Isolde Has a Hatch! Unenlightened at Riverside Park, Fostering Red-shouldered Hawks, Whooping Crane Shooters Found

Photo courtesy of palemale.com
Riverside Mom and one of the eyasses

Urban Hawks reports that the grotesque folly hasn't ended at Riverside Park even yet. The hubristic and intentionally unenlightened continue to make fools of themselves and place the hawks in further jeopardy . This time a Riverside Park's employee who insists he'll remove the food that has been left for Riverside Mom to feed her half orphaned eyasses.

"John Herrold isn't the only Park's employee at Riverside who's shooting himself in the foot, by the way.

Paul Evans, Parks and Recreation Manager got into an argument with a park's patron on Sunday when Evans told the patron he would be removing the rats that had been placed around the nest. (I find it odd that Evans didn't know about a program approved by the Parks Commissioner. More mismanagement by Herrold?) Pamela Langford, a long time hawk watcher explained the feeding program and the sadness many felt over the father's death. Instead of being understanding, Evans told her something to the effect of "What do expect, these hawks shouldn't be in New York City."

For more on this bizarre scenerio plus plans for a possible protest on June 20th if things continue to go to hell in a hand-basket go to http://urbanhawks.blogs.com/

Photo courtesy of Rob Schmunk at http://bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com/
Isolde and Norman look at their eyasses. I'm so excited for them! This is a nest I've watched for many hours and hawks dear to my heart. (Okay, I know, they are all dear to me.)

Actually just how many young are up there is unknown but Isolde has been observed tearing prey and feeding it to someone or someones in the nest so there has been a hatch.
For more great photos and Rob's observations, click the link above.

Photo courtesy of the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
In from Tulsa Hawk Watcher Jackie Dover, I'd seen documentation about Red-tailed Hawks in Alaska raising five or six eyasses in a nest but I've never seen it done before by buteos. This is a crack pair!

This was posted on the Face Book page of the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey (they're the ones who rescued the red-shouldered hawk babies in Sarasota, Florida, plus the osprey chick from Tampa. I don't know whether the two babies in this item and photo are those same two. But interesting. FIVE babies! They said that these parents have done this before. "One of the most amazing and endearing traits of raptors is their excellent parenting. They are such good parents that they will also take in a foster chick or two. We placed eaglets in foster nests this winter, and those youngsters are now flying. Recently we placed two Red-shouldered Hawk chicks into a foster nest. It's pretty crowded, for the wild adults were already caring for three of their own. We knew that this pair could handle the extra mouths to feed, since they have been called upon before to add to their brood. Staff at the Center, along with a volunteer climber, gave them some extra room by installing a nest platform next to the nest."

I guess experienced Whooping Cranes aren't really all that important after all-- once things get to court.

http://www.defendersblog.org/2011/05/citizen-tip-helps-solve-whooping-crane-shooting/
Thanks to Robin of Illinois for the link.

Pale Male, Riverside Park Hawks, and Funny Fur Fox

Photo courtesy of palemale.com

All seems well on the Fifth Avenue front for Pale Male and Ginger Lima so far. Keep those fingers crossed!


Photo courtesy of palemale.com
Riverside Mom and one of her eyasses.

Bruce Yolton at urbanhawks reports that Riverside Park Mom is accepting food left near the nest by humans and so far she and the two eyasses are making it without the tiercel who was likely poisoned.

(No permission for a feeding station necessary as she's just picking the human supplied food up from where ever when she sees it.)

We aren't out of the woods yet as it is difficult for a single parent to feed and watch over multiple young particularly when one has fledged and one is still on the nest. Though she is likely experienced enough to know the tricks of tempting them with food to keep them somewhat together once off nest as she and her mate have fledged three eyasses at once in past years.

Read through and then go to the link above for the full story and to find email addresses for the person in charge of placing the rat poison, and his letter which reads in part--

"Please rest assured we have been actively engaged in working to care for the hawks."

Really? Then how come one of them is dead likely due to rat poison that you placed, and kept in place even after being alerted to the probable danger to the hawks?

I think Mr. Herrold could use a few emails making our deep concern about how he has handled this and our feelings about the death of Riverside Dad very clear, don't you?

Somehow I don't think I'll be buying anything from the Boat Basin Cafe either until they get some better garbage control going. The real answer to rat problems according to all the studies is GOOD SANITATION, not poison.


Zonotrichia albicollis stares at Pyewacket the cat.

Every year just about the time the Juncos head north, a couple of White-throated Sparrows appear, feed up for a week or so and then they too head further north. I find them quite beautiful, not to mention plucky.

A fox with what appears to be a possible fur problem trots cheekily towards the threshing shed and I'm assuming a den I've not discovered quite yet. I'm wondering if she could use some nice chicken with an anti-fungal on it similar to what we do for squirrels with a similar look?

Of course the squirrels get peanuts with their anti-fungal not chicken.

Donegal Browne

Great Horned Owls as Crow Magnets And Thoughts on Empathy

Owl Photos by Mark Scarborough
A Great Horned Owl from the Raptor Education Group. Inc.

Reporter Mark Scarborough of the The Edgerton Reporter, (also an old college friend of mine), had me tag along to an event he was covering and maybe take a few pictures. The event was a raptor education talk by some folks from the Raptor Education Group, Inc. from Antigo, WI.(Much more about them in the next post.)

We all met at the boyhood home of Sterling North. Remember Sterling North? He's the one who wrote Rascal, all about the baby raccoon he raised and eventually released into the wild.

After the talk, while I was jabbering in the front yard of North's house with Molly McKay and Karissa Mohr (visualize three Bird Nerds which they label themselves as and I have to admit I rather lump myself in there too- trading bird stories as fast as we could) who'd done the demonstration with the birds are now holding the Great Horned for a photo op. The light was much better outside.

When cawing, lots of it, started coming from multiple directions.

Including the trees, pretty much over Owl's head. Does he look amused? That would be a no.

The Crows weren't amused either.

They then began grouping behind him--and us.

And then they began flying back and forth and getting more aggressive. I began to know how Owl was feeling. Or any of the other raptors I've watched "get it". We humans because of our obvious "friendship" with Owl were now about to be mobbed by crows.

I've of course always felt bad and quite sorry when watching Isolde and Tristan fending crows away from their nest and being dive bombed. And certainly for Pale Male and First Love when they were run into buildings and injured by Crows but somehow it was never quite as real to me personally as this moment was.

Today's lesson. Empathy may be strong but it is never as vivid as the real thing happening to you.

Much more on R.E.G.I. to come. And of course other raptor news as well.

Donegal Browne