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I was fortunate enough to share something with Mother Nature last year at this time and thought I would share it here. It is a true story and involves a family of Red Shouldered Hawks. I hope that all will be able to see the pics and enjoy the story.
Just a bit of education. Red Shouldered Hawks are monogamous. They come together each Spring, mate, incubate, nurture, and then separate again until the next year. Both Mom and Dad incubate the eggs and feed the fledglings. Both parents also participate in "flight school". After all that is done, the parents kick the kids to curb, chase them out of their hunting grounds, and the parents separate until the next Spring.
Incubation is approximately a month and then the parents feed and nurture for about 45 days.
This not just a story of hawks, but a story of a miracle to me........
Last Spring I noticed some activity about 45' up in one of the trees in front of my house and realized a large pair of birds were building a nest. With some internet searching I realized they were hawks. Within a short amount of time I knew they had laid eggs as I could see them coming and going about every hour or so. One parent would leave and the other would come. Each time one of them wanted to change I could hear them calling out. Within minutes the other mate would return to the nest and take it's turn. That went on for about a month or so. It was absolutely fascinating.
I was concerned that when the leaves started to come out on the trees my new source of entertainment would not be visible. But nature was on my side and I was able to use my binoculars and watch the whole unfolding show.
Hopefully you will be able to see in the pic below, one of the parents and just below is a fuzzy little head peeking out at me.
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
i swear they just knew I was there and they posed for this one.
And when these little guys are hungry, they could make so much noise calling to their parents. At this point the parents are spending very little time with them. Most of their time was taken just continually bring food and trying to feed themselves
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
Everything was going good. Day after day of the same wonderful show.
Then on this particular day things seemed different. I could hear this baby hawk calling and calling. It was going on far more than usual. I finally went outside to see what was happening.
And then I saw it. A hawk on the ground. I figured it was flight time and merely watched him. And I watched for a long time............he wasn't flying at all. He was hopping around the yard but no flying at all. I got out my binoculars and the other bird was still in the nest. I had no idea what was going on. Something was just wrong with this situation.
There is a local rescue raptor center in my area and I decided to give them a call. I explained all that I was aware of. It seems that this little birdie had fallen out of the nest. The parents will not feed anywhere but the nest and this bird needed some help.
I got out a laundry basket, took it outside and put it over this poor thing. He was so scared. The folks from the raptor center came and took him away as there was no way to get him back to the nest.
At this age the little thing was unable to hunt for his own food and needed assistance.
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
I was really unsure how things would turn out at this point. The other sibling was very close to flight school and once that was over the parents would separate and be gone.
I was hoping for the best though.
Well things did not look good. Much like I was concerned about, 2 weeks after the raptor center took the baby away they called. They said he/she was ready to come back. I had to explain to them that the hawks were gone. I had not seen any sign of them in almost 5 days. They told me the hawks best chances were to return to the nest though as he/she was now flying but was under weight and needed to hunt. I said ok but was not hopeful.
So here he/she is 2 weeks later.
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
As we were unable to get the hawk that high in the air, nature was in charge now. We put the hawk as up in the tree as possible but it didn't work. He was scared and flew over and landed on a neighbors fence. It was sad to see. The folks from the raptor center continued to assure me that this was not in my hands now but in nature's hands.
That hawk sat on that fence for 36 hours. It called and called. It was breaking my heart to hear it. I was so close to calling the raptor center to come and do something about it.
It was pitiful.
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
Just at my breaking point and totally out of nowhere, and I swear with all that is in me, it's true...............an adult hawk came out of nowhere and dropped food right on that fence rail right next to that baby. It was one of the parents. They had heard the calls and returned to nurture. Within a couple of hours, both parents were back and dropping food.
Within a few hours and I have no idea how............the baby was in the tree where the nest was. See below.
Those parents returned to the nest for another 2 weeks, feeding that baby and training him/her.
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
stalkers.........eh they gotta hang out someplace
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 08-27-2007 at 03:15 AM.
But that is not the ending to my story and I have thought of that baby hawk many times, those same wonderful parents are now here again with another family in the making.
Thank you for listening to my story
__________________
Ships are safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships were meant for.
thts a beautiful story jabber
thanks for sharing it with us
peace
__________________ "Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction." Bob Marley "Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny" Bob Marley "Stand up, stand up, stand up for your rights" Bob Marley "We should really love each other in peace and harmony, instead we're fussin' n fighting like we ain't supposed to be" Bob Marley
I can understand your relationship to the hawks...this is a nice story..I have learned alot about you just from this post...and thank you for sharing Jabber!! mahalo nui loa...
when Lu told me .."did you see jabbers hawk??" i was wondering what kind?? well the conversation skipped over and i forgot about it... i came back and saw your post....and it made me so happy to see this...
it brought such good memories.....(ty Lu..)
When i was in Cali...every spring the hawks would come back and nest in a tree... located in my yard...My house was located in a cul de sac...and i was in the end of the lot.....this one would just sit on my surf racks on my car every morning...and sometimes thru out the day...
They would return every spring..and born only 2 chicks at a time..Im not educated about the hawks ..but it was amazing to watch them sitting on my car...bringing back food...and yes the drops..bamm..loud..sometimes i wondered what take outs they got....
well i video taped one night...because i heard them flapping around on a palm tree...grabbing rats...my cam isnt low lux so i wasnt able to use infra red very well... i couldnt make it out....if it was the hawks or not...all i know is that the tree rats disappeared when they returned...
naLu thank you so much for contributing. that is one awesome bird. by looks of it, that bird is larger than the ones here. with such similar coloring though i wonder if it is a Red Tailed Hawk as mine are Red Shoulder Hawks.
i wish i could explain the sound of "mobbing" that goes on around here when the parents come to feed the young. as the falcon/hawk family are not vegetarians very often they rob the younguns of other nests to feed their own. then the mobbing starts. the birds that are robbed as well as any nest that feels threatened wages a full scale war against the hawk parents. but it never stops the parents. they always deliver the food to the nest. my trees come alive with full scale flying and screams from birds trying to run off the hawks. but the hawks just continue their lifestyle as if never hearing all the commotion.
it is quiet here now as the eggs are currently in incubation, but the mobbing will start in about 3 weeks or so.
Re: The story of the Hawk 
OMG !!!!!!
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