shot of my camera, that is.:)
February 21. Another chilly cold morning, but I’ve sort of expected that already. I found one hawk atop the Capitol, but before I could take a picture, it flew off. Oh, well. I walked further east and saw a distinct silhouette of a large bird on Goldie Hen. I quickly walked in that direction and to my surprise, there was not one but two!
Experience has taught me not to wait for the best location and take a few shots while I had the chance and that paid off. Before I could get a better view, one of the hawks flew off. I took my place across the street and waited for it to return.
But return, it did not. Papa was left on Goldie and this is how it looked with the PNC building to its left and Wells to its right.
I looked around and to my surprise, the other hawk (or so I thought) had returned and landed on a tree by the parking lot. It was Mama. A closer look at the pair that was on Goldie Hen, revealed it was Papa and Blynken! Nothing like a little bonding. Blynk probably took off when Mama landed. Check out the tail feathers, its that of a juvenile.
Mama stayed on the tree for a bit, unloaded some weight 🙂 then took a quick hop to the next tree.
I thought she was hunting, but if that’s a nest, it’s empty. It turned out that she was just shopping for nesting material.
She took off and landed on the security camera, twig in beak.
She flew straight to the nest and took a few minutes to fix up the new material. Their nest is getting pretty deep. Notice only her tail feathers are showing.
I waited for her to exit from the front but, this time she took off from the back and landed on the monument. Mama looked at me and probably wondered… Yes, Mama, it’s the hawkarattzzi
Mama looked around and something on the ground seemed to have piqued her interest.
But, it turned out to be nothing and she took off and headed for the Capitol for a great view of the sunrise.
She sat there for a while and I had to get going. My colleague stopped by about 20 minutes later and she was still there.
The Red-tails have been very regular in the Capitol area for the past several weeks. Other folks who work in the Capitol area have informed me that they’ve seen them hunting and ferrying material to the nest.
Looks like it’s going to be another Raleigh Raptor’s year!
Ciao!
JP
Raleigh Raptors 
Hi JP, you got a number of fun shots today! I loved the first one with the two birds and the sunrise lighting up the underside of Mam’s tail. I also loved the precious look the bird on the statue was giving you. I just melt when my birds look at me like that! Poop shots are always fun and I love it that you have been able to identify that the parents still engage with prior years’ fledges. The director of a raptor program out here is convinced that once the “babies” can feed themselves the parents regard them as mere competitors. That has not been what I have observed though. How nice to have my experience confirmed through an independent source! Keep shootin’ and sharing!! Thank you for bringing us with you on your journey!
maureen, thanks! it’s good to see Blynken bonding with Dad, but I have a feeling Mama doesn’t want him around for good reason. He will be a threat to the upcoming new kids.
Last year, Babe (from 2011) actually helped rebuild the nest, bringing nesting material. The only time she wasn’t allowed near the nest was when there were eyasses in the nest for obvious reasons. Papa, our dependable Tiercel actually escorted Babe away from the nest.
This should be an exciting spring.
best,
Do they eat their young siblings???
normally they don’t. but when food becomes scarce, one or more eyass might die as they fight for food.