More on those hawks at the cemetery

[Kelli Frame <kframe at xmission dot com>]

Hi birders,

So I've been going by every day to watch the hawks at the cemetery. I've
seen the female sitting on the nest continually, except for one brief
interlude which I will describe in a bit (but only after I give this
post a PG-13 rating).

The female sits on the nest and the male seems to have two primary
duties: 1) bring yummy treats to her, and 2) tidy the nest while she
eats. He's a good provider, it seems. One day I sat for 40 minutes with
my scope (parked about one block away) and saw him bring her three
treats, including a squirrel and bird. She has a very healthy appetite.
When he arrives with the food, she climbs out of the nest to eat, and
can dispatch a squirrel in about four bites. It reminds me of Mrs.
Conehead. The birds she takes down even faster, little feathers flying
everywhere, and then hops back on the nest.

While she eats, he tidies the nest, breaking off an odd stick here,
pushing back a branch there. He seems a dear. He keeps very busy.

Then the other day something odd happened, or at least it seemed odd to
me.

PG-13 rating begins here. :-)

She finished off a bird snack and then suddenly flew away from the nest
about 100 yards to another tree. He watched her, then followed after
her. He landed in a branch just below hers and sat for a few moments,
and then suddenly flew up and mounted her. I have never seen hawks do
this, so it was educational, though over in a flash. Like 10 seconds at
the very outside. She then flew back to the nest and went back to her
eggs.

At least, I think there are eggs in the nest. Why else would she be
sitting there? But if there are eggs, why were they still fooling
around?

Another thing that seems odd is that I often see birds (magpies,
sparrows) perching in their nesting tree, just a few feet from her. If
I can see her, I guarantee they can see her. She's not hidden there at
the top of the tree. But they seem unconcerned, and she just watches
them as they come and go. Also, it seems odd that the male goes so far
away for food when I can see, at any given time, 6 squirrels from my
car. If I can see them with my 44-year-old eyes, imagine what he could
see. Maybe he just likes to get out a bit and stretch his wings, see
the guys, make his rounds. I'm sure it's more than just hunting.

Thanks for reading,

Kelli



Kelli Frame
kframe@xmission.com

Nothing matters more than this day.

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