Thursday, June 07, 2012

And then there was one

Two of the three hawklets (technically eyases) have flown the nest, coming back every so often to cheer up the lone nest-bound sibling.

At the present time, part of lunch is still sitting in the nest, what appears to be the front half of a small bunny. Little hawk picks off what he wants; one of the adults returns, and if no move is made to protect it, the adult takes off with the carcass.

If you go to https://twitter.com/#!/UWHawkCam, there are a number of videos of various take offs and landings - including a hilarious one where the first two chicks take flight onto the roof, and the third valiantly tries to follow. Due to the prevailing winds, the first couple of flights were actually straight up and over the camera, allowing you to see the expression on each face as they became airborne. "Holy crap!" seemed to be the main thought.

While it's been fun watching them grow, it would be nice to see the last chick leave the nest and take its place out in the wild. Fly, little bird, fly!

2 comments:

Robbo said...

He (she?) just flew!

Diane said...

That little...chick. I've been worried about the little runt, and it picks the middle of my commute home to fly! But yay - they say it's in a nearby tree, and has been visited by a sibling (no doubt saying both congrats and what took you so long!)