Appropriate day for couples

Here’s a pair of (quite literally) “love birds,” spotted just today.

I saw one carrying nesting materials and tracked it as it flew to its nest. While it was working on the nest, a second, the female, alighted on the branch pictured here. The male joined it a few minutes later.

The male is on the left, the female on the right. Among raptors and owls, the female is often noticeably larger than the male.

We had a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks attempt to build a nest in Seagroves Park two years ago. Perhaps it was the same couple. I documented some of their nesting in one of my earlier posts. For whatever reason, they decided not to use the nest; perhaps this pair will succeed!