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Steve Wolfe  > The Red-Tail Hawks of Kaiser Hospital, Harbor City, California > June 1 --- "Jen" Returns to the Family
On Wednesday June 1 I greet Jen from South Bay WIldlife Rehab behind the Lakeside Pharmacy with "Yeah, it's tough finding a parking spot around here, isn't it?" Today's the Big Day but it's also right after the Memorial Day holiday so patients are jockeying for parking spaces. While Jen finds a spot I meet up with my fellow Hawk-watcher Josie Morris from the Oncology department and we go looking for members of the Family. Jen says Mom, or at least the siblings, have to "see" the returning hawklet otherwise they might never know it's back. Jen walks up with the bird in a box; I ask a passing doctor "Have you seen the hawks lately?" to which I get "Not today". We figure they're somewhere around the main hospital building -- but where? We opt to go up on the roof. Josie calls Security and a guard comes down with access keys. He leads us through a maze of corridors up to the only top-roof access he's aware of --- a locked ladder up to a trap door. Can't get up THAT way...Luckily he has keys to a lower level of the roof. We open the door, turn the corner ---
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Steve Wolfe > ---and we see 2 hawks, one perched on a tree and the other on the top roof ledge.  They're so big that it takes a few minutes for us to figure out that they're the fledglings, not Mom or Dad...but that's fine.  Jen opens the box...
Steve Wolfe > and takes out the hawklet.  Jen says it's definitely a "she", so we officially name her Jen after her rescuer.
Steve Wolfe > Jen's trichinosis has cleared up, her tongue is healing, she's been eating defrosted pigeons --- and Jen says she's one ill-tempered bird.  She stayed in an enclosed area so she didn't get much of a chance to fly.  It'll be interesting to watch her these next few days...
Steve Wolfe > The Rehab folks have put a red band on her right leg for ID purposes.  It's meant to be temporary; it most likely will eventually fall off, but at least it's a way for hawkwatchers to differentiate her from her siblings.  We still have a hard time telling the other 2 --- one female, one male , according to SBWR --- apart,  so at least we positively ID one --- for now.
Steve Wolfe > Once Jen is released, she looks around...
Steve Wolfe > Looks up at the brother/sister on the roof ledge...
Steve Wolfe > While the one in the tree looks quizzically down at her ("Gee, I vaguely seem to remember her")...
Steve Wolfe > Jen hops on to a lower ledge and, looking into the window and seeing her reflection, is perhaps a little perturbed by the other hawklet she sees...
Steve Wolfe > She makes her way around the ledge, still looking at the other fledgling staring back at her...
Jen's trichinosis has cleared up, her tongue is healing, she's been eating defrosted pigeons --- and Jen says she's one ill-tempered bird. She stayed in an enclosed area so she didn't get much of a chance to fly. It'll be interesting to watch her these next few days...
 > Jen's trichinosis has cleared up, her tongue is healing, she's been eating defrosted pigeons --- and Jen says she's one ill-tempered bird.  She stayed in an enclosed area so she didn't get much of a chance to fly.  It'll be interesting to watch her these next few days...
Jen's trichinosis has cleared up, her tongue is healing, she's been eating defrosted pigeons --- and Jen says she's one ill-tempered bird. She stayed in an enclosed area so she didn't get much of a chance to fly. It'll be interesting to watch her these next few days...
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Keywords: june
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