Red Shoulders in Love

[Paul Hamilton]

Some of you may know that I have a Red Shouldered Hawk pair near my office.  They are a little smaller than peregrines and very attractive with their red breasts and striped tails. 

There is a forested valley next to my building, and they probably have a nest in there somewhere.  Iin two years of looking, I have failed to find it.  The hawks, on the other hand, are hard to miss. They are very vocal, keeping in touch with loud "kee-aaa kee-aaa kee-aa" calls as they soar over the parking lot and in and out of the trees.  Unlike the heavy, fast peregrines, they seem to float through the air like dancers in the sky.  If peregrines are "Top Gun", red shouldereds bring to mind Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.

Yesterday, one of them made tight, low circles just outside my window while the other flew far overhead.  As I watched them, wondering what would happen next, the lower one broke off the maneuver and headed for a tree on the far side of the parking lot, about 150 yards (meters) away.  The higher one went into a long shallow dive and landed on the same branch.  They perched side by side, so close as to actually be touching and remained there for the next fifteen minutes. 

Paul

[valhalla]

Wonderful Story!  Ain't love grand?