hawks' nest & new Flickr updates

  
Yesterday at Boyce Thompson, another birdnerd thrill was actually finding the Cooper's Hawks' nest described in the BTA May 29 birdwalk report.

Once again, I'm sorry that I don't have a longer telephoto to capture better detail of this hawk, but luckily she moved around enough that out of many photos taken, I got this one with a good pose -- her distinctive head & beak visible. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

I'm not sure at what stage this nest/brood is; the nest was mentioned in a birdwalk report back on March 30, but I don't know when eggs were first laid. Egg laying takes 8 days (average), incubation takes approximately 30 days, and then another 30 days for for the young to fledge. I couldn't see any young above the edge of the nest, but the mom wouldn't still be at the nest if her young had already fledged, so likely she is still tending them.

Maybe they'll be visible next time...

Meanwhile, both my BTA and DBG Flickr slideshows are newly up to date. Or you can manually click through the BTA set here, and the DBG set here -- a good colorful dose of our desert flora & fauna, either way.

  

Comments

[susan m hinckley]

Boy, LuAnne, You are getting scary-good with that camera! These are just beautiful!

[luanne]

Thanks, Susan. Hope they gave you a quick little desert getaway!