Two adult Red Shouldered hawks raised two chicks in a nest about 40 ft up in a pine tree. This is the second year that I've seen this nest being used. (See previous gallery for 2008.)

The first photo displayed was taken on May 5, 2009. Mama hawk (?) was sitting in the nest a lot. Presumably she was incubating the eggs. Nest activity was noticed around April 3rd.

The first sighting of a chick was May 16. It was big enough to peek out over the edge of the nest. For several days I thought there was only one chick.

Then about May 27 two chicks were spotted at the same time.

On June 7th I noticed one of the hawks was no longer in the tree. Later that day I noticed it in another tree. It was able to fly back to the nesting tree. (Last year's first prefledgling dropped from the nest to the ground on June 7, but could not yet fly at that time.)


Updates
June 25, 2009: Both hawks are now able to fly very well and take trips away from the nest. They even made a half-hearted attempt to tackle a squirrel.

July 8, 2009: It's getting harder to photograph the hawks. They are not hanging around the backyard as much and I'm busier at work. I did manage to catch one eating a cicada the other day.

August 20, 2009: The hawks have spread out so they are no longer making frequent stops around our house. My son reported seeing one in our backyard yesterday. So I guess this means there won't be many updates to this page. I do hear them calling in the distance from time-to-time.

Equipment:

Most photos taken with Canon 20D. 100-400mm (almost all are taken around 400mm) Tripod.
Recent, including flight photos, taken with Nikon D300 70-200mm.