Visitation Rights

When Ace appeared at the nest this morning, I expected to see food, but he brought none. As he landed on the nest,  Emma jumped down into the nest cavity to cover the chicks with her body while repeating this distressed shriek.  Ace looked down on her from the position shown here, while moving his head from side to side to try to get a look at the chicks. When he lowered his head to get closer, she looked up and snapped at him. He then concluded that he was not welcome in the nest and flew away. She was obviously upset by the visit and continued her shrieking for ten minutes after he left. This was the second time that I have seen him visit the nest and neither visit lasted for more than a minute. The previous visit was just before dark on June 5th, and I could not see him well enough to tell what was happening. Ace continues to deliver prey to his drop-off point to the east, and Emma flies out to meet him. I've still not gotten a good enough look at her return to determine how she carries the prey, but she is working on some big stuff. She shuffles her feet and struggles to keep her balance on the rim as she rips the prey apart and occasionally displays a bone above the rim of the nest. Puzzling creatures these Cooper's Hawks.

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