HI Hildy,

Following up on Susan's exciting reports of Buzz and Ruby in the nest together (and no, Lynda, it is not like they were renting a room at the Hotel Tria....), I went over to Alewife the past several days. I saw nothing yesterday, arriving shortly after Susan "paparazzi" Moses photographed the couples sneaking into the nest for a quick peck.

Today was a different matter. I was at Alewife from 10:00 to noon. It was in the low to mid-20s, sunny, with a fairly strong 10-20 mph NW wind. At 10:20 Buzz arrived and flew directly into the nest. He sat there until 11:28, when he left the nest. At that point he flew over to near the Hotel Tria, then soared/flew low over the entire Fresh Pond Mall. Several things happened. As he started flying up the mall from south to north, ALL the pigeons abandoned the rooftops, swirled around, and then landed in small groups on the lampposts. All the Starlings feeding on the grass along the highway took off and landed in the small trees on the parkway, all to avoid the marauding hawk, who then started soaring off the Rindge Ave apartments and disappeared up the tracks on the west side. Then, leaving, I noticed an adult Red-tailed Hawk, small and likely a male, sitting on the corner of the Alewife T-Station Parking Garage. It might have been Buzz, but I've never seen Buzz or Ruby at the garage before. It might have been a third Redtail, as the soaring intruder looked to be a female, it was pretty large.

Of special note, at 10:50 a.m. an adult, light morph Red-tailed Hawk missing one or two (I think it was 2) primaries in its right wing soared into view over CVS and passing over the Hotel Tria. I tried to photograph it, but by the time I got out of the car, the best I could do was look with binos. Based on what Susan has written, I do not think it was Ruby, because I think Susan would have noticed the missing feathers if she had seen them yesterday. There was no sign of recognition or communication from Buzz or the incoming hawk. However, it might explain why Buzz and Ruby have gotten together in the nest and why Buzz sat there for 68 minutes this morning without doing a damn thing.(No sticks carried in, no cable connections, no Ruby; just standing there as shown in the attached photo.)

I've been watching the pair on the Mystic Valley Parkway pairing up, soaring together, and with him (now known as "Mystic") carrying sticks to four different nests, and defending the territory from passing Bald Eagles.

I don't think we have been observing courtship. I don't think there was any courtship feeding. I don't think they are anywhere near copulation or nesting at this time. I think this is bonding behavior, strengthening the bond between the two and maintaining their territorial claims at a time when vagabonds might come in and attempt to take a territory or an existing nest, or maybe even see "who's available" for mating. When someone sees them sky-dancing together, duetting in flight, or him taking food to her, that's when you have real courtship. Susan's sightings the past week have been great. A Lot is happening here, more than one might expect. I'd encourage people to keep track of the weather conditions when they observe, especially: is it Sunny? Windy? Cold and brisk? Warm. I think their behavior is strongly affected by weather conditions, but that is merely an impression based on what I have seen over 35+ years of looking for Redtail courtship. If you see them both sitting in the nest on a dreary, gray, windless day, that is news.

Keep an eye open for an adult Redtail with one or two primaries missing in the right wing' the feathers just behind the longest-extending primary on the rightmost point of the wing.

Best,

Paul

Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA
phawk254@comcast.net