We've had Ralph and Alice here for quite a while. Started softening their food in our memorial fountain. Who knows how many names they have locally... We're becoming friends, I would say, except for the early morning wakeup calls. I can call Ralph or Alice and they will reply from very far away, Ralph will then come circling in doing a wing-over trick or two. He lands near and scares me if I don't hear him coming in. Lately he's been close enough to touch but I don't want to train that behavior.
They have two juveniles this season (Norton and Trixie). One I am pretty sure is a male, very large, not as big as Ralph but formidable; Trixie is smaller, still has a downy breast. Both still have pink mouths with Trixie being much more so. She wasn't around for a while but returned recently. Could be a vagrant but probably not.
The weird thing is that I rarely see Ralph and Alice bring them here at once. Norton is never by himself (nor is Trixie) - always with Ralph and/or Alice. All four have been here several times, so I know I'm not seeing double. I'm wondering if this is common behavior?
Even though he feeds himself, Norton still begs and really must carry on before either adult will feed him. Trixie on the other hand rarely feeds herself when I'm watching and usually stays high in a tree waiting for Alice to fly up and feed her. She's been down on our railing a number of times where I lay out the food (very expensive low-fat dog feed after our dog was killed by a wild animal, meal worms, etc). Funny how the adults pooped on the special "Butter Bark Bites"(sic) my wife purchased.
Yesterday I had to scare off a young raptor who went after Norton. Both Alice and Ralph saved his life, I couldn't get there in time to matter. Though the whole circle of life thing means I shouldn't have intervened, nobody is killing my buddies. The raptor, most likely a Juvenile red-tailed hawk, has been here a lot. I find feathers more often lately. We had another raptor here for a while, a very tiny hawk, never was able to figure out what it was. It reminded me of the chicken hawk from cartoons.
Thanks for setting up the site. I am in NorCal.
Jerry
They have two juveniles this season (Norton and Trixie). One I am pretty sure is a male, very large, not as big as Ralph but formidable; Trixie is smaller, still has a downy breast. Both still have pink mouths with Trixie being much more so. She wasn't around for a while but returned recently. Could be a vagrant but probably not.
The weird thing is that I rarely see Ralph and Alice bring them here at once. Norton is never by himself (nor is Trixie) - always with Ralph and/or Alice. All four have been here several times, so I know I'm not seeing double. I'm wondering if this is common behavior?
Even though he feeds himself, Norton still begs and really must carry on before either adult will feed him. Trixie on the other hand rarely feeds herself when I'm watching and usually stays high in a tree waiting for Alice to fly up and feed her. She's been down on our railing a number of times where I lay out the food (very expensive low-fat dog feed after our dog was killed by a wild animal, meal worms, etc). Funny how the adults pooped on the special "Butter Bark Bites"(sic) my wife purchased.
Yesterday I had to scare off a young raptor who went after Norton. Both Alice and Ralph saved his life, I couldn't get there in time to matter. Though the whole circle of life thing means I shouldn't have intervened, nobody is killing my buddies. The raptor, most likely a Juvenile red-tailed hawk, has been here a lot. I find feathers more often lately. We had another raptor here for a while, a very tiny hawk, never was able to figure out what it was. It reminded me of the chicken hawk from cartoons.
Thanks for setting up the site. I am in NorCal.
Jerry
