Hawk call

 We have had hawks living on our land for many years. First there was Stringfellow Hawk who used to come and sit on the fence in the back yard. He was like part of the family.

I have often noticed a pair of hawks living in a different part of our property here, in a more remote area, surrounded by forest. I saw them the other day when I was back there clearing some brush. Like the bobcats and foxes, it's nice to know they're back there.

The other day both Allyn and I heard a very shrill, two note cry coming from the back. We had never heard that before. When I went to look, there was a hawk sitting in a nearby tree. Then he flew very low to another part of our property, making the same shrill call. This went on for a couple of days. I thought that maybe the hawk had lost its partner or lost a youngster.

I have been communicating with a friend here about political matters. She is an experienced birder. I asked her about this, and she said it might be a mother bird trying to teach a young bird how to hunt. When I was at Mt. Philo on Friday, I asked the nice lady with a telescope there about it as well. She said it sounded like begging behavior from a young hawk to its mother like, "Hey this hunting is too hard, and I'm hungry. Feed me!" I think both of these are possibilities but I lean toward the second explanation.