The Southeast side Nest Trifecta

About a month ago I promised an update on the recently discovered nest, now known as nest two. Yes, three hawk nests have been discovered on the southeast side of Indianapolis! The nests are numbered in order of their location heading away from town on I74. All three nests are located within a few hundred feet of the inbound lanes of I74.

The first nest, located by Jonathan Renshaw, is in a newer housing addition. This is of some concern as the housing addition still has many open lots near the nest. The nest isn’t located on property belonging to any of the home owners.

                                                              Camera: Canon SX30IS

                                                   

Nest two, the nest I first wrote about a month or so ago, is located les than a mile from nest one. This nest is the only nest that is known to be active as of this date. Looking closely at this image a Red Tailed Hawk can just be seen peering over the edge of the nest.

                                        

                                                    Camera: Canon SX30IS

Nest three, located less than 1000’ from nest two, was just discovered by me a few days ago while trying to locate nest one. This nest is far off the road in a fenced area which makes it hard to view. I believe this nest could also be active but I need to view the nest  with my spotting scope to be sure.

                                                  

                  Camera: Canon SX30IS                                   

Red Tailed Hawks have been known to build decoy nests. Bald Eagles will also build more than one nest. I’m not sure what is gained by constructing multiple nests, it seems like allot of extra work for the birds.  These extra nests may not go to waste as other birds may use the nest. Great Horned Owls have been known to recycle unused hawk nests. I will be checking these nests over the next few months and reporting here.

Below is a link to a map with the locations of the three southeast side nests.

Southeast side Hawk Nest map

Island Girl, the amazing Tundra Peregrine Falcon

  Island Girl is a Tundra Peregrine Falcon, the last GPS tagged Tundra in the Southern Cross Project. Tundra Peregrines make one of the longest migrations in the bird world, around 8,000 miles or more!!! Island Girl has one of the longest, from the southern tip of Chile to an area beyond the North Western Passages very near Greenland! Island Girl just started her trek to her northern hunting grounds.

 Some people will say, that’s nice but Island Girl doesn’t travel through Indiana. That’s true but other Tundra Peregrine Falcons have. One such Tundra Peregrine Falcon was presented to a local wildlife rehabilitator a little over a year ago. The tundra had a bad leg injury which with the help of the vets and Kathy at UTOPUIA Wildlife healed nicely. In fact the falcon did so well we were able to determine the Falcon is a female. She laid several eggs near the end of her rehab before leaving UTOPIA Wildlife!!!

                                    Female Tundra Peregrine Falcon for rehab.

 The healed Falcon was turned over to a local falconer for passage training.  Passage training conditions a rehabilitated Falcon for life in the wild. It brings back hunting skills and muscle tone which may be reduced or lost after a long rehab. I hope this beautiful bird and Island Girl both have long productive lives. The Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird on the planet never ceases to amaze us as we  learn more about them!!!

Want to learn more about the Tundra Peregrine Falcon or follow the long migration of Island Girl?

 Click the Island Girl link below.

Island Girl

Bald Eagles alive and ????

   

Bald Eagles are defiantly on the road to recovery, or are they?!?  Bald Eagles are being seen in places where they have not been seen in several decades! DNR and many wildlife rehabilitators are receiving calls from the public about these large birds which the caller knows or believes to be an eagle. Bald Eagles have been seen in downtown Indianapolis and on the Indy North side. More than 100 active Bald Eagle nests are believed to exist in Indiana and at least 3 are known to exist in Marion County!

  In winter Bald and Golden Eagles migrate south in search open waters. Eagles can be found near power plants where warm water discharge from the power plant keeps the river, near the power plant, free of ice. In winter, its common place to see a Bald Eagle standing on the edge of the ice watching the open water or eating a recently caught fish.

Fish is a large part of an eagles diet but not the only source of meat for eagles. 

