Handsome Hawk

We went to the preserve today. We encountered a woman in the parking lot who told us she had been there for seven hours. She had arrived early hoping to see the hatching of the second Crane egg. She says in her experience the second one is usually about 24 hours after the first. Early on, the adult spent about 20 minutes pecking at the egg but then abandoned it. When we got down there, the adults were 25 or 30 yards away from the nest with the first baby. The other egg was just sitting in the open on top of the nest. About 45 minutes after we got there, one of the adults went and sat on the egg and the baby burrowed inside its feathers to keep warm. Mrs. DYN saw the baby a few times through binoculars, but I never saw it with my camera today. Not sure what to think, but I don’t think it’s good news that they spent most of the day not incubating the egg. 

Fortunately, this Cooper’s Hawk was feeling photogenic and let me take these shots.