Among the Tombs

Last week I got an excited voicemail from a friend.

Jay Volk and his wife were in Homewood Cemetery looking at the biggest bird they’d seen in a long time – and it was screaming.  They drove past it in their car while Jay’s wife recorded this video with his cell phone.

Right there on the Roberts’ tombstone is a juvenile red-tailed hawk.  How can I tell?  Because the bird is too young to realize it should be upset by the people filming it and because its voice is a whining, begging call.

If you look closely at the tombstone at the far left you’ll see the back of a second juvenile red-tail facing away.  This is probably a sibling and you can hear it begging too at the end of the video.

I’ll bet these two fledged from a nest in the cemetery.  They’re certainly doing what juvenile birds do best:  Waiting and calling for their dinner.

(video from Jay Volk)

2 thoughts on “Among the Tombs

  1. Awesome!! I keep hoping I’ll see juveniles in Lawrenceville’s Cemetary – but no luck so far 🙁
    I would love for my young child to see one this close!! Thanks for sharing!!

  2. Kate,
    I live near the Homewood cemetery and spotted the hawk’s nest in late May. I was even fortunate to watch with binoculars while a parent fed the two chicks in the nest. By late June they had fledged. I’ve seen and heard them throughout Frick Park while walking my dog. We’re there early around 6:00 am and see them flying through the tree tops doing the “whining, begging call” you described. It’s been fantastic to see them so close and so often.

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