Checking in on Christo and Amelia

I feel like I've been neglecting our local red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, for some time. I spent the summer documenting their fledglings and, as usual, the kids and their antics tend to get all the attention.

This is a photo of Christo I took yesterday. He's looking good.

I also saw Amelia earlier in the day perched on the dome of Most Holy Redeemer church on E. 3rd Street, but I didn't have my camera with me. Both hawks are doing well.

Below are some photos of Christo and Amelia I never got around to posting because I was focused on the fledglings.

Here is Amelia looking pretty.

Here she is dealing with an annoying Mockingbird who kept trying to nip her in the back.

I love how she stares right at the hyperactive Mockingbird and appears unimpressed. The Mockingbird kept this up for about 15 minutes.

Meh, nothing to see here.

This is Christo being harassed by a male Kestrel.

Another Kestrel tries to intimidate Amelia by flying straight at her.

On a calmer day, I found Christo gathering seeds from his favorite Dawn Redwood tree next to the men's room in Tompkins.

He flew them to the "fake" nest the pair built in a tree at the end of the nesting season. They've done this the last several years, which I believe is a bonding activity. This additional nest has never been used for egg laying, and it's usually dismantled by squirrels by the time nesting season starts in late winter.

This is Amelia taking a stick to the false nest.

Amelia and Christo hanging out together:

Amelia watches Christo take off.

Amelia looking majestic:

Here is Christo with a few molting feathers on his face.

The molting makes him look scruffy. I wrote more about molting in a previous post.

Christo perched near the basketball courts:

And finally diving after...something.

Note:  I never received further updates on the fledgling taken to the Raptor Trust in August. I am inclined to think it was released back into the wild in New Jersey. It's unfortunate the fledgling was not released back into Tompkins, but it may have been safer for the bird to release it outside the city. All we can do is hope it and its two siblings are enjoying success on their migration journeys.