Lots if Happenings Today!

John Blakeman, master falconer and raptor biologist from Ohio, joined us again today in the City Room Chat for a question and answer session concerning Violet, Bobby and of course, our little Pip!

John was most gracious and patient with all the questions and comments thrown out into cyberspace and I, for one, would like to thank him for taking the time to share his knowledge of Red-Tailed Hawks with us. I want to share some of his responses with those of you who may have missed the earlier chat session. These are direct quotes taken from the Livestream Chat Room.

JohnBlakeman: All hawks and falcons of unknown sex are called a "SHE" - not an "it" or "he."

JohnBlakeman: V id digging down under the remaining eggs, turning them over. It's egg-tending instinct.

JohnBlakeman: The eggs will just rot away. V will forget about them in a few days.

JohnBlakeman: Yes, P is gray now, replacing the white downy feathers. In a week, final flight feathers will start to emerge.

JohnBlakeman: Both birds are preening. (referring to P & V). NO insects, just dirt removal, and spreading feather oil to repel rain. And, it bonds the birds.

JohnBlakeman: When P fledges, she will stop using the nest in a day or so. The nest is a nursery, not a home!

JohnBlakeman: Frankly, I think V's foot will remain as it is the rest of her life. She has probably been living with this since she was banded in '06.

JohnBlackeman: I really hope P can be banded, with blood samples taken, etc.

JohnBlakeman: Without a band to get the number off of (with spotting scopes) we will never know where P ends up.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY FROM SAIDHBHIN: I would personally like to apologize to John Blakeman and to Andy and the City Room staff, for all the childish nonsense that has been going on in this chat room.

There are obviously some very immature and anti-social people who think it is funny to make fun our the experts, whom, by the way, are volunteering their time and their knowledge, to educate US and answer our questions.

These individuals, whom some have chosen to label "trolls" are making some of the chat sessions very difficult for those of us who are truly trying to support NYU, NYT and their efforts on behalf of Violet, Bobby and Pip.

I would encourage all the chat members to quit responding to these individuals and just ignore them. They will go away when they figure out they are not going to get us to argue with them. Please, don't bring yourselves down to their level!
Thank you for your consideration of each other as individuals, with individual beliefs and opinions. Please be sure to always comment/respond with the same amount of respect that you would want them to show to you.

Saidhbhin

Time to Party!

Can you believe it? Our little Pip is two weeks old already! It doesn't seem possible that fourteen whole days have passed so quickly! And my, how our little darlin' has grown!

This screen capture was taken at 5:30 this morning ... Just as Violet returned to the nest from a short flight!

Livestream Chat Room members were thrilled to have a hawk expert join us to talk about Violet, Bobby & Pip. John Blakeman, master falconer and raptor biologist from Ohio, was generous enough to spend time with those of us online at that late hour @11 PM EST. He was very honest and open in his responses to questions - particularly about Violet's leg and how that situation is currently being dealt with (NOT). His knowledge of hawks and obvious concern for them was quite evident in his comments. He said he would probable drop back by to chat with us some more today (he wasn't specific about a time).

Pip was restless off and on for pretty nearly the entire night. Like a lot of babies, I think Pip has his days/nights mixed up as his head went down and he was out-for-the-count at first light!

I was very fortunate to be able to capture another "Pip Poop Shoot" and I truly believe this is the absolute funniest one so far! If Pip were human, we would have to call him a double-jointed acrobat for this position! Just take a look and laugh!

Hope you all have a great day watching our little family!

! > NYT Update about Violet's leg!

Updated!

As the title just said the new york times has now also reported about the state of Violet's right leg. It seems that there hasn't changed much as you can see in one of our previous posts. Experts said that they wont interfere until it will be really necessary but even if her leg is constraining her sometimes she seems to come along with it very well at the moment. And to be honest, who cannot forget any pain when he/she sees this little bunch of cuteness tramping around in the nest...

Read the full article here!

Good Morning, World

Pip is just lovin' on Violet this morning! What a darling pose! A warm and fuzzy start to an otherwise gloomy day! Thanks, Pip!

Yummm, Fresh Meat from Dad

It seems like it was just yesterday that Pip was still in the egg ... and now, well, see for yourself! Look ...

Our little Pip is quite the precocious little hawk, that's for sure! Only 12 days old and already trying to feed himself! "If Momma's not going to feed me, then I'm just gonna do it myself! OK, here goes nothing ... tug ... tug ... slurp!!!"

Of course Violet, being the wonderful, nurturing mother that she is, didn't let this struggle go on for long! She came over and started feeding her little darling! (It's hard to see it in the picture, but Pip has gotten a piece of the Easter grass stuck in his crop). Then, when her baby is full, Violet, who


is a firm believer in "Waste Not ... Want Not" polishes off the left-overs WHOLE!

I did it! I did it! I finally got a screen capture of Pip's Poop Shoot! It is so funny to watch as Pip hikes that cute little tushie into the air as high as he can and just - lets go!

