The drama in the South Bay roost started on May 20, when Gillard happened to get shots of the female eagle he had been following as she flew overhead. Red-tailed hawks, which are much more abundant, have wingspans about half as wide and weigh only up to about 3 pounds.Ī mother eagle flaps her wings at her adopted young red-tailed hawk as she tries to feed it on June 13. The birds can have wingspans as wide as 8 feet and weigh 8 to 14 pounds. before bans on pesticides such as DDT and other protections helped the population recover. Despite being the national bird, bald eagles were at risk of extinction in the U.S. There have been reports of up to 50 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the greater Bay Area, and over the winter a pair were seen nesting in Alameda for the first time, followed by another unusual sighting at Lake Temescal in Oakland. Yet the fate of the baby hawk once it leaves the nest is still in doubt. “I’ve been there 12 to 15 hours a week since January watching the whole story.” “I’ve really been hooked on these eagles - I’ve watched them mate,” Gillard, a professor at Life Chiropractic College West in Hayward, said after spending most of Friday watching the nest. One of the baby hawks didn’t survive the ordeal, but the other appears healthy and ready to leave the nest any time now, according to Doug Gillard, a semiprofessional bird photographer in Gilroy who caught the first baby hawk abduction on camera and will not disclose the birds’ location other than that it’s in Santa Clara County. Courtesy Doug Gillard Show More Show LessĪ pair of bald eagles have shocked and delighted bird watchers in the South Bay since late May ever since they adopted - or kidnapped - two baby red-tailed hawks and raised them alongside their own biological eaglet. The photographer declined to give the location in Santa Clara County to protect the birds. A pair of bald eagles have shocked and delighted bird watchers in the South Bay since late May ever since they adopted - or kidnapped - two baby red-tailed hawks and raised them alongside their own biological eaglet. Courtesy Doug Gillard Show More Show Less 2 of2Ī mother eagle helps tear up a squirrel and feed it to her adopted young red-tailed hawk on June 13. A female eagle carries a baby red-tailed hawk to her nest on May 20.
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