May 16, 2012
This observation is the continuation of a previous post. The previous article can be found here: Red-tailed Hawk – Nest Update 3
On today’s visit to the Richardson Red-tailed Hawk nest, I once again found the female sitting high a top the antenna tower. The diligent mother hawk was keeping watch on her young while patiently waiting for her mate to return with his latest catch.
Once again, I only saw one juvenile hawk today. It is begining to appear as if one eyas is all we have at this nest. I will continue to monitor this situation over the coming weeks.
The male hawk did not make an appearance this time, but the female did have a couple of other interesting visitors while I was watching. The first was a Northern Mockingbird, probably with young nearby. This brave mockingbird made repeated attempts to drive the female hawk away by striking the big bird bodily. For her part, the mother hawk was generally unimpressed by the effort.
Later, I moved to a vantage point directly below the female hawk. There, I witnessed a Blue Jay make a similar attempt to drive away the hawk. The Blue Jay impacted the hawk several times and sent feathers flying on at least one occassion. Ultimately, this effort too was a failure. Our female Red-tailed Hawk is very dedicated to to her nest and her young.
This observation is continued here: Red-tailed Hawk – Nest Update 5
