During one of my son's many trips in and out of the Lodge he promptly returned to announce that a very loud bird was laughing at him from somewhere above. This theme recurred throughout our visit and normally we all tend to get a laugh out him so we thought nothing of it.Much to our surprise, later in the week we were standing outside and there was definitely laughter directly above the Lodge. Mike looked up first to find 3 youthful hawks clearly chattering as their mother was apparently nearby. They did indeed sound like they were laughing at a grandson, or in this case, a grandfather, but they were most likely just in eyesight of their mother or father in hopes of food. The sight begged the question, "What do you call baby hawks?".
A hatchling, chick or nestling would be acceptable but not specific to a hawk and these babies were a little past a hatchling phase so the most accepted term for the young would be eyass (pronounced "EYE-ess").
And there you have it, Rockwood Lodge has been home to three eyass this summer and if their camouflage prevents you from viewing them, just walk quietly around until you make them laugh at you.
