VA-Birders,
Since June 13, Paul Kane and I have been observing a Red-tailed Hawk
nest at Fort Ward Park in Alexandria at Braddock Road and Howard
Street. The nest is at picnic area #6 in a Virginia pine about 40 ft
high and about 20 paces from the circle drive.
There are two young in the nest. Since we don't know when the eggs
hatched, it is impossible to know the ages of the chicks, but they
are probably about 6-7 weeks old and close to fledging. On June 6,
the female parent was hit by a car on Braddock Rd., rescued by the
Alexandria Animal Shelter and rehabilitated by Kent Knowles of the
Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. The bird suffered from a concussion
and injury to the left eye. Kent did not know when he received the
bird that it was a parent of chicks in a nest. We informed him of the
nest and that the male parent was continuing to feed the young. The
Raptor Conservancy provided excellent medical examinations,
treatment, and rehabilitation, and returned it to the park on Sunday
afternoon. It appeared to be just in time because the male had not
been seen since late Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, as of an hour
ago, the female has not brought in any food to the young although she
has perched near the nest on a couple of occasions. The young have
been plaintively crying almost constantly from as close as 6 feet
away. The male still has not been seen.
Paul Kane watched this nest during all daylight hours yesterday, and
he has been there since 6 AM this morning. On Sunday, I watched them
for over 5 1/2 hours. There is absolutely no evidence that these
birds have been fed for at least a couple of days, probably not since
Friday night when the male brought in a squirrel. We are very
concerned that these birds will be lost, which will be tragic. They
are so close to making it. Kent Knowles has been having conversations
with the state biologist, but an intervention while the birds are in
the nest could be undertaken only with permits from the state and
federal authorities. It is very uncertain whether this will be
possible. Ironically, no such permits were required for the adult to
be rescued and rehabilitated when it was hit by a car, but "nature
must take its course" as regards these chicks that have been
effectively orphaned as a direct result of a parent's collision with
a car. If the chicks were to fall or jump from the nest, then the
only permit required for Kent to rescue the birds would be from the
City of Alexandria since Fort Ward is a city park.
It is close to 48 hours since the female was returned to the nest
site. Perhaps her maternal instinct will kick in and she will begin
to feed the young, but it normally takes two adults to supply
adequate food for nestlings at this stage of development, so the
prospects are not good for these chicks.
Digiscopes of these birds can be seen at http://www.pbase.com/
paulasullivan/red_tailed_hawk_nest There is a thumbnail for each of
several days. Clicking on the thumbnail will open a gallery of photos
from that day.
Paula Sullivan
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