Red-Tailed Hawk's Nest

[RCW]

Not sure species yet, but a pair of hawks was bringing sticks, long grasses, etc. in to a white pine all morning. Definitely nest-building.

Tree is just 40 yards from my back door up the hill in our woods.

Many raptors nest late-winter around here.

Kind of cool.

I'll try to get a photo, but my skills are limited....

 

[RCW]

Not my best work, but the White Pine is the one in the center. Just a little way into the woods.

Hawks are working 10-15 feet down from the top. They disappear into it there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SidecarFlip]

People put way too much faith in a cell phone to take a quality picture. Most don't except for a selfie. Get yourself a half azzed good point and shoot electronic camera. Does much better.

 

[skeets]

Yep, it is that time of year again, there is a pair of screech owls taking up residence in one of my nest boxes out in the pines in front of the house. I hope this is the same ones that were here 2 years ago, they cleaned the snot out of the mice and chipmunks

 

[ccoon520]

People put way too much faith in a cell phone to take a quality picture. Most don't except for a selfie. Get yourself a half azzed good point and shoot electronic camera. Does much better.

I think it depends on the phone you have. If you have a cheap camera phone/ smart phone, yeah grab a camera if you want to take pictures. But if you are getting something slightly higher end (thinking like a galaxy s7 or iPhone 6) then forget the camera. You'll end up having to spend $150+ to get a camera with a better sensor, lens, stabilization, etc.. So it is just not worth it. Plus then you have to carry around a camera with you wherever you go just in case you see something cool or have a bunch of cameras stashed places.

To the hawk topic. That's pretty cool, I've never really watched for hawks or eagles building their nests.

 

[RCW]

People put way too much faith in a cell phone to take a quality picture. Most don't except for a selfie. Get yourself a half azzed good point and shoot electronic camera. Does much better.

True - HA! Don't think I've ever taken a selfie...WTF do I want to look at myself for!?!?

90% of my pics are my dog, food I cooked or car/truck/tractor parts before/during disassembly so I can get it back together..

With Bachelors Degrees in both Forestry and Forest Biology, I really like the outdoors. Nature pics don't happen often enough for me; I'd get something more capable for that, if I could use it more. I'm sure I'd still screw it up.

Maybe that'd be a retirement thing!

Yep, it is that time of year again, there is a pair of screech owls taking up residence in one of my nest boxes out in the pines in front of the house. I hope this is the same ones that were here 2 years ago, they cleaned the snot out of the mice and chipmunks

Yeah skeets, at first I thought what if they had a chicks and became territorially-protective-aggressive.

Not much I can do about that, but there's great view over my lawn, and I sure as hell have enough squirrels and chipmunks to go around. Got a couple cats that wander through, but I don't think they're big enough for them..too bad for that...

I don't think they're red-tailed hawks. Guessing Red-shouldered or Rough-legged. I'm better at identifying trees than birds...

We do now have Bald Eagles nesting a couple miles south. Have been for 10 years or so. I regularly see Eagles right over the house. Had 2 soaring over last Fall. One was really "cackling" to the other....guessing somebody was pissed...

 

[SidecarFlip]

True - HA! Don't think I've ever taken a selfie...WTF do I want to look at myself for!?!?

Supposed to take a selfie of your rnekked girl friend and the post that on the net...

90% of my pics are my dog, food I cooked or car/truck/tractor parts before/during disassembly so I can get it back together..

With Bachelors Degrees in both Forestry and Forest Biology, I really like the outdoors. Nature pics don't happen often enough for me; I'd get something more capable for that, if I could use it.

Maybe that'd be a retirement thing!

Hopefully you can afford one. I have a Kodak Pixpro FZ152 I bought at Wally World for about 100 bucks. Has telephoto, image stabilization Li-Ion rechargeable battery and direct download to your laptop and I did add an SD card for memory. That was 15 bucks extra.

I like the outdoors too. I'm an Eagle Scout way back in the day. Too bad BSA has morphed into a crap org. Was good back then. Spent a lot of time up in your neck of the woods, camping, fishing and enjoying nature.



Yeah skeets, at first I thought what if they had a chicks and became territorially-protective-aggressive.

Not much I can do about that, but there's great view over my lawn, and I sure as hell have enough squirrels and chipmunks to go around.

I don't think they're red-tailed hawks. Guessing Red-shouldered or Rough-legged. I'm better at identifying trees than birds...

We do now have Bald Eagles nesting a couple miles south. Have been for 10 years or so. I regularly see Eagles right over the house.

Cams are cheap.

 

[RCW]

Thanks for the laugh, Flip...all I could think was how many selfies with the nekked girlfriend posted on the 'net were used in divorce court?!?!

But you're exactly right...people do that!!! Probably post them on their Rhodes Scholar website.....

Seriously, I'll have to look at the camera you posted. We don't need anything too technical, but something better would be good.

