Romeo and Juliette have been among my favorite subjects over the past few years. They always hung out in an area not too far from my office. Quite often, I would see them on my way to work, or on my way home. They would often perch on the crosses atop the steeples of a couple of old, abandoned churches in the area, which made for interesting and intriguing photos.

Unfortunately, on a cold, rainy Winter morning, I saw one of them dead in the road, while I was driving to work. It turned out to be Romeo. Quite often, Birds of Prey will swoop down to a road to catch an animal, and get hit by a moving vehicle. It’s a tremendously sad sight to see. 

I didn’t see Juliette for several weeks, but finally saw her one morning on one of the steeples. I may be humanizing the story a little bit, but she looked sad and lonely. I started seeing her more and more, then saw a couple of other Red-Shouldered Hawks nearby occasionally as well. I was happy that she might have new suitors! Well, it turns out that they are (most likely) her offspring! They are definitely juveniles, born this year, and … they hang out in the exact same places as Juliette! That would explain my not seeing her for awhile, as well. She was tending to her babies!

Here are a few photos of Romeo and Juliette, then a few more recent ones of her and of the offspring. The offspring have grey feathers on top of their heads in these shots. The shots of only one bird on the steeple are of one of the offspring. The shot of two on a pole are also them.

It’s a sad tale, but at least Romeo leaves a legacy behind him, and children to carry on the tradition of setting atop the steeples!