Baby Red-Tailed Hawk - update 5/15/08

PrescottPhotog

Hi Everyone,

I went to the nest yesterday and the little one is really moving around, following Mom from one side of the nest to the other. She mostly ignores him but I noticed that when he does disappear down in the nest she keeps a close eye on him. Since the sun is only on the nest for about 2 hours I'm not there very long, but Dad hasn't been around. Mom took off again just before I left and the last I saw she was soaring over the fields.

It is pretty hard to photo him since I am doing Live View - manual focus and he doesn't stay in one place long enough to get a good focus lock so some of these are "press the shutter button and hope", especially through the blowing leaves. Mom stays put so she is easier to photo.

These shots were taken over about a 2 hour period, he looks around and then disappears back down into the nest a couple times coming up with twigs in his beak, playing.

He is still stumbling over his own feet, taking quite a few nose dives but he really seems lively and inquisitive to what is going on outside the nest. I also noticed (the last photo) the quills are already growing on the tips of his wings (that's fast). I can't wait to watch him grow over the next 30 to 45 days (or less since he is a couple weeks old already).

#1

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#6


The post is big so here are a couple more if you want to check them out..

#1
Help Me Mom
#2
Attitude

Ric Grupe

Now were talkin'!!! thumb

Just wonderful, Chris.

PrescottPhotog

Ric Grupe wrote:

Now were talkin'!!! thumb

Just wonderful, Chris.

Thanks Ric, I'm having a great time documenting this, I hope all goes well till the little one flies and those darn two little branches don't grow any faster. I have lost about 2/3'rds of my shots from them blowing into the frame.

I posted a couple additional links below the photos to two other shots that I just processed. I really like the last one.

Ric Grupe

PrescottPhotog wrote:

.I posted a couple additional links below the photos to two other shots that I just processed. I really like the last one.

So do I!

Cuong

The last one is really nice. Too bad the blowing leaves cover her left face. Beautiful shots.

Cuong

dbaker1221

awesome Chris!!

raptorcaptor

More good shots Chris! Just curious has anyone tried to band these birds?

PrescottPhotog

Cuong wrote:

The last one is really nice. Too bad the blowing leaves cover her left face. Beautiful shots. Cuong

Hi Cuong, Thanks for the comments. I am having a terrible time with those couple little branches and leaves. One is on the right and one on the left. The wind has been blowing every day and I loose half my shots because by the time I snap the shutter something blows in the way.
If the wind blows one of the branches covers the nest, if it lets up the other springs back in place to block the nest.. I can't win, so I just take as many shots as possible and weed out the blocked ones.
The nest is about 75 feet in the air so there is no way to get to the branch even if the nest was empty. Next year the nest will be totally covered as the branch grows.

PrescottPhotog

dbaker1221 wrote:

awesome Chris!!

Thanks Dave !!!

PrescottPhotog

raptorcaptor wrote:

More good shots Chris! Just curious has anyone tried to band these birds?

Hi Glenn,

As far as I know nobody knows they are there except me. After my fun time with the Forest Service I'm sure not going to contact them.

I sent the FS a bunch of my photos of adult and juvie eagles so they could identify the bands on the legs (which they requested from me after seeing the bands on my photos), I never got as much as a thank you.

AZ Fish and Game requested my Bobcat photos after seeing them in the local newspaper, saying they didn't have anything close to that quality of a Bobcat I took.. I sent them full sized copies.. I never got as much as a thank you.

So no, nobody that I know of..

bfjr

The saga continues

Well done

Dogdots

Fantastic

PrescottPhotog

bfjr wrote:

The saga continues . Well done

Hi Ben, Yes it does. The heat here is really taking it's toll on the young birds. It is about 90 degrees here today the baby hawk and owl were really huffing and buffing with all that fuzz on them. Phoenix is supposed to be 107 tomorrow and Tuesday, then cool down for the weekend.. freak heat wave but summer is coming..:splat HOT HOT HOT !!

Thanks for the compliment.

PrescottPhotog

Dogdots wrote:

Fantastic

Thank you for your compliment Mary Kim !!