I see BSA has filed bankruptcy due to all the transgressions. Unfortunate, but it was of their doing. Never a part of it, but great organization in it's day....

Where-a-bouts were you in my neck of the woods?

 

[sheepfarmer]

Not sure species yet, but a pair of hawks was bringing sticks, long grasses, etc. in to a white pine all morning. Definitely nest-building.

Tree is just 40 yards from my back door up the hill in our woods.

Many raptors nest late-winter around here.

Kind of cool.

I'll try to get a photo, but my skills are limited....

I thought I heard the red tailed hawks yesterday, so maybe nest building going on here too,

 

[SidecarFlip]

Thanks for the laugh, Flip...all I could think was how many selfies with the nekked girlfriend posted on the 'net were used in divorce court?!?!

But you're exactly right...people do that!!! Probably post them on their Rhodes Scholar website.....

Seriously, I'll have to look at the camera you posted. We don't need anything too technical, but something better would be good.

I see BSA has filed bankruptcy due to all the transgressions. Unfortunate, but it was of their doing. Never a part of it, but great organization in it's day....

Where-a-bouts were you in my neck of the woods?

Used to backpack around the Finger Lakes region and the upper part of the Kinzua National Forest. Always had my fly rod with me.

I liked and still like the solitude. Why I do what I do because I can do it alone. Always been a loner and I'm self entertaining.

 

[sdk1968]

read the title of your thread & thought you were coming down to Hawks Nest to visit...

https://wvstateparks.com/park/hawks...MIvYGFrujq5wIVDoTICh2dhwWsEAAYASAAEgKGf_D_BwE

was gonna give you some things to look for.


NOPE.... not at all what you had going on. LOL

 

[skeets]

I thought the same thing at first

 

[lugbolt]

there are all kinds of raptors around my place at any given time. Right now, every morning there's a trio of hawks that sit on the wire not 20 foot from the bedroom window. Right around the time the time changes is kind of a blessing in a way (for me) since they aren't sitting out there in the early morning before I get up hollering at the crows.

Across the road and on the other side of the trees are 2 good sized ponds; one's maybe 50 acres and the other maybe 2 or 3 at the most. From Nov through Feb every year, the eagles stop in for a meal or two. This year was spectacular. I counted 8 at one time sitting in the tops of the trees. Someone ran over a possum a while back and I just let them sit & rot usually, couple days they're mostly gone (buzzards) but no the very next morning I get up and there was a bald eagle perched on top of the remains picking it as clean as he could. I'd have never in my life figured I'd ever see the day a bald eagle would resort to road kill. BUT....at work, I had a guy drop off an ATV for servicing and come to find out he works for the game and fish service. So I asked him about an eagle eating road kill. He said it's somewhat normal. Said they're opportunistic; if the meal is there and there ain't no buzzard or crow on it, they're gonna "eyball" it (his words). They are neat birds.

Owls galore; and they're gangin up again. From now til about July the darn barred owls will gang up around the house I guess eating mice, dunno what they are after but what I know is that in the middle of the night when they're up on the peak of the roof hollering "who cooks for you" waking me up gets old, but not old enough to hurt any of them. This stuff is exactly why I moved outta the city!

....and several years ago I was given a rescue kitten. I couldn't keep it in the house but it stayed in the shop, so I left the door slightly open to let it in and out. Went out one morning to give it a little food, and it wasn't around. I had to run to work, came home later on and stomped around out there looking for it; and found the remains of some hair (obviously the little cat), looked to have been attacked, made me wonder if one of the horned owls got it or what. I thought coyotes but they stay around the farm down the road, they feed them. Bobcat? Not likely-have not seen any signs of them. But owls everywhere. Dunno.

 

[Fordtech86]

Y’all got some cool birds to watch lol. All I got is a bunch of crows eating crawfish in the backyard. I find claws all over the place. Had some trail cam pics of an owl photobombing a deer trail in my timber, but thats about it.

Growing up at my parents house on the Illinois river we would see bald eagles all the time. Often times had nests on the edge of the timber where the yard stopped.

 

[Hue]

"I don't think they're red-tailed hawks. Guessing Red-shouldered or Rough-legged. I'm better at identifying trees than birds... "


Possibly broad-winged hawk, they would be comparable in size.

 

[Hue]

Owls galore; and they're gangin up again. From now til about July the darn barred owls will gang up around the house I guess eating mice, dunno what they are after but what I know is that in the middle of the night when they're up on the peak of the roof hollering "who cooks for you" waking me up gets old, but not old enough to hurt any of them. This stuff is exactly why I moved outta the city!

I had a juvenile Barred hanging out last spring. It's hard to describe the screech they produce. Sends shivers down your spine. My 5 year who has a habit of getting out outta bed every night used this one on me "Daddy I can't sleep cause the Owl", best excuse ever.

