ML602873841

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

DR comments: we obtained permission to check on the hawk nest again (2 weeks ago a largish fledgling was in the nest). Today the nest was empty, but over the first hour we believe we saw both the adult female and the adult male, separately, over the landfill. We all scattered for a time, but on our return, we (Rita & Don, Carole & Larry, Mark, and Bill) spotted an two SWHA on the ground among the flowered bank below the landfill. Closer approach proved one to be a juv -- recently fledged (perhaps the other was the female?). The adult left and we watched the juv on the ground, possibly eating what the adult had left. Then the adult circled overhead and glided in to land by the fledgling for a short time (photo sequence below). It either regurgitated something or was eating a bit of the prey that was there already, but shortly thereafter left the fledgling to its meal. After perhaps 10 more minutes, the juv flew from the bank, crossed the road, and landed in a bare tree. So we have evidence of a successful fledging from the nest. Given the juvs very fresh state of plumage, with some rectrices still growing in, and rather ungainly flight, I suspect that it fledged within the week, or perhaps just one or two days ago? This would push back our hypothetical chronology, commented upon last visit, by ~10 days. In the new hypothesis, the egg would have been laid in late May, and the young hatched about 30 June, give or take 4-7 days? Another interesting behavior was that when an adult Red-tailed Hawk flew towards the landfill but happened to pass over the spot on the ground that we later found the fledgling, the adult male Swainson's dive-bombed the RTHA very aggressively, so that the Red-tail departed that air-space quickly. The adult male also engaged in calling while in flight from to to time (audio attempted).

Technical information

Model

ILCE-1

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter

ISO

2500

Focal length

840 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/9.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

2754 pixels x 3443 pixels

Original file size

5.54 MB