What follows are the latest pictures from the nest, taken on 06/01/04. All pics are taken without the zoom, many with the macro setting on my digital camera (I'm about .5-2 feet from the bird).

For those of you beginning with this post, go back to my previous two posts on this topic before continuing. These pics are from a red-tailed hawk nest in Oswego County, NY (just north of Syracuse). As before, I continue these picture expeditions under consultation with a licensed falconer.

Before I begin, I must pass on some bad news - the smaller of the two fledglings is no more. I searched the greenery at the base of the tree extensively, but found no sign of the little one. He/she had been significantly smaller than the other, and was continuously picked on by the bigger each time I approached the nest.

We have experienced a week of many strong thunderstorms with high winds, so it's possible that it fell out of the nest. Other possibilities include a weasel, mink or raccoon. My falconer friend said that cannibalism is not uncommon in eagles, so maybe that's what happened.

I also just learned that raccoons may follow human scent up a tree right to the nest out of curiousity. This would not be possible in this tree because of the way I climb it, though.

In any event, it appears that this one is doing fine. I managed to sneak up on the nest this time and caught him/her sleeping until the camera made a noise. The back colors resemble an eagle in this picture. Look closely at the tail feathers coming out of their "sheath".



Once he woke up, he immediately put on a show - flexing his wings for me. The wing feathers still haven't taken their end shape yet. I'm also convinced that these birds are born with full-sized talons!



After a while, he finally calmed down a bit and relaxed his wings. The breast color is really coming out on the bird now.



Here's a closeup of a very good looking bird!



Here's a picture of me, clinging on to a small branch with one hand while taking the pic with the other - these digital cameras with the swiveling screens really help make pics like this possible. The bird has that "curious" tilt to it's head!



Unfortunately, it won't be long before the bird will begin climbing out on the branches. I suspect that I will need to begin using the zoom on my camera in the near future. Stay tuned for updates.