Nesting

Nesting

Noel Laflin

11-30-19

Not so much as a single twig of the giant hawk nest remains in a high crook of yonder sycamore tree. It had taken a pair of red-shouldered hawks many days, if not weeks, to construct the nest last winter, and then, in the time it takes to say, Santa Ana Wind Event, it was blown away last month.

I bet those two hawks are even more bummed than I am over the loss of that nursery in the sky as it took so long to build, and served them well when it came to successfully raising four kids there.

That same pair is probably grumbling over their string of recent bad luck as the other magnificent nest they constructed just a stone’s throw away from this one, three years ago, was burned to a crisp when fire swept through their neck of the woods two years back. That particular batch of kids (three, if memory serves me right) had flown the coup several months prior to that, but still, it was a hell of a nice home, high and away in a canopy of thick sycamore limbs and leaves that could have made a comfortable home for years to come. Hawks often return to the same nest again and again, as do many birds.

And so I feel for their loss, of course, but have faith that they will return to the same area, if not the same tree, and start building anew – perhaps as early as the first of the New Year.

I would even lend a hand if called upon. Not likely, naturally, as I do not fly, but I would do my best to be of service in return for one more session of baby hawking portraits next spring.