Bald Eagles will eat almost anything they can catch, including ducks, rodents, snakes, and carrion. Carrion, the carcass of a dead animal, can be a real problem for Bald Eagles and other carrion eating animals. An eagle finding a dead deer, duck or other dead wildlife may be finding a death trap! Lead from bullets and shotgun slugs found in dead or sick animals is believed to be a large part of the problem. In addition, a large number of Bald Eagles brought to wildlife rehabilitators are the victims of gunshot wounds.   Nearly 50% of the Bald Eagles treated in some wildlife rehabilitation centers have been found to have high levels of toxic lead in their body.

                            http://www.iowadnr.gov/files/lead/eagles_lead.pdf

  Lead isn’t the only problem for the eagles! The chemicals used in illegal drug production are also becoming a problem for wildlife!!! Recently a 23 year old bald eagle found near Brown County Indiana was brought into a local wildlife rehabilitator. The eagle was in bad shape and later died. A necropsy was performed on the bald eagle. The people performing the necropsy noticed a strong odor of toluene coming form inside the eagle body.  It was later learned the eagle had been found not far from where an illegal drug setup was located.

 Add to all of this, the recent delisting of the Bald Eagle…… Yes I know delisting is a good thing or is it?!? A recent document outlines the “Taking” of Bald Eagles. Yes you can get a permit to kill(take) a Bald Eagle!!!!

            http://www.fws.gov/midwest/MidwestBird/eaglepermits/index.html

Jackson County Bald Eagle Nests

For more than a year I have been making the trip from Indianapolis to Jackson county near Starved Hollow to visit a Bald Eagle nest. Actually there are other places to visit in the area including one of my favorite places to go shooting(camera), Muscatatuck NWR. 

Last year the Starved Hollow nest was active, although I don’t know if the pair was productive.

This year I started looking for eagle activity around the Starved Hollow nest in December, but didn’t see any activity. I drove around the area and located a second nest just outside Brownstown. The Brownstown nest looked smaller than the Starved Hollow nest which could mean it’s a new nest.

Starved Hollow nest  Camera: Canon SX30IS

I visited both nests again in early March looking for activity. At the Starved Hollow nest no Eagles were seen, this is the time of year when the pair should be incubating the eggs and feeding each other. I left the Starved Hollow nest and drove to the Brownstown nest area. Several Bald Eagles were seen hunting in this area.

A week or so ago the wife and I visited the area again. As before the Starved Hollow nest was empty and no Bald Eagle activity was seen in the area. This time the Brownstown nest looked completed but it also didn’t have any activity and no Bald Eagles were seen in the area.

                                                 Brownstown nest  Camera: Canon SX30IS 

Why I carry a camera almost everywhere.

The wife and I needed to pick up some parts for our kayaks. We headed to one of the large east side malls. We couldn’t find the items and left the mall empty handed. As we neared the east parking lot I noticed a large hawk sitting on a power pole. I reached for my camera and started shooting.  

                                                     Camera:   Canon SX30IS                     
                                          

Second, as I have said in this blog has stated before, “Raptors are everywhere”

The last place I expected to see a Red Tailed Hawk was at the mall today!

Time and time again I see Raptors in places where I’ve not seen them before.

Third, how many times have you been out and seen something and said “I wish I had a picture of that. Too many times of that myself, has taught me to keep a camera close when I’m away from home.

I’ve had people ask me, why do I always have a camera bag?

First and foremost is, “You cannot get this quality of image from a cell phone camera.”

When engineers figure out how to incorporate a 500mm lens into a box the size of a cell phone I will leave my camera bag at home!

A Second East Side Nest

  I’m in the process of rebuilding an old notebook computer of mine. I needed to make a trip to Fry’s Electronics on the northeast side of Indianapolis to pickup a new hard drive. The wife decides that as long as we’re in the area of one of her favorite city parks we should also visit the park. Ritchey Woods, one of the newer parks in Indianapolis, is a small park but is teaming with wildlife. As we enter the park we notice a large nest in one of the larger trees on the south side of the park at the west edge of the second prairie area.  

