Between posts

I haven't posted in awhile. About a week ago, Eileen, one of our library pages, observed one of the hawks bringing more nesting material to the nest. This was interesting because neither hawk had been carrying material or arranging the nest in weeks. Last week I saw the hawks less and less, at times sitting high on the tower in the mornings.

I am hoping that I am mistaken, but I fear the hawks may have abandoned the nest. If it is true, I'm also not sure what would cause this behavior. We'll all keep watching.

-Lisa Laskaris

Wind and quiet

I keep listening for baby bird sounds, but haven't heard any yet. Every day I can see some kind of movement up in the nest; whether the movement is birds or wind, I can't say.

This afternoon I went outside just before we opened the branch. I looked up and saw one of the hawks, first perched on the edge of the platform, then majestically take off toward the desert. Unfortunately my camera does not advance from one picture to the next quickly, and I missed that perfect hawk-in-flight shot, again. Hawk sitting on the platform will have to do.

The camera I use for these pictures is a low quality digital pencam I bought online: Aiptek MegaCam. I wanted this camera to be small, light, simple, inexpensive. It is all those things and - also not surprisingly - limited. The pencam has 2 focus settings (near, far) and an 'on' switch in addition to the shutter. I manipulate the pictures with the software that came with the camera. Though the quality of the camera and shots is not very good, the experience of trying to take a good picture within the limitations of the equipment, technology and my ability has been fun. I have taken some pictures with my (much) better film camera, and will be posting those in the future.


-Lisa Laskaris

Kreee-ar!

Today we went outside in the afternoon and saw both hawks around the nest. One flew back and forth between the tower and a light pole in the parking lot, screaming as it flew. More about the noises of red-tailed hawks:

The cry of the red-tailed hawk is a two or three second hoarse, rasping scream, described as kree-eee-ar, which begins at a high pitch and slurs downward. The cry is often described as sounding similar to a steam whistle. It frequently vocalizes while hunting or soaring, but vocalizes loudest in annoyance or anger, in response to a predator or a rival hawk.

-Lisa Laskaris