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Steve Wolfe  > The Red-Tail Hawks of Kaiser Hospital, Harbor City, California > May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging
I've been gone on a road trip for 2 weeks so I was particularly anxious to see how the Family had progressed --- and to be sure that all 3 nestlings had survived. They had and boy, have they grown...
First, some background on "fledging" as I too was unsure what it actually means. It's from the Middle English "flegge" meaning "feathered" and refers to the development of a nestling's flight feathers. To quote Marie Winn writing in the excellent "Red-tails in Love" --- "Since the first flight inevitably follows a bird's complete feather development, fledging and first flight are virtually synonymous". As the first baby was born around April 10 (all 3 eggs hatch at 1-2 day intervals) and they are fully fledged (the males before the females) around 45 days from hatching, we may see the first serious attempts at flying during the week of May 23.
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Steve Wolfe > It's now May 15. Whatever happened to those cute, fluffy-white babies?  Fledging is in full swing and Mina is only at the nest to drop off food.  The nestlings are learning independence...
Steve Wolfe > It looks like they're beginning to exercise their wings by standing in place and flapping.
Steve Wolfe > As there are no individual names yet for them --- heck, we can't even distinguish one from the other --- some at our pharmacy have taken to collectively calling them "The Goonies".  They certainly are --- well, awkward-looking at this stage in their development.
Steve Wolfe > It's now around 5:45pm and feeding time is coming up.  They've just spotted Mina coming in with dinner and are looking just a tad...ravenous?  Shortly after this was taken, Mina landed at the edge of the nest with whatever she was clutching but fell over the side; I couldn't tell whether it was due to a bad landing approach or her prey was still alive and struggling.  She tumbled in the air then righted herself but had to circle around about 3 times to pick up enough speed and balance to safely land near the nest. It was amazing to watch but it happened so suddenly that I missed photographing the action.
Steve Wolfe > They spot Mom having landed on a ledge around the corner....
Steve Wolfe > ...and dinner is served.
Steve Wolfe > May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging photo
Steve Wolfe > May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging photo
Steve Wolfe > Mina flies in with more food.....
May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging photo
Camera: Panasonic (Dmc-fz20) |
More details: exif |
Original size: 984px x 666px |
Current: 400px x 271px |
Other sizes: Small • M • L |
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Keywords: may
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