They technically don't migrate.  Though Central Park does tend to get a GHO visitor in the winter, probably on a little winter vacation from another borough.  Or even from the NYBG.

The Garden's Great Horned Owl Mom and her single owlette are going to be going it alone this season I'm afraid.  I don't know that a male GHO would pitch in like T2 did last season at the Franklin Institute.  But one never knows as no one had ever seen a Red-Tailed Hawk stepfather before either. :)

Just got a pic from a blog reader of the hawk that was poisoned in Madison Square Park in mid March of this year asking if it may have been Rose.   It would have been very unlikely to have been her due to distance at this time of year but the hawk in the photo had a definite spotted belly band as opposed to Rose's more streaked model.

As to the Collins nest site, if things work like Pale Male and 927,  and  Isolde at the Cathedral,  the remaining hawk holds the territory until another mate is chosen. In fact Vince may have "disappeared" to go looking.   James O'Brien believes he saw Isolde leave and go get Storm'n Norman not long after Tristan's death.

 Of course Vince's new mate would technically have the choice of nest site being the female, but she'd have to be a bit off to choose another spot.

 In actuality Collins hall is arguably the best RTH building nest site for fledging and branching in the city.  As far as I know, in no other building nest site in NYC are the young able to move back and forth to the nest at will, and easily do true branching in the adjacent trees as they do in tree nests in non-urban territories.

I'm still holding out hope for Vince finding a mate for this season.  When Charlotte and Pale Male Jr. successfully double clutched it was even later in the year.

Please do keep me updated.  Fingers crossed!

Best, D

Happy Hawking
Donegal Browne

Ravens In Manhattan?

Today there were these photographs of two birds published on http://www.palemale.com/    They appear to be Corvids but which species?  Discussion then ensued as to exactly  which species these birds are.  

Are they Crows or Ravens?

 No size comparison is possible from a photograph with nothing in it but the birds themselves.  Nor are we privy to their voices or possible ruffed feathers at the neck.

The beaks look a bit thick, but not definitive enough for me to be positive.

Supposedly Crows have fan shaped tails and Ravens have a wedge shaped tail.  Here without anything to compare the tails  of actual Crows vs Raven tails to these, it appears that the bird on the left may have a wedge shape and the bird on the right has a possible fan shape....but maybe it's a bit wedgie as it is slightly curved?

No clincher so far.  

In my opinion when in doubt about identification based on physical attributes, it is time to look into the differences in behavior.  

And it appears to me that these two birds are participating in some sort of courtship display.

The question:  What does courtship behavior consist of in Crows and what in Ravens? 

As it turns out, courtship in Crows involves the male doing a good bit of strutting. 

But Ravens do a courtship flight which includes flying with wingtips touching.

BINGO!  WE'VE GOT A RAVEN PAIR!

Donegal Browne