Good news. In fact I’d call it great news.
Readers will remember this photo of Red-tailed Hawk chicks in the nest I posted recently. It was taken 18 days ago, on May 28. There were four chicks in the nest, these three and the runt hidden behind them in the bowl of the nest.
Two days ago I decided to check on their progress for the first time since this photo was taken. I was surprisingly tense and nervous when I got within a few miles of the nest location because many of these nests fail somewhere along the way. Storms blow nests out of their trees or cliffs, chicks starve for lack of available food, predators help themselves to defenseless young chicks while the adults are away – all manner of things can cause a nest to fail.
As I got closer I kept telling myself to be satisfied if the nest were still active with two or three of the youngsters still alive. I had little hope for the runt.
So you can imagine my relief when I pulled up on the cliffside nest only minutes after dawn and found all four chicks sunning themselves on the front of the nest.
Yes, this soon after dawn the light was so warm the entire scene looked like it was on fire. As you’ll see in the photos below, the light quickly became much less warm.
A few moments later three of the chicks even struck a formal pose for me. The fourth chick seemed grumpy and refused to cooperate. There’s always one.
As the temperature warmed up the chicks began to spend more time hunkered down in the back of the nest. I was surprised that youngsters this large could completely disappear back there.
This one came out to perform a wing stretch.
A few minutes later a different chick spent some time flapping and exercising its wings.
Not to be outdone, this chick performed both – wing flapping and…
a leisurely wing stretch.
Look closely, there’s someone else peering out at you.
When it began to get hot all four chicks disappeared in the back of the nest and one of the adults, the female I believe, flew in to spread her wings over her offspring to keep them from heating up too much. Soon after this photo was taken I left the area.
For me the long ride home was far less tense than the trip to the nest.
Ron
As always, these photos were taken ethically. Regular readers know the drill so I won’t go into detail.
Well you’ve captured my heart! But you knew that! Unlike you, however, I tend not to worry about the last-hatched kiddos with two very important caveats. First and foremost, it has to be a prey-rich environment. If they’ve got that, chances are excellent the youngest ones will survive. Of somewhat lesser importance is at least one experienced parent. If those two factors are present, the chances are pretty darn good. There’s little to no sibling rivalry if they’re well fed, The parents tend to be very cognizant of the youngest chicks, and while the bigger chicks grab food first, the younger ones come in at the end or wait until the next feeding when their bigger siblings aren’t so hungry.
With those conditions met, chick #3 is almost certain to fledge and I’d bet a whole greenback dollar on #4, too. Granted, I’m an eternal optimist, I’ve only watched a comparatively few nests, and I haven’t witnessed a nest with four chicks other than the Harrisburg, PA peregrine nest. I’m not sure what year, but they raised six, yes SIX, eyases, and while the handwringing and moaning among those watching reached a fever pitch, all six fledged successfully. Experienced parents in a prey-rich environment made that happen.
Just a thought, but from my observations, four chicks at this nest MIGHT very well indicate a prey-rich environment.
Sorry I’ve been absent. I’ve been playing whack-a-mole games trying to escape from electronics hell. That, added with depression that finally reached beyond what I could handle along with needing to think my way through each step of getting back online and now into month #10 of femur SLOWLY healing and losing functionality of my right hand and the left
following, both of which severely limit everything I can do, there you have it.
I reached out for medical help and that’s working, so that’s good. I’m mostly out of electronics hell, I think, although there are still issues to solve.
Oh and the adult shading the kiddos is almost certainly the female. I’ve seen with most of the nests I’ve watched that the female is 99% in charge at the nest. The male brings food and spells her when needed, but she’s in charge of child rearing until fledge. At that point, it takes both of them.
Please keep an eye on these little ones, who aren’t so little anymore. In the meantime, I’m going to BELIEVE all four kiddos will fledge. After that, the fun begins.
Dang, it’s good to have you back Laura. I hope things, electronic and otherwise, continue to improve.
To be honest, at this point my biggest worry about these chicks is the nearby road immediately after they fledge.
These pictures made my day😊
Hope you get to see them one more time.
Me too, Diana. Could go either way.
Also grinning ear to ear!! Uncanny that all four have survived…a credit to their parents non-stop hunting skills and the strength of the runt.
Thanks for making my day, Ron…..so love your photos every day.
Thanks, Karen. When I have subjects like these guys I can’t lose.
WONDERFUL, wonderful news. And a tad unexpected too. I hoped for the runt, but didn’t expect to see it again.
My smile is threatening to split my face.
