Baby Red Tailed Hawk Leaves The Nest

A pair of red tailed hawks nests in a tall pine tree just beyond the farm. They successfully raised a baby; and a couple of weeks ago the parents began the hard task of encouraging it to leave the nest to fend for itself. Its plaintive calls for food were ceaseless, as it wondered why all of a sudden nobody was delivering dinner… just like a baby crying, it was hard to ignore! All day, we could hear it calling, calling. But the parents posted up in a nearby tree and didn’t give in right away!

One day last week, there was a ruckus while I was cleaning up the horses’ dry lot. I looked up and saw the baby fly over, mobbed by swallows diving at it as it made a bee line for the tall silo, which had the easiest landing spot. He made it! Since then, we've seen and heard him all around the farm practicing his flying and landing. Here he is up top in a tree in the pasture, while one of the parents waits below.