Some things just aren’t meant to be climbed so soon after leaving the nest.
I’ve posted several photos of this fledgling and ‘his’ sibling in the past but these two are new to my blog.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I’d been following both siblings in the nest for many weeks when I finally found them very recently fledged and on the ground near their nest in late June of 2017. At first they were huddled together in the grass but soon they both began to explore.
This one was determined to climb this old stump (likely sagebrush) but he was awkward and clumsy and his skill set wasn’t up to the task. According to the time stamps on my photos he spent between five and six minutes, with brief pauses for rest, evaluation and planning, as he tried to get to the top of the stump. During that time I took 248 photos as he struggled with his wings flapping, his tail bouncing up and down and great determination on his face.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
But in the end he failed because he kept falling off before he got to the top. Here he’s about to go ass over teakettle once again.
Five days later I found both siblings continuing to practice their balancing skills on an old and rusty pipe fence. That performance was dubbed “The Pipe Dance” by myself and others.
If our damned wind and rotten weather ever stops or even diminishes I hope to get back to this area in the next few days to check on another pair of nesting red-tails whose eggs should hatch fairly soon.
Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to follow the development of those youngsters after they’ve fledged. I’d love a repeat performance.
Ron
Very amusing observations and illustrations! Similar to Laura’s comments, I saw a Bald Eagle take its first (I assume) flight. It flew right into the canopy of a pine tree and tried to grasp the very small outermost branches. Unsuccessful, it fell to the ground amid the shrubs. Lucky it wasn’t hurt. It had to “ladder” back up to a perch that permitted open flight, and promptly flew right back to the nest.
Priceless!
I can imagine a good part of those 248 photos being a bit blurry due to the photographer shaking with laughter while watching those antics.
Could be, Lyle. I only saved a couple of dozen of those shots so I wouldn’t be surprised if softness wasn’t one of the reasons I culled so many.
Love the determination.
And am a hundred per cent certain that he/she would have mastered that branch better than my far from fledgling self. Gravity is a dog of the female persuasion.
I’m sure he conquered that perch eventually, EC. I wish I’d been there when it happened.
Funny how your post made me think back to when I was young. Playing around with my bike, thought I had it all figured out, stopped too fast and went straight over the handle bars body and all landing on the sidewalk. Thought I could climb a tree, couldn’t reach the branch that was about 7 feet above me. Of course, when you are young, there is nothing to stand in your way, so I jumped from a large branch to this other limb above me. BANG, I even think I bounced on the ground. Man,, am I glad those days are over!! VBG!
Neither of us bounce very well anymore, do we Dick!
Wonderful shots. I think I can. I think I can. Nope! Looks like he’s already ass over teakettle in the second shot.
As someone who has become intimately acquainted with odd surfaces and gravity this year (Gravity: 2 Marty’s Right Knee: 0), I hope that this year’s fledglings have much more luck than I.
Thanks, Marty. So far I haven’t had a problem with falling but then I’m extra careful because of my bad back.
They are so fun to watch, I would forget to take photos.
I’ve come close to forgetting but haven’t yet…
Lol. I can just see the up, down, sideways, FALL!
Arwen, it was funny but eventually I felt sorry for him. He tried so hard…
Lovely images, but then, they’re redtails and we all know how easy I am with them 😉 At this stage, gravity is still an issue for them but soon, they’ll pretty much master it. In the meantime, I love watching them figure things out, pondering what to do next and just working the problem whenever I can. It looks pretty much the same as human kids, although raptors/birds/critters figure things out way more quickly.
Several years ago, I was lucky enough to watch a golden eagle fledge while attending a celebration of the peregrine delisting in Boise, Idaho on a boat tour of the Snake River Canyon near Boise standing next to Morley Nelson. It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time while the other falconers were checking out a prairie falcon eyrie. Anyway, the fledge looked a lot like a kid taking his/her first bicycle ride, without training wheels, complete with the screams to MOM after the resulting ungainly crash after discovering that bicycling/flying and stopping/landing are two completely different skill sets! That just cemented my belief that we are FAR more alike than we are different.
Winds are pretty brutal here, too, but the weather folk call it “breezy.” Today, they actually upgraded to “windy” so I’d better hold onto that gravity thing, hoping it will hold me. Yesterday, those breezes threatened to knock me down, so today could be problematic. Gravity might fail me. Wish I had wings 😉
“I love watching them figure things out”
So do I, Laura – big time. Sometimes I almost forget to push the shutter button when they’re doing it. Almost…
Standing right next to Morley Nelson while watching a Golden Eagle fledge in the Snake River Canyon – it simply doesn’t get any better than that!
These are great, Ron, and I enjoyed the old pipe dance series, too. Hope you get some new fledglings soon!
I hope so too, Cathy. Thanks.
That is really neat to have the opportunity to watch these fledglings starting to explore their world. Excellent photos. I have been following two GHO siblings who are both now doing limited flying. I have had to switch their designations from fledglings to juveniles. Unlike we humans those born into wildlife must grow up very quickly. Hope you get more like these Ron.
Our weather has been beautiful, but the winds never stop.
Thanks, Everett.
I was in the mountains this morning and it was mostly calm until 9:15 when the wind came in like gangbusters. Thankfully it’s supposed to be our last windy day for a while but beginning tomorrow – heavy overcast. Poop!
Enjoyable set and an even more enjoyable group of photos… ‘The Pipe Dance’! What a joy to watch them learning and practicing. The look of determination in the eyes is so evident. Sure hope you can find another pair or single to share like this. 😍
I’m anxious to get up there and check on this year’s batch, Kathy. It’ll be a challenging location for photography but I could get lucky if I can leave Murphy behind.
Fun! They DO have a learning curve for many things! Definitely persistent but they they have to be in order to succeed in life………. It’s “spring” don’t you know?….. 😉 We’re starting into a round of thunder storms – pretty much went around us last night…
Judy, for the last 4 days I’ve wondered if I was still living in Montana. The wind howls during the day and it’s been hot so it’s almost a full time job to keep my vegetable garden from shriveling in the windy heat. Newly emerged and about to emerge seedlings don’t like such conditions.
Weird weather seems to be continuing after a “weird” winter and dirt moving late winter/early spring……. No, seedlings DON’T like those conditions…. 🙁
P.S. On the radio this morning it was commented that in places the storms last evening/night in places were like “July Storms”……..