Female Brought in Dinner for the 3 Eyas June 9, 2009

All photos taken through the window of the 5th floor. Quality very poor.



The nest is very busy all the time now. I was lucky to look out at the right time to see the female bring home a snack for the 3 eyas. It looked very much like a skunk (it was black and white the size of a squirrel). The 3 babies (which are getting very large) were all around the female and grabbing the food from her mouth. They could hardly wait.
During my break I looked out again and there came in dad with more food. He landed in the nest dropped it off and flew out again. This time it was a gull.
The young ones very seldom rest - they are constantly flapping and moving about. I very seldom see the adults in the nest unless they are feeding. If the weather is bad the female will go into the nest.

Eyas getting large and testing their wings June 8, 2009

All three eyas were standing on the edge of the nest today. They continued to practice flapping their wings. The one actually got a little air today - and it must have scared him/her because it layed flat down right on the nest afterwards. They are getting so big and the colouring is changing daily now.
This is the week that we expect them to start to branch - that means jumping out of the nest and going to other branches on the tree then back to the nest. It is the first step towards fledging.
When I was watching the youngsters the mom was sitting on the top of the building right behind me.

Male sitting on the rail June 6, 2009

Graham visited the nest on Saturday evening to get this great photo of the male watching the nest. Photo by Graham Trope. Thanks Graham.

Three is a Crowd on the Nest - Male bring home Breakfast for hungry Eyas - June 6, 2009

3 eyas sitting at the front of the nest

One little red tail sitting alone

Male bring in food - all 3 eyas visible

Male with crow in his talons

Carol and I visited the nest this morning and Dan joined us. Lots of action. We were looking to see if we could see all 3 eyas. The nest is very crowded but YES the 3rd one popped up - looking much younger but very good. The adults were flying in and out of the nest and at one point brought in a crow for the young to eat. They landed on the condos, cranes, elevator and also soaring around the nest and buildings. The nest and parents were very active.

Eyas busy flapping on nest - Adults busy bringing in the food Wed June 3, 2009

Female and Eyas enjoying the sun

Eyas looking around

Eyas stretching wings

Female flying over the nest

The eyas are busy practicing their flying techniques. The sun was shinning and they were out on the edge of the nest. Jack and Carol saw all 3 of the babies. I did see both male and female red-tail on the nest with 2 of the babies at one time.
The adults are very busy going back and forth bring in food. I cannot believe how large the eyas have gotten. Their colouring is changing daily. I will post a couple photos tomorrow.

Watching Red Tail Hunting today June 1, 2009 (double click to view full size photos)

A time to Duck

Sitting behind me on the Fence

From underneath him taking off

Chasing a pigeon

During lunch I finally found where the red-tails go hunting for pigeons - and boy do they had the perfect location with lots of them. I sat there watching for a while and there were 50+ pigeons trying to get away from the hawks. Here are a few shots. By the way as I was watching the one red tail flew over the parking lot so low he came right over my head and I had to duck - you will see the shot I am talking about. He landed right behind me on a fence.
I went to talk to the building where the red-tail hawk was hitting the window. The manager of the building told me that they leave the lights on 24-7 for security reasons. He doesn't like the hawks around and would like the wildlife people to take them away.

Red-Tail Hawk Bringing Dinner Home to Family May 31, 2009

Male Bringing home Supper in Talons

2 adults sitting on Balcony

Eyas having supper

Baby practing flying


Turkey Vulture

It was a great day at the nest.
I met Graham this morning and the eyas were seen,the female was on the nest. It was very windy and I am sure that is why she did not leave the nest.
In the afternoon lots of activity. The male and female red-tail hawk were flying all over the place, from crane to building, to nest to chasing off a kestrel. I finally got a shot of the male bringing dinner home to the young and actually feeding the young. A Turkey Vulture went over the nest today - no sign of male or female when this happened. He went directly overhead.
Leslie, Mike, Frank and Dan came to check out the site and saw the adults flying around. One very scary part of the female was at the far building beyond the construction site and twice looked like she wanted to fly into the window - she was not hurt (she was sitting on the ledge around the corner and she must have seen her reflection). I will pop over to the building tomorrow and just make sure they are turning off the lights and let them know what happened. I am hoping they will put up newspaper on the windows by the ledge and balcony. I have never seen the red tails around this building before but it does seem to be their new area - lots of trees right beside the building. I have one shot with both male and female on the balcony of the building. The gang did get to see the eyas.