Amelia and her kids tussle on St Brigid's church

Earlier this week, I was getting ready to leave Tompkins Square Park as the sun was just about to set, but then Red-Tailed Hawk, Amelia, and one of her kids turned up on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

In this photo, the fledgling is on top and Amelia is on the right. 

Amelia has begun her summer molt and is starting to look a little scraggly around the face and neck. While I watched, she pulled out a tuft of downy feathers, which comically stuck to her nostrils.

At some point, the hawks switched places, putting Amelia on the left and the fledgling on the right. 

I was happy to see them together like this, so continued taking photos despite the sun disappearing and the lighting getting bad. I have brightened all of these photos quite a bit, so the quality is not very good, but I like the sequence of events.

 

The fledgling began squealing at Amelia, getting more and more urgent. She didn't respond, and the fledgling hopped up to the top of the cross to get closer to her. Note the size of the fledgling - Amelia is (in my opinion) a large hawk, and her offspring is about the same size. 

 

The fledgling became impatient, moving around on top of the cross while trying to maintain balance. The lightning rod seemed to be in the way of its right wing.

Fed up with dealing with it, the fledgling returned to its perch on the right arm of the cross.

Suddenly, a second fledgling arrived.

It made a rough landing, causing Amelia to jump up.

Everybody's discombobulated!

The lightning rod seemed to be giving the fledgling the same trouble as its sibling, so it continued to flap its huge wings as it tried to settle itself.

Finally, Amelia had enough of the chaos and took off.

She flew into the park as the two fledglings looked after her.

The one on top decided to take Mom's seat.

Finally, some calm. 

I was hoping the third fledgling would join its siblings, but no suck luck, and the second one took off into the park after Amelia.

The remaining fledgling stayed on the cross for a few minutes before flying back into the park. By that time, it was pretty dark, so I headed home.