ML617503381

Age and sex

Adult Female - 1; Juvenile, Unknown sex - 3

Observation details

Two adults met at the top of the building the nest is on and called to each other and interacted a bit. At one point an adult rubbed their head against the building as if to scratch it. The nest appeared empty but then I noticed three fledglings on the other side of the ledge from the nest. A parent, the mother I believe, came to visit the fledglings at the new mini nest on the right side of the ledge and then walked over to join her mate who had arrived at the empty old nest on the left side. Both stood together there and one looked larger than the other with more prominent hackles, so I presume he is the male. Adults and fledglings were vocal and at least a couple of the fledglings repeatedly flapped. I bet they'll be flying within days. One fledgling did finally come to the old nest and perhaps got fed by a parent. I cannot discount the possibility of four fledglings (another reported 4 chicks with photos 9 days ago) but looking through my photos, I can only account for two adults and three fledglings at the same time. As I wrote this, I heard very loud croaking and turned back around to see an adult raven flying up from the nest. Then I saw three black vultures and a turkey vulture in the sky and the raven was defending the nest from them! Seemed to successfully lead them off. Exciting dogfight, but didn't see any close passes.

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ300

ISO

100

Focal length

108 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.8

Shutter speed

1/200 sec

Dimensions

2368 pixels x 1651 pixels

Original file size

828.79 KB