Watching Hawks

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Thursday afternoon I was back at the Red-shouldered Hawks' nest on Louetta.

When I arrived, the mother was in the nest with the two chicks but she soon left to perch on a branch some 8 feet away.



This really agitated the chicks.



The mother was umoved by their cries. Perhaps she just needed a break from the chicks' constant cries for food.Or was she perhaps trying to encourage the chicks to be more adventurous? If the latter, she succeeded, because one of the chicks soon stretched its wings and struggled up towards her.

It managed to get part way towards the adult.

But then it decided it had gone far enough ...

and hopped back down onto the nest.


When I left, the parent was still perched on the branch and the two chicks were again crying out for food.


It's certainly tough being a parent.

P.S.
Talking about life being tough for parents, I just read that a Long-tailed Tit mother in England has no fewer than eleven chicks to feed. Now that's really tough!
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