Sunday morning Feb 7- Lone male keeps us amused

[NewMexiKen]

Mary Lou and I arrived 8:50 AM to find one adult on the nest. For the entire time we watched, until about 9:45, we saw no other adult. Around 9:10, the bird flew into the melaleucas and roosted, for about 5 minutes. We confirmed it was "Brown-tip," the male.



He then took flight, coming towards  Pine Boulevard quite low, just over the power lines.







He flew to one of the Royal Palms on the north side of Pines at the cow pasture and tore off some dry foliage near the trunk at the base of the crown.



Clutching the vegetation in his talons, he flew directly to a dead tree in the cow pasture.



He then forcibly grabbed a large branch (sorry for the poor focus, though I did get a sharp view of the High School).



The branch broke off near the trunk, and was too large for the bird to carry. He held on to it but had to let go before it hit the ground. In this shot, the branch is still falling. You can identify the broken-off stub on the tree by comparing this to the shot two frames above this one.



He returned to the nest empty-taloned, and went on to feed the young some prey that was already in the nest.

[vdelauz]

Excellent shots, Ken!!! Definitely a great story-telling sequence, too. Thank you for sharing!!!

[Kathy]

I definitley need to get out there again this weekend, it has been too long!  Thank you Ken for the great pictures!