A moment with the Tompkins Square hawk family

Although the breeding season for our local red-tailed hawks has pretty much come to a close, I lucked out when I had a chance encounter with the Tompkins Square hawk family the other evening.

As the sun was going down, I found Amelia perched on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

I stayed with her a while as she watched pigeons on the church roof. At one point, she took a dive at one but missed.

Someone else must have been watching her, because as she paused on the church roof for a few seconds, her fledgling came roaring out of the park behind me and went right for mom.

Amelia got out of the way as her crying fledgling took her place on the roof. I was really happy to see the fledgling as it's been increasingly hard to find.

The last of the pigeons took off as well.

Amelia went back to the church cross and the fledgling remained on the roof. Then, to my delight, dad Charlie came flying in right over Avenue B. He appeared to assess the situation before coming in for a landing.

He took a seat on the cross next to Amelia.

Less than two minutes later, Charlie dove across the street and nabbed a pigeon. He was so fast, I didn't realize right away that he'd caught anything.

Was this a demonstration for the fledgling? Perhaps.

After a couple of minutes, Charlie flew the pigeon to a tree within the park.

The fledgling watched dad carry away the pigeon and soon followed.

The fledgling caught up with Charlie in the park and took the pigeon for its dinner. Amelia took off somewhere south, and Charlie returned to the church where he appeared to be hunting for his own evening meal. I was really happy to see the whole family together in one place and they appeared to be well-fed and content.

 

This fledgling is the only one of the original three who is out and about in the neighborhood. To recall, one of its siblings passed away in late July, and the other sibling was taken to Wild Bird Fund on August 11th with an apparent wing injury. We have since learned that the injured hawk was transferred to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey on August 18th for further treatment and recovery.