Green-Wood Hawk Update

Big Mama & Junior's nest was very active this morning in Green-Wood Cemetery. In addition, we found last year's offspring still hanging around at the far end of the cemetery.

Big Mama was on the nest keeping an eye on her little ones. I was only able to shoot some video of a single chick, but there are actually two in the nest. Mother red-tail spent a lot of time preening the one chick, who didn't seem to want to go along with the program. It squirmed around like a toddler trying to avoid a bath.







We drove around the cemetery for a while checking for other birds and stopped near Landscape Path when I heard the alarm call of a robin. I quickly located the irate robin and noticed a pile of plucked feathers scattered beneath the tree. I followed the trail and found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk resting in a conifer, apparently full from her breakfast. She has a very pale face and, I can't be 100% certain, but think it is one of Big Mama & Junior's kids from last year. The hawk was very approachable, seemingly indifferent to me taking pictures and talking to her in a low voice.


Continuing to drive around the east side of the cemetery, I spotted another juvenile Red-tailed Hawk about 10 minutes later. This individual has an incredibly dark face and light eyes, giving it an almost demonic appearance. He was also very tame and allowed me to walk right under the tree to shoot some video.