Sunday, September 15, 2013

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Red Tailed Hawk Hanging Around 2 Freeway Nest

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 13, 2013, 8:58 AM.  In the past week, I noticed one of the large Red Tails flying in & out of the nest on the 2 Freeway at Rosebud & Allesandro again.  That's her looking back over her shoulder toward the development on the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

In past years, in the summer months after the young hawks had fledged, it was not unusual to see the youngsters return to the nest at dusk, and take off at dawn.  This has not been the case since developers took out nearly 4 acres of mature trees (ideal squirrel habitat) & completely regraded the hillside across the street from the nest over the past year. 

Even stranger than the hawk persisting in hanging around the nest, it seems to be working on the nest, way out of season.  Friday, around sunset, a neighbor & I were chatting on the street, when we witnessed the large Red Tailed Hawk fly out of a large Eucalyptus tree atop Corralitas with a 3' forked branch in its talons, heading toward the nest.  We usually don't see nest rebuilding behavior until December through February

But then, we don't exactly have normal Red Tailed Hawks.