 

[bird dogger]

Here’s my hawk story and a few pics (that took some time to find). Late in the fall, a number of years ago, I had noticed a hawk hanging around the farm a lot. Strangely, it was always seen on the ground. I decided to see how close I could get to it and consequently found out that it wasn’t able to fly for some reason. Although it looked uninjured, it would just try to hop away. I figured it must be awful hungry and might enjoy a fresh squirrel for a meal. “Harvesting” a red squirrel and dangling it by the tail for the hawk to see sure got its attention. When close as the hawk would allow, I tossed the squirrel to it and that hawk pounced on the squirrel and instantly covered it up with its spread wings as if to warn that nobody else gets to share! I sat down and watched him devour that squirrel and talked to it while he ate. When he finished, I just got up and backed away and left him alone. A day or two later I saw him again on the ground, provided another fresh squirrel and some conversation while he ate. Here’s some pics of one of those first meals in probably a while.






This went on for a few days and soon the hawk was hanging around in the yard, still on the ground or what ever object he could hop up on. If there wasn’t a readily available squirrel to “harvest”; a bird, mouse, etc. was sacrificed and the hawk didn’t seem to care. After a week of feeding and conversation I was able to walk right up to it, feed it and even gently pet it behind the head. I put a heavy jacket on once to see if it would perch on my arm but that wasn’t to be. Still, it was pretty cool to have him hanging around the yard.

 

[bird dogger]

Frequent feeding must have done it some good cuz after a week or more it was perching up in some low tree branches around the outside of the farmstead. I’d then place the food in the branches for him. Every day or two I’d find it higher up and then would see him take short flights between the trees. Pretty soon it was gone. Was hoping it would come back the next spring but it never made itself known. He probably grouped up with his kin and told them, “You all ain’t gonna believe what happened to me!”

Here’s some more pics during one of his last meals in a tree. (Even some closeup shots for SidecarFlip!)








Look at that beak and those talons!! I’d sure hate to be a gopher on the receiving end of a dive attack. Those feet with the toes/claws extended were the size of my hands!


A funny incident: When in grade school, our boy’s bus driver would pull into the driveway to pick them up. One morning just when she arrived, the boys walked out the door and there was the hawk perched on a decoration in the flower bed only a few feet away from the boys and the bus as they got on. Years later we happened to bump into the bus driver and she said she had always been meaning to ask me about something. She said she had picked up the boys one morning and there was a big hawk by our door. When she asked my boys about it as they stepped into the bus all they told her was, “Oh, that’s just dad’s pet hawk.” She couldn’t believe it. So I had to tell her the story and show her the pics. She thought that was pretty cool.

 

[RCW]

So I had to tell her the story and show her the pics. She thought that was pretty cool.

Holy smokes is that cool! I really appreciate the story, too!

What time of year was that? Early spring?

Actually the ones I see making the nest look quite similar, mid-sized hawk with the light anterior (breast) side.

I know you're located in ND, but did you apply a species to it?

I'm quite savvy with some nature stuff, but the less common raptors, song birds and ducks aren't my strong suit.

 

[bird dogger]

Holy smokes is that cool! I really appreciate the story, too!

What time of year was that? Early spring?

Actually the ones I see making the nest look quite similar, mid-sized hawk with the light anterior (breast) side.

I know you're ND, but did you apply a species to it?

I'm quite savvy with some nature stuff, but the less common raptors, song birds and ducks aren't my strong suit.

LOL! I knew you'd like to see those pics and have an interest, RCW, so I had to find them and post. It just took me some time to go through a lot of cd's of stored pics. Organizing them is just low on the totem pole of priorities.

It happened about 15 years ago and was late in the fall, even into November if I remember right. Species: I'm no expert but I think it's either a Cooper's Hawk or a Broad-winged Hawk. (Common to our area) But there's also the Red-tailed Hawk and Red Shouldered Hawk that are very similar. But best guess is one of the first two mentioned. they always show up in the fall, especially during harvest and then migrate south somewhere when the snow comes. I was just about to call a game warden but when I saw it starting to perch higher off the ground I knew it wasn't hopping up there and had to be testing its wings again. It was hanging around for about 3 weeks before it took off for good. Wish selfies would've been invented back then. I never thought to get a picture of me feeding/petting it. Would've also been nice to know what ailed it and caused it not to fly. I suspect it may have eaten something poisoned from somewhere and wound up at my place. And yes, the bus driver was pretty amazed and puzzled with the boy's answer. She had seen it for a few days before on the ground but thought nothing of it. But when it was sitting at the door to our house and the kids walked out and said hello to it before they got on the bus that made her do a double take! Too funny! She is also a nature person and has her own kennel as a side business so the sight of a wild hawk greeting the kids in the morning came as a shock to her. Especially with the kids' nonchalant answer.
Regards,
David