I'm in Avignon getting ready to start a bike trip in Provence.  

The brancher, came off the nest for a few hours today.  The time off the nest included some time on the ground.  It then returned to the nest in the mid-afternoon and took a nap!

I suspect the weekend will be full of fun activities.  Please be careful around the fledglings.  I saw many birders get too close to the fledgling.  As calm as a fledgling may look, they’re easily spooked.  Once startled, they don’t have enough experience or flying ability to go to a safe, high spot.  They can easily end up in a bike path or road.

The general precautions include:

• Giving a new fledgling about 50-100 feet of space.
• If there is a group of hawk watchers, don’t spread out and surround the bird.
• Don’t block the “safe exits”.  If you do, you’ll end up moving a bird towards a highway or the water.
• If someone asks you to move, don’t be stubborn.  Take their advice and if you think they were being overly careful, calmly discuss the issue once you’re away from the bird.
• Error on the side of caution.  The bird’s welfare is more important than your view or photograph.
• If you are trying to take a picture with a standard point and shoot camera or a cell phone, you’re too close.

I’m flying off to Paris tonight.  I can’t wait to come back next week and see how our youngsters are doing.  Please feel free to email me your observations while I’m away. 

The most active of the eyasses wondered around different branches of the nest today.  It was so much fun to watch.  After watching three eyasses in a nest for weeks, it was great to see one exploring the tree.  Fledging can’t be far away.

There has started to be discussion about which eyasses are boys and which are girls around the nest site among the hawk watchers.  At this stage it’s really hard to tell.  Just like 11 and 12 year old girls who are likely to be taller than boys in their class, young male hawks can be bigger that young female hawks while they’re grow up. 

It’s usually a good idea to wait a month or two after fledging to start comparing sizes and begin making guesses about the sex of the fledglings.  The guesses will be just that, guesses.  There is some overlap between size of Red-tails of each sex.  There are big boys and small girls.

Jumping up on branches is usually a precursor to fledging and tonight we saw some nice high hops up to higher perches.  I’m going away on Friday for ten days, so I hope at least one of them fledges before I go.

I only have about thirty minutes to spend at the Riverside Park nest this evening.  While I was there both parents were close to the nest and the eyasses were fairly relaxed.  I heard from other hawk watchers that the eyasses had been active earlier in the day.

The father seems to be spending much more time around the nest than a week ago.  The mother also seems to be keeping a closer eye on them.  I suspect that they also know that the fledge window started today and lasts through the weekend.

The parents were both close to the nest tonight and had their hands full with a pair of Blue Jays.  The adult male, who spends time near the Boat Basin Café has been difficult for me to find when he goes south.  But tonight the Blue Jays made it easy to find him.  I suspect these Blue Jays will help us find the fledglings in a few days!

The kids relaxed and rested, with brief spurts of activity.  One of them found a new perch on the south side of the nest.  I didn’t see any feedings tonight, but I suspect the eyasses were fed before I arrived.  The fledge window starts tomorrow.  I suspect we’ll have at least one of the eyasses fledging by Friday.

If you thought watching hawks on a nest was fun, wait until you get to watch young fledglings.  You haven’t seen anything yet!