Backyard Resident

I can't think of a better reason to break blog silence than to tell you about a new resident to our backyard.

For a few years we've observed hawks in our neighborhood, and recently have been hearing some out-of-the-ordinary bird noises. On May 2, Lucy and I were playing soccer in the backyard  and saw a hawk swoop above us and land in one of our trees. After some closer inspection, it appeared to be sitting on a branch next to a nest, or at least a good start to one. A couple more days of watching, and we observed a pair of hawks, and witnessed the bird(s) carrying sticks to add to the sculpture. Definitely some nest-building going on!

After consulting some reputable websites, we suspected that what we had was a Broad-winged Hawk. We sort of got a look at it, but the key was the very distinct call. Through our research we've learned that Broad-wingeds don't usually nest close to humans, so we're very honored this pair chose our Silver Maple!

The past few days one of the birds has been sitting on the nest quite regularly, so we suspect there may be a few eggs. There's quite a racket when one of them is hungry or needs a break from all that sitting. The incubation period is 28-31 days, and while we're not sure exactly when any eggs were laid, we suspect it was within the past week...so we might get a glimpse of some chicks in 3 weeks or so! We're having fun watching them, and have a decent view of the nest from our deck (click on photos to enlarge).

A flurry mid-flight! This was in the nest-building phase. 5-2-15.

Here you can see the banding on the tail,
which provides further confirmation this is a Broad-winged Hawk. 5-3-15. 

Do you spy something looking at me? 5-20-15.

Anyone out there hatch hawks in your backyard? Any tips?