Red-shouldered Hawk nest near the Rivershack; Harahan nest fledges

Saturday I parked by the Rivershack in Old Jefferson to take a stroll on the levee, and heard a frail version of a Red-shouldered Hawk call overhead.  Since this can either be a young bird or a Blue Jay doing an immitation, I inspected the live oak that sprawled over the car.  There was a stick nest 45 feet up in the tree, with one young hawk visible in it!  Looks pretty close to fledging.

The next day I walked the river levee in Harahan, and had a look at the Ravan Rd Red-shouldered nest that I reported in an earlier post.  It is empty, and the two young hawks were in the adjacent batture.  One was on the cement slabs that reinforce the levee slope, bouncing around, apparently chasing bugs.  Young juvenile hawks do sometimes act goofy like this, although I have seen it more from young Cooper's Hawks than from this species in the past.

Peter