Huge thanks for this update – and a lot of praise for the parents.
“My smile is threatening to split my face.”
Love making you smile, EC. But please don’t split your face!
Oh, this just makes my day (maybe my month)! I’m off to fetch a friend from the airport now but later today I will have time to appropriately ooh & ahhh over these gorgeous hawklets — all 4 of them — what a joy!
Thanks, Chris. I don’t envy your trip to the airport. Ours is a mess these days, even though it’s brand new.
Oh, it’s wild, it goes without saying in SoCal, no matter which airport! But once we got out of the madhouse that is Bob Hope/Burbank (where it was 102 at noon), my friend & I found a fabulous place for an early (non-alcoholic) happy hour to recover our wits.
And now, in the *much* cooler Ventura Co. climes, we’re on the patio oohing & ahhing over your images…they are truly special, as is this family of hawks. Thank you for braving the trip to check on them, I’m sure it’s always unnerving!
Late today Ron – was out taking photos of our juvenile eagles – or actually – one of them
Fantastic photography and very educational and interesting post. So neat to see all four them lined up like that in the third photo. I think that is a very special photo. Sure hope that little one in the back can eventually catch up with its brothers and sisters.
Everett, it may still be touch and go with the runt but I’m hopeful.
Held my breath until I got to the shot of 4 healthy youngsters! You certainly have a knack for literary tension! Whew! And what a treat to see some hawk daily calisthenics!
“You certainly have a knack for literary tension! ”
Thanks for that, Marty. Much appreciated.
Ron,
I particularly love the parent spreading his/her wings to protect the young. I keyword these pictures “protection.” I love the family and parental implications. Instinct in this situation is a wonderful parenting lesson.
And I agree with the tease of the title and the quality of your story telling (Kathleen and Nancy comments).
Stephen
Stephen, these adults have been great parents and soon-to-be parents since they were building the nest.
Nice story and pictures of the Chicks and Mom. Hope you will keep checking on them, and maybe see them when they leave the nest.
Trudy, I hope to see them one more time.
What a wonderful series Ron, thanks for sharing!
Charlotte Norton
Thanks, Charlotte.
So great to see that this special family is thriving so well!!
Agreed.
It’s uplifting, this one! Thanks
Thanks, Susan.
Ron – my heart skipped a beat when I saw the title of your blog post this morning. You know I love the pic of the babies! I didn’t want to know about a potentially sad ending. So am DELIGHTED that the family is thriving!! Whew!! Love a story with a happy ending.
Kathleen, I was hoping you’d see this post for obvious reasons. If you hadn’t commented I’d have emailed the link to you.
I felt tense as you approached the nest–showing how skilled writing plucks the emotions as well as skilled photography. Lovely photos! Lovely story so far. Thanks!
Thanks on both counts, Nancy.
These are all beautiful and a wonderful series. Four is a lot! hope the continue to thrive.
Nice depth of field, what aperture did you use?
April, in the photos with multiple chicks my aperture varied from f/8 to f/10. But not being very close to the nest made the biggest difference in DOF.
Wonderful news ! I’m guessing that these parents made sure that EVERYONE
got fed equally ? I’m under the impression that in some bird species, the
runt of the litter gets “elbowed” out of the way when the chuck wagon arrives
and is sometimes literally pushed out of the nest by its stronger sibs–what
a happy surprise for you to see this full, thriving nest full of healthy young birds–
ALL alive and thriving !
Kris, apparently there’s enough voles in the area to keep the entire family well fed.
Beautiful! They have really grown and I’m so glad it’s still four. You always worry about that ‘runt thing’. They have beautiful coloring; I’m anxious to see what they will look like when they are leaving the nest. Glad you found them and are able to follow their growth for us.
Kathy, I was almost sure that runt would be toast when I got there. The first time I was there ‘he’ was so very small compared to the others.
Really nice documentation of the family, thank you. Four to this point is remarkable. A lot of hard work.
Thanks, Richard. Both adults are very good parents.
Wonderful to hear and great pictures too. Thanks for the “upbeat” news! we need it.
“We need it”
We sure do.
Neat! Great that they are all still thriving….. 🙂 The process sure happens quickly. 😲 Beautiful group even if still a little scruffy…… 😉
Thanks, Judy.
I’m now emotionally involved too!! We’ll need follow-ups Ron 🙂
I get that “emotionally involved” thing, Terri.
This is a great start to National Nature Photography Day. Thanks.
Thanks, Steve. I didn’t know…
Great news, indeed. They are a fine-looking bunch! 🙂
They sure are.