The Red-Tail Hawks of Kaiser Hospital, Harbor City, California Galleries

So What Have the Kaiser Red-tails Been Up To? (November 8, 2005) :

So What Have the Kaiser Red-tails Been Up To? (November 8, 2005)

Updated: Nov 08, 2005 6:10pm PST

May 22 (Waiting for the Parents) : This day was so interesting that I gave it it's own gallery. Nothing very noteworthy happened (unless you're like me and believe EVERY moment spent hawk-watching is noteworthy) and there wasn't a great deal of activity (until the end) --- it's just how the hawklets pass the time waiting for Mom and Dad. As you can see, they're not much different from human children...

May 22 (Waiting for the Parents)

This day was so interesting that I gave it it's own gallery. Nothing ...

Updated: May 25, 2005 5:31am PST

June 15-19 --- Waiting and Feeding : In the week after the whirlwind events of June 11 the activities of the Kaiser Red-tail family seemed to settle down to the hawklets being brought food about 3 times a day or spending time perched on favorite spots, usually on the main hospital building or at a nearby tree. The 3 siblings seem to be venturing outside the Vermont/Normandie/Pacific Coast Highway triangle of the main hospital campus; they've been spotted on the Normandie buildings across the street and I've seen one fly over to Harbor Park, a rich source of food. They still don't appear to be able to hunt on their own yet and Mom is looking, well, increasingly frazzled...There hasn't been a definite sighting of Dad for about 2 weeks; he seems to be like a ghost on the periphery. Friends are jokingly calling him a "deadbeat" or "just another typical guy"...

June 15-19 --- Waiting and Feeding

In the week after the whirlwind events of June 11 the activities of th ...

Updated: Jun 22, 2005 10:35pm PST

June 11 --- What a Day It Was! : I arrive as usual on Saturday around 4pm. There isn't any activity among the hawks that would mark it as anything other than a normal late-afternoon. Two of the hawklets (the oldest and the youngest) are on a ledge of the main hospital building looking inside the windows; I don't see Jen but she seems to prefer being by herself. Could her week-long stay with the Wildlife Rehab folks after crashing into the window have somehow changed the dynamics among the siblings? For whatever reason, I rarely if ever see all 3 hawklets together anymore. While looking at the 2 on the ledge, I notice one has what appears from a distance to be...a snake... (A brief pause in the action for a quick reminder. The South Bay Wildlife Rehab has been following the Kaiser Red-tails from the beginning and has been indispensable in helping them whenever they seem to need human assistance. They are all volunteers and most of the funding comes from their own pockets, so please help with a contribution. Their website is at www.sbwr.org and their phone # is (310) 378-9921. Thanks Ann, Jen and all the other wildlife rehabilitators!)

June 11 --- What a Day It Was!

I arrive as usual on Saturday around 4pm. There isn't any activity a ...

Updated: Jun 17, 2007 8:27am PST

June 5 --- Increasingly On Their Own : The 3 hawklets are now nearly 2 months old and in terms of size are virtually indistinguishable from their parents; only their markings and color identify them as young ones. They're spending more time apart from one another and are roaming around the hospital area formed by the Pacific Coast Highway/Vermont/Normandie Avenue triangle. They don't appear to have ventured across the streets yet, preferring to stay close as their parents are still providing the food. The parents (Mom mostly) are beginning to drop off live prey so the hawklets can learn to kill, but it's hard to see as they're usually on the tops of buildings. So this was a week for refining flying techniques and looking into windows while waiting for the aerial "catering truck" to come along...

June 5 --- Increasingly On Their Own

The 3 hawklets are now nearly 2 months old and in terms of size are v ...

Updated: Jun 10, 2005 7:57am PST

June 4 --- It's Back to Mom, the 3 Hawklets, and (occasionally) Dad : Even though the re-uniting on June 1 looked successful, there's always that tiny, lingering element of doubt. Would Jen's siblings "resent" her taking some of Mom's attention away from them? Would Mom remember who she was? Are birds even capable of such "human" qualities as remembrance and resentment --- or have I been watching the R/T family just a wee bit too long? I can't vouch for my sanity, but I needn't have worried about Jen's acceptance back into the circle...

June 4 --- It's Back to Mom, the 3 Hawklets, and (occasionally) Dad

Even though the re-uniting on June 1 looked successful, there's always ...

Updated: Jun 05, 2005 2:35pm PST

June 1 --- "Jen" Returns to the Family : On Wednesday June 1 I greet Jen from South Bay WIldlife Rehab behind the Lakeside Pharmacy with "Yeah, it's tough finding a parking spot around here, isn't it?" Today's the Big Day but it's also right after the Memorial Day holiday so patients are jockeying for parking spaces. While Jen finds a spot I meet up with my fellow Hawk-watcher Josie Morris from the Oncology department and we go looking for members of the Family. Jen says Mom, or at least the siblings, have to "see" the returning hawklet otherwise they might never know it's back. Jen walks up with the bird in a box; I ask a passing doctor "Have you seen the hawks lately?" to which I get "Not today". We figure they're somewhere around the main hospital building -- but where? We opt to go up on the roof. Josie calls Security and a guard comes down with access keys. He leads us through a maze of corridors up to the only top-roof access he's aware of --- a locked ladder up to a trap door. Can't get up THAT way...Luckily he has keys to a lower level of the roof. We open the door, turn the corner ---

June 1 --- "Jen" Returns to the Family

On Wednesday June 1 I greet Jen from South Bay WIldlife Rehab behind t ...

