June 2
I received an email from Steve Stone of the American Wildlife Refuge AWR (please donate!) that he had to rescue another hawk yesterday. That was Rhea. Rhea had fledged/fallen from the nest on friday 5/30 and was in a tree next to the church. The fact that she was on the ground meant she wasn’t getting fed.
As I stopped by the nest today, it was quiet. No movement. No doubt, Theia had left the nest. I looked around at the trees by the Capitol but didn’t find her. But Mama was on the SECU building. As I took some pictures, a construction worker pointed me to …. Theia!
Apparently, she didn’t go far and was watching Bob the builder :).
Someone had called animal control/AWR and Steve arrived minutes later and got Theia to safety. Steve did a quick check on the RT and she was okay physically, however, he mentioned that she was about a week early from really being able to fly properly. Theia was probably the most flight-ready of the three. Notice that she has much longer tail feathers compared to Rhea.
I mentioned to Steve that the 1st 2 birds probably fell since a lot of nesting material was on the ground. He said it was quite possible that all the rain we had in the weeks prior probably weakened the nest structure, causing it to partially fall off and hence, the birds falling.
I guess the question some folks have is “should we have just left them alone?”. The answer is if they were in a tree, yes, but on the ground, no. On the ground, they’re like little babies. They don’t know who’s friend or foe and would most likely be hurt by a car (some folks don’t STOP for wildlife) or become prey to some larger animal.
This has been so different compared to the past 3 years when all the eyasses fledged at the right time. Wynken’s (2012) case was unique. He fell and was able to stay alive in the Capitol for a week and eventually flew back to the nest and fledged together with her siblings Blynken and Nod.
So what’s Mama and Papa to do since there won’t be a post-season play this year. This is the outdoor classroom at work. We’ll see. Hopefully, they will still come back next year.
Goodbye Theia, Rhea and Dione. We hardly knew you.
Dione
Rhea
Theia
I’ll get updates from Steve and will post them as I get them.
Ciao
JP
Raleigh Raptors 
Thanks JP, sad that they were forced early –but glad Steve and you were there to help them, I agree, to interfere, when threatened on the ground.
Deborah
Thank you so much for your beautiful photos and commentary. Has so become part of my day.
Thanks JP for the terrific pictures and explanation. Thanks also for talking about Steve, The American Wildlife Rescue and posting the pictures of what he does best! He does an amazing job and is truly gifted when it comes to working with these beautiful raptors. Your pictures are wonderful as well.
Thanks for what you do!
Mary Ann
you’re very welcome. i feel a little ’empty’ now the kids have gone. one saving grace is that all 3 of them will be together and will be released together.
during the rescue sunday of rhea when everyone was distracted theia made her 1st flight from the nest and made it across the intersection and landed on top of the nc bar asssc bldg. sad not to have them around to watch but happy they’ll be released (i hope) together in a safe place
what a sight it must have been to see ‘first-flight’. that’s one thing i haven’t seen in all 4 years of watching them. i guess being at the right place at the right time. did you get any pictures of first-flight?
I am not a construction worker. I waited with “Theia” for well over an hour. Once I figured out who to call, Steve was there pretty darn quick. Who to call, took a while to figure out. I woke a few people up, but they got some nice hawk pictures.
my apologies. thanks for calling steve.
Not a problem. It was good to meet you and I was more than happy to wait with Theia. Steve is an amazing guy, the surety and deftness of his handling of Theia was as gentle as any parent with their babe. I was impressed. I am glad that Theia will be looked after until ready to soar!
Send me an email I will you send you the older pick of ma or pa with squirrel snack.