Urban Hawks

Tuesday was a wonderful night to observe Flaco, but it was also a frustrating night, as the gates to the North Meadow were left open instead of being closed at dusk. This meant lots of folks ended up flushing Flaco moving him around and disrupting his hunting and eating.

When Flaco was able to catch a Brown Rat, he didn’t kill it immediately. It was almost as though he was surprised it was still alive. (Cats will play with prey, but I don’t think this was the case here. I think Flaco might have been more concerned with figuring out how to safely kill the rat without getting bitten.)

He ended up having folks disrupt him multiple times while trying to eat and once had to leave his prey. He waited 45 minutes before returning for it. Even after midnight, he hadn’t been able to eat much of it.

We got our steps in tonight watching Flaco. He went as far as the West Drive and 100th Street before returning to almost where he started. At times he was hunting but at some points he seemed to be patrolling. He caught a Brown Rat and when he left seemed to be digesting as he seemed content to stay on his post-meal perch.

I’ve been watching Flaco, but haven’t been posting over the last few days. Wednesday, he flew out and quickly went north. On Thursday, after the rain I couldn’t find him.

On Friday, he quickly few out and he was found in the construction site. It was too difficult to photograph him, but he ended up hunting inside the new building. I saw him fly back and forth inside the building twice, but was unable to capture any images. He perched out of view. But it was fascinating to know that he was hunting Inside the new building.

Yesterday, I arrived after fly out. He had already begun hunting on the North Meadow. He caught a Brown Rat by basically walking into some bushes and then went to an infield between 2nd and 3rd base to eat the rat. He waddled around the field, much like the Snowy Owl did a few years ago. After eating, he went to a backstop and then flew out of sight.

I arrived after Flaco’s fly out. He had a bit of an adventure. Some young men, who just happened to be walking by before he flew out ended up chasing after him to get cell phone pictures. A few of the regulars, spoke to them, but Flaco wisely hid for about half an hour.

Flaco has attracted a number of inexperienced birders. When watching owls or any bird for that matter, you want to be careful about how you follow them. There is an art to following a bird. When birds move to a new location, they need to settle down and do an assessment of their new location. After a brief amount of time, you look at their behavior. If you see them alert and nervous, you keep your distance. If they look relaxed, you can slowly approach them. However, if you rush after them, especially if they are perched in a low branch or have gone to the ground, they will just keep going further away.

So, if you’re a new or inexperienced birder, and visiting Flaco, don’t rush after him to get a cell phone picture. You’ll only frighten him. There are usually a few folks who have experience watching Flaco at each fly out. Figure out who they are and follow their lead.

Once Flaco settled down, he stayed close to his roost tree. The farthest he got was a visit to a meadow 200 yards from his roost tree. Usually he goes much further, so this was surprising. But I suspect he learns a lot about the nearby prey while roosting during the day and knows where to look close to home at night.

Flaco returned to some of his old hunts on Monday. He was harassed in the late evening by a Cooper’s Hawk and hooted in response. He then went to many of the spots he has used in the past, including many that the Snowy Owl had used a few years ago. He caught one rat and took his time eating it.

Flaco had been harassed by a Red-tailed Hawk during the day on Sunday. At one point the hawk hit him. After fly out, after some troubles finding him, he ended up being in a nearby tree. He kept looking west and was concentrating on something.

We then lost track of him, much earlier than we normally do. I suspect that rather than going hunting, Flaco was interested in finding the Red-tailed Hawk.

Fall migration has started, and with the fires in Canada, seems to have started earlier. Red-tailed Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks are already moving through, and we should expect to see Flaco interacting with them throughout the fall.