Urban Hawks

In the high wind late today, the Riverside Park nest was destroyed and all three eyasses perished on Saturday in the late afternoon.  Reports from fellow hawk watchers say the eyasses didn’t fall out of the nest, but fell with the falling nest. They died as soon as they hit the ground, so they died quickly.

The mother was seen looking where the nest had been, and then flew off.  The father also came by the nest soon after the accident with a rat.  The remains of the nest includes lining material and a half eaten pigeon.

Expect the parents to rebuild the nest, although it is likely that this replacement will not be used until next year, if at all.  The parents were seen copulating on Sunday.

Leslie Day reminded me that two years ago, those eyasses also perished the day before Mother’s Day. This family seems to catch all the bad breaks.

This is just another reminder of the high mortality rate for Red-tailed Hawk babies. Over 70% die in their first year.

It was a calm evening when I arrived at the nest.  We’re having a race at Riverside.  Although the kids are getting bigger, the foliage seems to be outracing them.  It’s frustrating for photographers and hawk watchers, but probably good for the hawks.

The Riverside Park eyasses are now big enough and mobile enough to
watch without waiting too long.  You no longer have to wait two hours for a brief glimpse.  The eyasses at a really, cute stage.  Still
fluffy and white, but very active.  If you haven’t been down to see
them, do it before they grow up!