For your viewing pleasure ... here is an enhanced image of the infamous "Pip's Poop Shoot"

Four short hours later, Violet is sleeping soundly ... yet is always alert to her little Pip's antics! As seen here in the final shot of the night, Pip keeps trying to get out from under Violet's wing! Don't know if Pip is looking for a snack or for his Rubber Ducky to keep him company ... but never fear ... Momma is here!!!

Good night!

It's raining men.. Hallelujah!

Not really.. but it has been raining really bad today afternoon, so bad that the background was completely "whited-out"

 

Luckily the weather became better but its still cold and wet. Asides of that there are also good news, Feeding Time!

And Since there has been a high interest in Violets leg here I have two screens, one from today 5:07PM, and another one from Yesterday at 1:21PM. Make your own opinion.

Today

Yesterday










But there are more good news, we got some great support from Saidhbhin in the last few days/hours and she will Volunteer in this blog to make it even better!
Thanks alot for your help, I'll write your mail as soon as this blog is uploaded and you're informed about it ^^

And Thanks to all those people sending me awesome screenshots and keeping me up to date!

Greetings, your HawkCam Blog!

omnomnom...

Bobby came back home and brought some food again!

Hope you don't mind the buttons

Feeding Time!

And Violet really seems to enjoy it..

Wow, he's grown again, and look! are these the first hints of wing feathers?

- Quote of the day -
jblum: Pip don't care what you call him as long as you don't call him late for dinner!

Rainy nights

Its 54°F cold, the strong rain and wind make it felt 42°F but our brave violet keeps Pip dry and warm..

She's such an amazing mother...

When the day fades out...

I just recieved this blogpost from saidhbhin, it's a little report of the happenings of this evening and night.

 Venturing a little too close to the edge, there, Pip!

 Violet & Pip play tug-of-war with some fresh squirrel guts @ 7 PM feeding

 

A full Pip takes a nap while Mom takes a much needed 4 minute break!

Just love this shot! All settled in for the night and all's right with the world! Isn't she a beautiful, proud Momma?!!!  8:00 PM

 

I feel so sorry for Violet! It's 11 PM and raining hard with heavy wind! Feathers
were just rippling and loose pieces in the nest quaking in the storm. Thankfully, it quieted down after about 1/2 hour and cleared up!

Thanks alot for the great report saidhbhin!

! > New York University celebrates without fireworks!

Today we got an anonymous tip from a graduating student of the New York University and recieved a E-mail from The Office of University Events with the following content:

Dear Graduating Students,

[...]

On Tuesday, May 17, NYU's Grad Alley celebration will be held in the streets in and around Gould Plaza beginning at 5:00 pm. [...] Out of respect for the pair of red-tailed hawks and their new hatchling nesting on the 12th floor of Bobst overlooking Washington Square Park, we will not have the fireworks display at the end of this year's Grad Alley; we appreciate everyone's understanding.

Quoted from a RM from The Office of University Events, all content is copyright to New York University. All rights reserved. 

It is a very noble move from New York University and we all, especially Bobby, Violet and Pip really appreciate it!

Asides of that we'd like to congratulate to all the graduating students and wish them success, happiness and a good handfull of luck for their future path of life!

! > It's Pip!

The New York Times has finally given him a name, all the fans had almost a day to vote for the name of the little cutie, now the name Pip has won with 522 votes!

  

Hey there Pip!

Read the full article here!

Mommy's round trip

Bobby finally returned and brought some food! Seems to be a rat or a squirrel, more likely a squirrel and Violet decided to take a round trip with him..

In the meanwhile our little one decided to take a little nap

daww, cute little sleepy head~

Stand up, little champion

1:23 pm, Feeding time!
Still the old stuff, still very yummy. Today our little one wanted to show us how much he's grown the last few days and it's really astonishing how much weight he has gained in just 11 days!

Feeding Time!

Seems to taste good! Since Bobby hasn't brought anything to eat lately Violet now picked out some leftovers, nonetheless it seems to be good enough for the little one.

Unfortunately her leg still looks pretty bad, lets hope that it will heal as soon as she has the time to fly around a little.

! > Launching Hawk Cam News

Hello world!

Today’s the launch of the Hawk Cam News Blog to keep you all informed about everything happening in the nest while you were away!

It may look a little crappy at the beginning because I’m not used to wordpress but I’ll improove to serve you the best I can give. Just a few Informations ahead, I will be taking screenshots here and there, especially when something interesting happens I dont own the material in this screenshots and herewith give all credit of the pictures and videos to their owners the New York Times.

This blog wont be a cheap copy of the New York Times page trying to publish the same news as they do, the goal of this blog is to inform about the little things that nobody writes about and help our Hawkfans to keep track of the latest happenings and news.


Another thing I gotta have to say, since I’m still at the beginning stage with this blog and I don’t have the time to watch the nest 24 hours a day I will need people to help me, feeding me with the latest news so I can post them on time! At the end the blog may become some kind of summary for the single days so you guys dont have to worry that you could miss something when you’ll have to leave for a few days. Thats my goal, lets hope that it will work out!

People that would like to volunteer in this blog can always contact me at: aenigmadragon@hotmail.com


Yours sincerely,
AEnigmaDragon