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.