Saturday was a big day at the hawk nest.  The parents started training the fledglings that food would be delivered outside of the nest.  The mother first ate a mouse in front of the fledglings, and then an hour later let them beg and beg until one of them grabbed a rat from her as she sat on a nice level branch.  One of the fledglings eat a rat on the ground and had an encounter with a squirrel, before its sibling joined it.  While all of this happened both parents kept watch.

For the hawk watchers present to see the morning action, it was pure bliss.

The second eyass fledged on Friday in the early morning.  Both hawks are flying well and are exploring their new world.  Unexpectedly, both eyasses are returning to the nest looking for food, something I don’t normally expect to see.  It will be interesting to see how long this goes on.

The parents are still bringing food to the nest, encouraging the fledgling to stay close to its yet to fly sibling. The fledgling is getting really good at getting around, flying quickly and comfortably.  Its sibling has gotten very good at branching the nest tree, so it should be flying by this weekend.

When I arrived at the Riverside nest this evening, the fledgling had returned to the nest to eat but soon returned to the tree it fledged to, a tree to the south of last year’s nest tree.  The fledgling flew very well, and did a good job at landing.  It slept in new tree, which is between the nest tree and the parent’s favorite roost trees.

This next phase of hawk watching should be really enjoyable.

The oldest fledged just before 2 p.m. today.  I’m going over to the Boat Basin this evening to get some pictures of the first fledgling. 

Great News! 

Thanks to Kevin and Gordon for forwarding the news.

The eyasses haven’t left their nest tree yet, but they sure have left the nest.  The only seem to spending time in the nest to eat food brought by their parents.  They spent Tuesday evening exploring various far flung branches of their nest tree.  The youngest eyass seems to be the most active now, so we won’t be surprised if they fledge in reverse age order!