Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 14, 2012, 9:17 AM. The Red Tailed Hawks were hanging around the 2 Freeway near the nest today. They appeared to be hunting vermin today, eyeballing the ground around the eucalyptus trees on the 2 Freeway at the Rosebud Ave undercrossing. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 14, 2012, 9:18 AM. Both the above photos were shot from the Corralitas Public Staircase facing the 2 Freeway overpass on Rosebud Ave.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 14, 2012, 9:20 AM. In 3 nesting seasons of watching these hawks, this nesting pair of Red Tailed Hawks has never spent much time in the nest. However, they always seem to be nearby. I have no idea if this is typical behavior. One of last year's youngsters is still hanging around the adults, which is not unusual.
Nesting season began February 1, the same day developers began cutting down trees, less than 100 feet from the nest at the corner of Rosebud & Allesandro.
According to the City standard conditions for approval spelled out in the approval for the controversial 16-lot subdivision: "clearing and construction in the vicinity of the nest shall be deferred until the young birds have fledged and there is no evidence of a second attempt at nesting A minimum exclusion buffer of 300 feet (500 feet for raptor nests) or as determined by a qualified biologist, shall be maintained during construction depending on species and location." A 500 foot radius encompasses their entire site.
