A hawk life

I don’t know what kind of hawks these are. I’ve seen this pair for a while near my home. I’ve seen them hover in the air the same area for weeks. I have seen them do fancy acrobatics for courtship and I have seen them mate. Yesterday I only saw one and it was obviously upset. I thought I would walk over and take a closer look as it seemed to be upset about something in the brush. It didn’t leave as I came near which was strange. I could only imagine that it’s mate must be stuck or hurt. I went into the hemlock weeds which were high above my head not knowing what I would find. There they were, a couple of newly hatched baby fluffy hawks!

I snapped a couple pictures and left. I couldn’t believe they were on the ground. There are so many coyotes, snakes, raccoons and opossums in that field but I thought if she made it this far then there is a hope. Unfortunately when I went to take a peak today the nest was empty – not even an eggshell remained. I wondered when I didn’t see them in the air. All was too quiet as I approached. Very sad indeed. This is the part of nature that is tough and hard to deal with.