First, thank you to the people who emailed me directly in response to my post on Buzz's accident and Ruby's challenges.

Buzz is still in rehab and awaiting x-rays. He is apparently eating and being a good patient, but we do not expect any further word on Buzz until late Monday or Tuesday.

Ruby is managing a suddenly very complicated life. Thursday evening she left the nest to apparently hunt for small rodents, but every time she landed on a utility pole, mockingbirds and blue jays harassed her and occasionally hit her, ultimately driving her off. She appeared to keep looking for prey, but encountered a bigger interruption.

Thursday evening we were a bit surprised to see Ruby fly back towards the nest tree followed by a second Red-tailed Hawk. This was not the adult female we had seen earlier this week. This was an immature bird, just one year old and beginning to molt. The teenager was missing the first two primaries on each wing and apparently two secondaries at the base of each wing. He had quite faded plumage on his head and his upper wings were clearly the dual-tones of an immature Redtail. The arms were dark, the hands were light, with the pale wing panels on its hands visible from below as well as above.

More important, this male looked to be feeling his hormones. It began to seem a little like an eighth-grade dance, with the gawky boy, his pants about two inches too short, trying to show off for the more mature female. Ruby looked to be going off to look for prey and would land on 200 Cambridgepark. The male once or twice perched on the same building, but more often he flew wide circles around her, apparently showing off his masculinity and prowess. Ruby appeared to observe and ignore. She would fly off to the security lamp at 150 and perch there for a while, and then fly back towards the nest tree. He followed Ruby around and when she went to the nest tree and stood sentry, he performed stutter courtship flights over the northern half of the new Fawcett apartment complex, exactly where Buzz had last year. He appeared to call several times. Ruby watched, but did not make any obvious response. The male went over and perched on top of one of the new apartments, and admired her from not too far off. Ultimately, she flew in his direction but he flew off, with Ruby landing on Raytheon and the male flying towards Smith Place. She seemed to be making a statement.

There was never any sign of aggression between the two. He never got "too close" to the nest, posing a threat to the kids or Ruby. She stayed between the kids and the bigger kid. She did not say yes, but she didn't appear to say "no way, never" either. Could she say "yes?" Should she? She does not know that Buzz is alive and may be able to return. She knows only that she is alone with three growing, hungry kids. Did I say "hungry?" Will the teenager come back and solicit her again? Will he persist? Will she reconsider? We can only wait to see. Already in just three days, two Redtails have approached her. Or will she wait for an adult male to come by? Will she consider an adult male as someone more responsible, who will help her feed the kids and be her mate in years to come, or will she see all males as a potential threat to her young? Time should tell.

Thursday evening there was great consternation among the observers. We wanted Ruby to hunt, to bring food back to the nest, but the mockers and jays kept harassing her, and the teenage male was a giant distraction. No food was delivered.

Friday morning brought relief. Shortly after dawn, Ruby returned from the northwest with large, heavy prey in talons. It appeared to be a large rat, which for whatever reason Ruby did not take directly to the nest. Ruby flew to several different perches with the prey, which appeared to be a significant weight for her to lift. Ultimately, she landed in the nest with the prey and began tearing it up immediately. The three kids lined up facing Mom, as she tore into the prey and broke off bit after bit, feeding each kid. Notably, all three kids, including the youngest, were able to sit up, stable, for some time to eat. At one point one of the oldest got a huge chuck of meat from Mom. The other older sibling grabbed the bottom of the dangling meat and began to eat it from the other end. A tug of war ensued, with one quickly swallowing all the prey. The feeding went on for about half an hour, with all the kids really chowing down. They rested for almost half an hour before Ruby began feeding the kids again, for about another half an hour. Ruby sat down and rested between feedings, looking more settled and relaxed than we had seen her since Sunday. She sat high in the nest and stretched her neck over the head of one chick to preen the little tyke. She looked as though she knew she had done well. The kids had eaten well. They were larger than just two days ago, and clearly maturing, though no feather tracts are yet visible. She had made it through four very difficult days. That is cause for hope, for Ruby, for the three gray puff balls that are now stretching little wings, and for Buzz.

As promised in my last update, here is information on how to donate money to the Tufts wildlife clinic in Grafton. They do excellent work for a variety of injured wildlife, such as Buzz, and do necropsies on dead wild animals to determine the cause of death, to help assess and protect wildlife populations.

Donations in Buzz's name can be mailed to:

Mark Reach
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine-Tufts
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01536

Checks should say in the memo portion "Buzz Wildlife"

or Online:

https://tuftsgiving.org/giving-form.html?id=4&appeal_code=V0750

Select "Tufts Wildlife Clinic"
Dedicate to "Buzz"

All donations are tax deductible and a letter will be sent to the donor.

Thanks to Lynda Niedringhaus for assembling the information on donations.

The best time to view the nest and kids, and all related drama, is on the weekends, when little construction work is conducted on Fawcett Street or on the apartment buildings, and parking is usually readily available. I will be there late afternoons/early evenings on Saturday and Sunday with a scope, from roughly 5:30 to 7:15. If you are at the nest at any time and see a second Redtail in the immediate vicinity, please take notes if you can determine if the second bird is an adult or immature, or is missing any feathers, or interacts with Ruby in any way. You never know what you might see.

Best,

Paul

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