Eat, Sleep, Grow: Repeat!
Eat, sleep, grow is the sum total of the eyasses' activities these days. Every day, they visibly grow bigger. Here they are today (Saturday, May 11) with #1 and #2 getting a mid-morning snack from...
View ArticleTribute to a great hawk mother
On Mother's Day, let's celebrate the wonderful Franklin Institute hawk mother, Mom, raising her fifth successive brood of three eyasses. Kay Meng took these pictures last Thursday (May 9) from the...
View ArticleUp very close and personal with the eyasses
Apologies for the gap in postings - administering AP exams, and end of the school year activities have kept me on the run - but I hope the extraordinary images I am sharing will make up for the delay....
View ArticleSssteamy hot in Philadelphia
We are in the midst of a heatwave in Philadelphia with several days now of temperatures in the 90s. The eyasses definitely feel the heat, and pant to keep cool. Kay Meng There are no head...
View ArticleWe have at least one formel and one tiercel
The eyasses are now old enough for their gender to be differentiated by the size of their tarsal bones. John Blakeman analyzed the structure of the tarsals (ankles in humans) of the two oldest in the...
View ArticleHappy Father's Day to T2
Happy Father's Day to T2! Pamela Dimeler What a privilege it is to share these gorgeous images of T2 and his eyasses from Joe Debold, Pamela Dimeler, and Scott Kemper....
View ArticleFasten your seat belts, hawkwatchers - fledge time is near.
Any day now, the eyasses will fledge from the nest. Pamela DimelerAs with all other milestones, these hawks stick closely to their timeline, and in previous years, it has been right around...
View ArticleAnd the last shall be first - #3 is first to fledge!
The short version: at 4:50pm on Thursday, June 20, the first eyass fledged from the Franklin Institute nest, and much to all hawkwatchers' surprise, it was #3. He flew first to the portico roof of the...
View ArticleEXTRA: #3 is a tiercel
In the midst of the excitement of the first fledge, I sent John Blakeman the pictures I took yesterday of #3's ankles and feet just before s/he fledged, to see if John could determine the gender....
View ArticleAnd two more successful fledges!
The past week has been incredibly busy at the Franklin Institute nest. All three eyasses have fledged and are flying confidently around the neighborhood, gobbling up their parents' food drops. Here...
View ArticleHawks will be just fine on the Fourth of July
Many hawkfans have expressed concern on how the young hawks will handle the sights and sounds of the huge Welcome America celebrations in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, most of which are based...
View ArticleWe have lost a hawk
Such a sadness to report.... At 1:20pm today, F2 - the formel twin - flew hard into a window at the Moore College of Art and died from the impact. A nearby construction worker reported this news on...
View ArticleThe day after ..... hawk life goes on
After Wednesday's sadness, it was a relief yesterday morning to find F3 (left) and F1 sitting together on a lamp pole. Dinko Mitic T2 was nearby on the Franklin Institute where he had spent...
View ArticleThe sad news just keeps coming...
This is not the post I planned to write on my return from a summer trip to Saratoga Springs. I have started this four times, and you will see why.When I left, the two remaining juvies, F1 and F3, were...
View ArticleFinally..... Some happy news!!!
I am so happy to report that F1 is making significant progress in his rehab after some scary days when it was not certain that he would make it. Hawkfans universally refer to him as Peanut because, as...
View ArticlePeanut's recovery continues
I am delighted to report that Peanut (F1) continues to recover from his trauma from most likely being hit by a car. He is in his twelfth day of ICU rehab at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation...
View ArticlePeanut is now flying!
Peanut's recovery continues under the good care of Rick Schubert and Michele Wellard at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. On August 14, hawk fans were delighted to read this update from...
View ArticlePeanut safely back in the sky
It's great to share the wonderful news posted yesterday on the Franklin Hawkaholic facebook page by Michele Wellard at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic:"I'm happy to report that today...
View ArticleHawk News at the Turn of the Year
As 2013 comes to an end, I'm happy to tell you that Mom and T2 are healthy and clearly still a couple. Dinko Mitic caught them soaring together about three weeks ago. No longer the raggedy molters of...
View ArticleLove is Definitely in the Air....But....
Love is definitely in the air as Mom and T2 soar together near the Franklin Institute, enjoying the rare sun and blue sky amid the endless snow storms of the apocalyptic winter we've experienced in...
View ArticleCuriouser and curiouser
What are the Franklin Institute hawks up to? And where are they going to build their nest? We are no further along this week in understanding whether they will return to their old nest on the window...
View ArticleT2 is gone....
We heard the saddest news today. Earlier this week, Amtrak workers in the train yards near 30th Street station found a dead hawk on the tracks. Because T2 has not been seen since last Sunday, it seems...
View ArticleIs Mom a Cougar?
Sad as we are over the loss of T2, the onward, inevitable cycle of nature means that events are moving fast for Mom. References to Cougar Town and The Bachelor seem appropriate with the appearance of...
View ArticleMom and T3 - it's looking hopeful!
Though 2014 did not have an active nest at the Franklin Institute, and to the best of the hawkstalkers' knowledge Mom did not have a nest anywhere this spring, or even a settled mate, I am so happy to...
View ArticleMom is back in the nesting business!
Good news and better news! Mom definitely has a mate in T3, and they are nesting. The only disappointment is that the nest is not on the window ledge at the Franklin Institute. It's in a tree alongside...
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