As I was going thither and home yesterday, I passed through the Alewife shopping center, and looked for the Red-tailed Hawks. The nest was clearly visible up on 185 Alewife, but no hawks were to be seen. I could have sworn I saw hawks working on the nest earlier this year, but perhaps they hadn’t come back after all.
Then on the way to Iggy’s bakery, I spotted a cluster of vaguely familiar looking people, the least vague of which was the man in charge of the telescope. When I walked over to meet them, I confirmed that yes, indeed, he was the guy who’s been watching the Alewife hawks known as Buzz and Ruby for over a year.
He said they got chased away from the Alewife nest by a peregrine falcon. The falcon has since peregrinated, but the red-tails are using a nest high in a pine tree.
We were far enough from the trees that you would never guess there were hawks in them, but when I got to look through the scope, I could just make out Ruby standing guard. The others watched for a bit and got very excited. On my second look, one of the chicks was flexing her wings, looking like a fuzzy white chicken. My third look was back to barely seeing Ruby.
After that, I thanked them and went on my way. It’s so cool to see the hawks again, and really nice that they’re raising another brood. Definitely the highlight of the day.
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