JKNatureGallery.com
2009 Red-Tailed Hawk News
Archive February 1, 2009 - February 28, 2009
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February 1: Today we noticed Mama working on a nest. We will keep looking for other potential nest locations as last year
they constructed three nests before deciding to select one for nesting.
February 2: We didn't search for our hawk family today.
February 3: In the late morning all three members of our hawk family were soaring together over the central section of
their territory. We didn't see them the rest of the day.
February 4: Late in the afternoon near the prior seasons nest location Papa was vocalizing and escorting a Red-tailed
hawk to the East and out of his territory.
February 5: In the late morning Papa spotted something as he was patrolling the central section of his territory and in a
high speed stoop from the Northeast to the Southwest he quickly disappeared from sight. A bit later a Cooper's hawk
landed in a nearby Oak tree for a brief time before it left to the South. In the mid-afternoon a Red-tailed hawk was sitting on
lamppost in Westbury, LI watching for a meal near a garbage container. Later in the afternoon a Cooper's hawk was
chasing a potential meal just beyond the Eastern section of Mama and Papa's territory. Shortly after spotting the Copper's
hawk we noticed Papa patrolling the Eastern part of his territory.
February 6: Once again in the late morning as Papa patrolled his territory he quickly disappeared from sight in a high
speed stoop in a Northwest to the Southeast direction. Later in the afternoon Papa was sitting on a security light on a tall
office building in the central section of his territory. Mama was Southeast of Papa sitting on one of her favorite chimneys on
an apartment complex. Mama stayed there for over an hour. When we checked on Papa a few minutes later he had left
probably to find a late afternoon meal. A Cooper's hawk was searching for a meal in the Southeast section of Mama and
Papa's territory in the mid-afternoon.
February 8: We found Mama and Papa about a 100 yards Southeast of last seasons nest just as they finished mating
early this afternoon. Mama preened for a while and then flew off to the West. Papa stayed and appeared hungry as he
watched for anything that was moving on the ground. He spotted something after about ten minutes and took off to the
South at a low angle high speed approach. Papa eventually pulled up from his attempt for a meal with nothing in his talons
as he landed in a distant Oak tree. The pair disappeared from the area further to the West. We eventually caught up with
them near the 2007 nest area, both Mama and Papa were soaring together and going through their pair bonding rituals.
Eventually Mama flew off to the West out of sight and Papa stayed for a while longer before heading off to the Southeast
and out of sight. As we were leaving the area Mama reappeared and was soaring closer to the area that Papa headed a bit
earlier. I will be posting some new images of Mama and Papa over the next few days in the Raptor Gallery.
February 9: On a brief search for our hawk family today I found Mama and Papa sitting inches apart on one of their
favorite tall apartment complexes in the central section of their territory this afternoon. They seemed very content and it
appeared they were not going move for a while. Later in the afternoon a Kestrel was chasing some small songbirds in the
Eastern section of Mama and Papa's territory, It didn't capture any of them in my view before it disappeared behind some
homes in the area.
February 7: We didn't search for our hawk family today. However, we did see Papa briefly late this morning as he was in
the Eastern part of his territory in a stoop heading back to the Western section.
February 10-14: We weren't able to search for our hawk family on these days.
February 15: A very busy day for our hawk family. They spent the entire day together soaring, mating, sitting next to each
other for long durations and watching over their territory. A number of times Papa patrolled his borders and escorted
neighboring hawks away from his territory. The third fledgling was also around a few times in the afternoon, both Mama and
Papa escorted the fledging politely away on separate occasions.
February 16: Most of this day was spent in the air as Papa was very busy patrolling all of the borders in his territory. A
number of times we observed Papa being very diligent with the neighboring Red-tails as he politely made sure none of
them came to close to his boundaries.
February 17-18: We weren't able to search for our hawk family on these days. However, there were a number of visits in
the late morning from the third fledgling in Mama and Papa's Eastern territory. There were also a number of visits from the
Cooper's hawk that also frequents the same area.
February 25: The third fledgling spent a good amount of time soaring very low in the Eastern section of Mama and Papa's
territory this afternoon. It appeared to be hunting, eventually it flew off to the Northeast.
February 27: Mama and Papa were soaring over the central section of their territory in the early afternoon. Their nest
appears to be mostly completed although they are still adding materials. They continue to mate often when they're not
working on their nest, unfortunately I haven't been able to obtain any new images of them mating to date.
February 26: We weren't able to search for our hawk family today.
February 28: Mama and Papa worked on there nest for a while late this morning then they soared together for a few
minutes before flying off to the Southeast near last years nest. Later in the afternoon Mama was using the gusty winds to
effortlessly patrol her territory from one end to the other. I didn't see Papa in the afternoon.
February 19-24: We weren't able to search for our hawk family on these days. However, there were a number of visits in
the late morning from the third fledgling in Mama and Papa's Eastern territory. There were also a number of visits from the
Cooper's hawk that also frequents the same area.
February 19: Mama was selecting branches for this seasons nest late this morning. We were finally able to determine with
a high degree of certainty the location of this seasons nest. We continue to look for other possible nest locations as last
year they constructed three before choosing one of them to use. We will continue to monitor them for other potential nests
sites.