  I didn’t bring my spotting scope or tripod on this trip but my camera does have an optical zoom of 35 which the Mfg claims to be equivalent to 840mm.  The camera does a good job and as I study the nest through the camera I can’t tell if it is inhabited or not. As me wife and I make our way to the wetlands area of the park we come across several wood peckers, Downy, Red Bellied and a Northern Flicker.

  Just before reaching the wetland area, we are able to get a good look at the nest and I’m able to take several photographs of the nest.  It’s a large stick nest but I still can’t tell if its inhabited, also noted in the area a smaller nest which looks to be composed of twigs and leaves. I’m not sure which species of bird this nest belongs to, or why any smaller bird would construct a nest within the proximity of a large hawk nest.

Camera: Canon SX30IS

  Looking closely at the image you can just make out the head of a Raptor, I believe it’s a Red Tailed Hawk! This nest is still not easy to get to but at least I have a place where I can set up my cameras and video equipment that’s not in the middle of a highway or well traveled road.

                                                            

Camera: Canon SX30IS

As we exited the park, the wife noticed a large hawk in the row of trees at the west edge of the first prairie area. I was able to capture several images of the hawk before we left the park. As we drove away from the park I looked back, in the direction where the large hawk had been perched, just in time to see the hawk take flight and head in the direction of the nest.

 What a wonderful trip, we will be visiting Ritchey Woods many more times in the following weeks and months in hopes of capturing some good images and video of the Red Tailed Hawk family in action!!!

Turkey Vulture, Turkey Vulture and more Turkey Vultures

The Turkey Vultures are back in Indiana from their winter vacation!

 While some people don't find Vultures interesting, some even despise these birds and still others will tell me "These birds are no longer considered Raptors". Yes, I know the Vultures were removed from the Raptor list some years ago but I still enjoy seeing them! I used too be one of those people that despised any Vulture (and no they are not Buzzards, a Buzzard is for old world birds). I use to think, “They eat dead things how interesting can they be???”

As luck would have it, I became very acquainted with the resident female Turkey Vulture at RAPTOR Inc, Earl.  Yes Earl, as some times happens to birds in the world of humans a bird receives a male name until it lays an egg, such is the case with Earl.

Turkey Vultures are very social animals, if you’ve noticed they are typically seen in large groups (known as a wake).

                      
                                                           

Camera: Canon SX30IS

While at RAPTOR I learned that Turkey Vultures are intelligent as well.  RAPTOR was incorporating enrichment processes into the feeding of some of the birds, with Earl that meant hiding her rat in something. The first try as a paper bag, she had the rat out of the bag in just a few seconds. Next we used a phone book, Earl studied the puzzle then stuck her beak into the side near the center of the book and opened the book. Other enrichment items tried included pumpkins and a box, but Earl was up to every challenge!

The most interesting thing that happened when I was feeding Earl, she didn’t want to dine alone. I placed Earls rat in the center of her mew (cage) and then turned to leave, she grabbed my pants leg and would not let go until I turned away from the door to her mew. I waited for a minute or two and then tried to leave again with the same result. The third time I waited until Earl was well into her meal and then I slowly walked backwards towards the door. I quickly popped out the door leaving Earl very ticked in her mew.

These are some of the reasons I like Turkey Vultures, and as you can there is more to this bird than just eating dead things!
                                                             

Camera: Canon SX30IS

Question1. How does one identify an adult Turkey Vulture in flight? Look closely at the first picture, notice the pattern and color of the light feathers. This pattern is unique to the adult Turkey Vulture also the Red head is unique to the Turkey Vulture but this feature is seldom seen in flight.

Question 2. How does one identify Vultures in flight? Look closely at the second picture, notice the slight “V” shape formed by the raised wing tips. This is typically the flight posture of a Vulture. Vultures sometime pull their wings in toward their body to pickup speed and the V shape is not seen.

The East Side Nest

As the wife and I headed out a few months ago we noticed this nest on the southeast side of Indianapolis.

I had been passed this area several times in the past 5 years and not seen the nest here before. I believe its new for 2011. Today the wife passed the nest and noticed some activity, the image above is from a few hours after my wife passed by.

