Stayed Late at Work and What a Treat April 1, 2009

Had a late day at work and decided to check out the red tails downstairs by the nest. Saw the red-tail hawk fly by. Sat on the planter and figured ok I will wait a few minutes and see what happens. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a hawk land on the construction site beside my building. Waited again. Then to my dismay I saw a piece of construction paper flying down towards the nest (or so I thought) and I decide to take a shot of it only to discover it is the red-tailed hawk flying down fast. WOW. It lands on the tree beside the nest and perches there for a couple of minutes then jumps over to the nest and lays back down. OK it seems like it was an hour but it was a matter of minutes. So exciting. I have some photos I will post.
It rained all day and just at the end of work the sun comes out and a beautiful blue sky.
To make my day even better I come home and there is a fox on my front yard. Great day.

Male and Female on Nest March 31, 2009

Today I saw both the female and male on the nest. It appeared that the male was bringing in food for the female. The female was on the nest most of the day - moving sticks around.
At one point while watching - the female was on the nest and we were wondering where the male was - out of the sky from the top of the building he comes flying in feet first to make a landing on the nest. The wind was really bad today so you could see he was working hard at the landing.
Noticed on my way in to work that there were two Cooper's Hawks at the south east corner of the wood lot. Will need to look to see if they are also building a nest there.
Both photos were taken from the 5th floor window. So quality is quite poor.

March 30, 2009 2 photos of Cooper's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk on the nest (one where she is flat on the nest)

Nesting Time - March 30, 2009

Nesting Time:
This morning it is apparent that the red tails at SCC are on the nest. Arrived at work - Jack and I checked the nest and could barely see one red tail spread out on the nest. When the one red tail left - the other one arrived immediately and spread itself over the nest immediately. It hunkered down and can barely be seen.
It is a very cold day (snowing a bit) and during lunch I went out to have a look. The tree is swaying a bit with the wind and the red tail is hunkered right down. All I could see was the tip of the tail. As I went for a walk looking for the second hawk. I noticed in the Frank Faubert woods a beautiful female cooper's hawk right at the corner. Photos to be posted later.
In the afternoon 2:30 pm on my break - I saw both hawks flying together. Within a couple of minutes the one was back at the nest with a stick in the mouth and back on the nest.

March 26, 2009

Very quiet day on the nest - only saw the female on the nest. I understand the others saw them flying around on the 5th floor.

March 25, 2009

Jack was the only one to see the 2 red tails on the nest today. Today they started to bring in new material to the nest. Bark and other soft material. At break I went outside to watch and the red tail was actually stripping bark off the tree. Was able to watch her and then get one close up shot of her.

Talked to a red tail watcher about the stripping of the bark and here is the explanation: bark stripping is used like an insecticide. some bark does repel insect - this is a natural form of insecticide.

March 24, 2009

Very little activity today until 10am. The female continued to build the nest and just as I was about to leave she started to soar around and around. She built up speed as she went higher and higher around the building. Very very cool.