It all started with a pair of red-tailed hawks doing what came naturally, only instead of settling in some sylvan Oregon country treetop, these tough little guys built their nest on the fire escape of a building in Portland. And Big Brother in the form of the WBG-Audobon webcam trained an electronic eye on them from the moment their three chicks were born.
My Oregon antique dealer friend Sue sent me the link, and invited me to watch this little family grow up, at least to the point where the chicks were ready to fly out of the nest. Right, I thought, this is interesting but checking in on them every day would be a lot like watching grass grow. I'm a busy woman, you know. So I didn't see them squabbling over a bit of food when they were fuzzy chick-like creatures.
But then a few days ago Sue let me know that the runt of the nest had died, as we suspected he might because the parents were definitely favoring his two more robust sibs. I was surprised at how sad I felt, even though the littlest hawk probably had Trichomoniasis, a bird disease common among pigeons that would have shortened his life anyway. The parents, being the practical unemotional type, promptly fed him to his nestmates.
Already almost the size of the parents, the two survivors, Sue reports, are now very busy preening their flight feathers for the big day, when they're going to get their first flying lesson. Big Brother won't be catching all their aerial antics, only their tentative takeoffs and breathless "Woo hoo, I made it!" landings, but it should still be interesting. Sue might be away from her computer on the big day, so I promised to keep an eye on them and let her know how it went. Here's the link for the live webcam feed, if you'd like to join me.
The webcam also won't be able to follow the babies when they adapt to flight, learn to hunt and survive. The first year is the hardest, according to the Audubon Society, and around 60% of red-tail fledglings don't make it.
All this brought back a song I remember my long-departed friend Kate Wolf sing years ago, and when I looked it up, there it was.
7 comments:
Kate was a special person, loved her small concerts, my favorite song is Emma Rose.
Too bad her career was so short! Animals are truly God's gift to man. Have you seen, Winged Migration? I seem to watch that every year at least once!
Tancho - Emma Rose was one of my Kate Wolf favorites, and Red-Tail Hawk was the other. I used to work for Kate, when she operated Owl Records out of a trailer in her back yard, shipping out the two albums she'd made and helping her book concerts. I admired her so much, wish I'd spent more time with her.
Love that song, love her music. Wish I could have seen what kind of mandolin that was, looked just like Hubby's Sam Bush model.
OMG, Kate Wolf, what a talent, what a shame.
Wasn't that in Forrest Knolls? Or Lagunitas? I was in Fairfax at this time.
Who were the other pickers on this video?
Thanks for the memories. . .:)
Oh my doesnt she have a lovely voice. I Dont think I ever heard her before. Thank you for sharing.
You have encouraged me to go look at the site. In fact, I may grab my binoculars and go see them live.
jomamma - That was Nina Gerber on the mandolin, hugely talented woman. I'll have to look her up and see what she's doing now.
MXT - No idea where that video was shot, but I think it was somewhere around Sonoma or Marin County. I don't know the guy, but Nina Gerber did the mandolin.
C&K - She's on iTunes if you want to hear more. Warning: the song they list as Painter's Eyes is actually Emma Rose and vice versa.
Steve - It could be any day now that they start flying, but I'm sure they won't abandon the nest right away.
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