Its nice to see a nest but think the hawks could have picked a better location than near a busy highway. Ive looked around the east side of Indy for nests in the past and not been able find any. Hopefully  I will be able to get some better pictures soon.

The Raptor trip

Click here___ to see the Red Tailed Hawk video from this trip. On the road at the crack of dawn yesterday for a trip to Muscatatuck NWR. Then over to Starved Hollow area and then back to Muscatatuck NWR through Brownstown Bottoms. 9+ hours in all and only about .5 hour of video and a few stills {;-(. I thought about visiting Big Oak NWR or lake Patoka area but I decided not to use up a tank of gas until I have a job. I found out my Whooping Crane tracking system also tracks hunting dogs, Hum, not sure why hunting dogs transmitters are in the same frequency range as that used by Whooping Cranes????

I did see 5 Bald Eagles, four in the 135/Baseline Freetown area and 1 over Muscatatuck NWR. No good images or video, they just dont come close enough for my equipment {;-(. It looks as if a Bald Eagle nest is being constructed in the Freetown area. I stopped by the Bald Eagle nest near Starved Hollow but there was no activity there, It could be a little early yet. I also got to see the Muscatatuck NWR River Otters again, about the best part of the day, 20+ minutes of good video. I also was able to shoot a Red Tailed Hawk hunting for abour three minutes! I will add the video to the blog after I have a chance to edit it.


I was also hoping to see SandHill Cranes. Brownstown Bottoms is a good place to see Sandhills in the fall and spring, although I didnt see any on this trip.

Hawks are everywhere!

Red Tailed Hawk south side Indianapolis In. Camera: Canon SX30IS 

  As can be seen in this image, Raptors can be found in residential, commercial & industrial areas, sometimes even in commercial buildings! In this part of the country and Im sure in others parts it’s not uncommon to be driving down a city street and see a hawk soaring above or sitting in a nearby tree. 

  I spent four years in Cincinnati, on a job, and would drive back home to Indianapolis on the weekends. I started noticing hawks sitting in trees and on fences along my way. The first few years there might be three or four, the last year the numbers peaked to twelve to fifteen. The number in winter would be higher than any other time of the year.

 The larger numbers of raptors sitting near road sides in winter is due to a lack of food sources. In the case of the Red Tailed Hawk, a large percentage of first year hawks do not survive in to their second year! This is due to a number of reasons, lack of food during winter, taking chances on road kill, contact with power lines and more.

 A young Hawk that becomes a good hunter can survive the winter eating birds and other hard to catch prey. A poor hunter has survived into late fall eating bugs and small rodents, by winter this food source has died off or is under ground. The hawks then turn to road kill but this dodging in and out of traffic will be the demise of many a raptor.

An interesting image.

Captured at my apartment in West Lafayette, In. Camera Canon SX30IS.

  The apartment that I was renting, in West Lafayette, faced into a small nature area called Celery Bog. What a wonderful place to live for somebody who loves to watch and photograph wildlife. The day of this photo was a very snowy day and normally I would have been on my way to Indianapolis to be with my wife for the weekend. 

   Celery Bog was slow, so I decided to photography small bird, Wrens, Sparrows and such. I don't normally photography small birds unless they are Woodpeckers, Indigo Buntings, Hummingbirds or the smaller hawks and falcons.  I had been photographing small birds for about two hours when I decided It was time for a break from photographing. I had some chores that needed doing in the apartment

   I was only in the kitchen for about 15 minutes when I noticed a large Red Tailed Hawk in a tree across from the apartment.  The Red Tailed Hawk was watching the small birds that were working over my feeders and the bottom feeders that were working over the leftovers on the ground.  I grabbed the camera placed it on the tripod and started shooting. After the third shot, the Red Tailed Hawk left its perch in the tree and flew off.

   As I reviewed the images I came across this image. At first I thought I had moved the camera and the image was blurred and I almost deleted the image. As I stared at the image, I began to realize the image was not blurred but was instead two Hawks.  What a surprise, I had not seen the second Hawk but then again my field of view was very limited..