Updated: Jun 04, 2005 8:00am PST

May 29 --- A Fledgling Grows Up : With one of the hawklets temporarily out of the scene, Mina and Willie still have their hands full with the other 2. On Thursday May 27, one day after First Flight for the 2 eldest fledglings, the 2nd First Flighter is checked out by the Wildlife Rehab people for trichinosis (prognosis: Negative). However, they can't get to the 3rd hawklet as it's still up near the nest, so it's unknown whether it too contracted the trich. A television crew from Channel 5 arrives, goes up on the roof of building opposite the nest, and interviews the SBWR volunteers and Kaiser's Dr. Neil Gulati. On Friday the 28 the 3rd hawklet finally takes the plunge (hopefully not literally) and joins Mom, Dad and sibling in exploring the trees and buildings on the Kaiser campus. As they don't hunt on their own yet, Mom (mostly) and Dad must make deliveries to wherever the hawklets are...

May 29 --- A Fledgling Grows Up

With one of the hawklets temporarily out of the scene, Mina and Willie ...

Updated: Jun 02, 2005 3:12am PST

2003 Flashback --- Death of a Baby (taken by Dr Jared Spotkov) : Simple, eloquent...powerful. Dr. Spotkov had seen the baby fall out of the nest. He rushed downstairs --- and saw this tableau. If any single picture can "connect" us to the Kaiser Red-tail Family, I believe this would be it.

2003 Flashback --- Death of a Baby (taken by Dr Jared Spotkov)

Simple, eloquent...powerful. Dr. Spotkov had seen the baby fall out o ...

Updated: May 27, 2005 5:29am PST

May 25 --- The Ups and Downs of First Flight : Nothing ever goes as planned, and that applies to Red-tail hawks too...Many, MANY thanks go to the folks at South Bay Wildlife Rehab. They have been monitoring the nesting from the beginning and have assisted whenever help is needed. If you care anything at all about wildlife, especially birds of prey such as the Kaiser Red-tails, please check out their website at http://www.sbwr.org . They are an all-volunteer organization and thus depend entirely on donations. I can't think of a more worthwhile group to donate to, especially considering the help they've given the R/T Family these past few days...A special thanks goes to Jen, the SBWR volunteer who came out to rescue the hawklet in distress as chronicled here...

May 25 --- The Ups and Downs of First Flight

Nothing ever goes as planned, and that applies to Red-tail hawks too.. ...

Updated: May 27, 2005 9:37pm PST

May 23 --- The 5PM Feeding :

May 23 --- The 5PM Feeding

Updated: May 26, 2005 5:26am PST

May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging : I've been gone on a road trip for 2 weeks so I was particularly anxious to see how the Family had progressed --- and to be sure that all 3 nestlings had survived. They had and boy, have they grown... First, some background on "fledging" as I too was unsure what it actually means. It's from the Middle English "flegge" meaning "feathered" and refers to the development of a nestling's flight feathers. To quote Marie Winn writing in the excellent "Red-tails in Love" --- "Since the first flight inevitably follows a bird's complete feather development, fledging and first flight are virtually synonymous". As the first baby was born around April 10 (all 3 eggs hatch at 1-2 day intervals) and they are fully fledged (the males before the females) around 45 days from hatching, we may see the first serious attempts at flying during the week of May 23.

May 15 - May 21: The Road to Full- Fledging

I've been gone on a road trip for 2 weeks so I was particularly anxiou ...

Updated: May 22, 2005 8:51pm PST

Meet the Parents...and Pre-Incubation : This is an onrunning photo album of a Red-Tail Hawk couple residing at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Harbor City, California. I've taken the liberty of naming them Willie and Mina after Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm (aka "Willie") from the early 20th century. (Hey, if Central Park has Lola and Pale Male, why not?) It's an honor to have these hawks make the Kaiser campus their home and heartwarming to see the support and interest in them by so many of the hospital employees. The camera I use is a Panasonic Lumix FZ20 with a 12x optical zoom (432mm) and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). Many of the following pics, especially the ones of the babies, were taken in full digital zoom with a Canon TL-55 1.4x teleconverter added. Red-Tail Hawk Vital Stats: Weight: 2-4 lbs. Length: 22" Wing Span: 56 inches Sexual Maturity: 3 years Mating Season: Spring Incubation: 28-32 days No. of Eggs: 1-3 Birth Interval: year Lifespan: 10-21 years Typical diet: small rodents, snakes ---from Desert USA website

Meet the Parents...and Pre-Incubation

This is an onrunning photo album of a Red-Tail Hawk couple residing at ...

Updated: Apr 29, 2005 9:41pm PST

The Progression by Weeks: April 10 - 17 :

The Progression by Weeks: April 10 - 17

Updated: Dec 10, 2005 5:17pm PST

April 18-25 :

April 18-25

Updated: Apr 29, 2005 9:40pm PST

The Red-tails of Kaiser Hospital :

The Red-tails of Kaiser Hospital

Updated: Jun 02, 2007 7:56pm PST

Kaiser Hospital Red-Tail Family 2005 :

Kaiser Hospital Red-Tail Family 2005

Updated: Jun 19, 2007 8:38pm PST