Jordan Lake First Nest Neighborhood. Every once in a while … and it’s been a long while at this point … since I put together a series of small little clips of an outing at Jordan Lake. All of these are from this morning. There are five different species of birds. Hope you enjoy each and every one of them.
red-tailed hawk
TagFace Off Nest Protection
Jordan Lake Dam. At the tailrace this morning with Becky and Louisa we watched a northern mockingbird protect its nest from a red-tailed hawk. Watch carefully at the beginning and you will see one of the mockingbirds sitting on top of the cupola and it dives down inside the tree to its nest as its mate proceeds to harass the red-tailed hawk into leaving the tree.
Somebody Rang the Dinner Bell
Jordan Lake.Somebody rang the dinner bell. Around the end of the cove came probably 200 double-crested cormorants. They made an absolute blur as they passed by me, turned back and settled in to fishing. It is a very rhythmic feeding sequence with the occasional cork popping – oh, I mean an occasional cormorant popping up with a fish.
Dad Hershey and a Red-tailed Hawk
Jordan Lake. H&G bald eagle nest. I heard dad Hershey yelling. Looked up to see dad go right over the top of his nest. I couldn’t see any chicks in the nest because the alarm called by their dad had sent them down to hide. Dad Hershey was chasing another bird. I blinked. The bald eagle was chasing a red-tailed hawk. That red-tailed hawk is smaller than the eagle chicks are at this point and is no danger to them. Dad was simply agitated and wanted to make sure that the hawk stayed out of bald eagle territory.
Hershey and the Red-tailed Hawk
Jordan Lake, H&G Nest Report: The bald eagle Dad Hershey at H&G nest, several vultures and a red-tailed hawk were all circling in the same kettle of rising air. For whatever reason the red tail hawk decided to fuss at Dad Hershey. They had a face off, way up in the air! They glared, made threats and then broke away from each other. Dad Hershey then dashed down to the lake and grabbed a fish that a ring-billed gull had dropped. The bald eagle took the fish back to a big branch and was happily eating on the fish when, for whatever reason, the red-tailed hawk showed up and complained and made Dad Hershey duck and scrunch down. Apparently having had it’s say, the red-tailed hawk then sailed off into the tree line. I don’t know what started all the ruckus. Neither bird has eggs or chicks in a nest. So, maybe it was just that the red-tailed hawk had a desire to be crabby. Or maybe I should say hawkish?
American Crows Mobbing Red-tailed Hawk
Jordan Lake: I had been listening to the crows’ mobbing calls for several minutes, over behind the trees beyond First Nest. Then out from the trees burst a red-tailed hawk in the midst of several crows. Crows chase any raptor away from their territory. The hawk sailed past, ignoring the squawking and diving crows. Eventually they all disappeared on the far side of the cove. Note: the BIG bulge that you can see extending from the hawk’s throat to its chest is made by the bird’s crop and it is swollen because the hawk has stored excess food there for later consumption.
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