Final chick fledges at downtown Holyoke’s hawk nest

Checks of the Red-tailed Hawk nest yesterday morning and afternoon found no young hawks at either visit. In the morning, at least one of the fledglings was perched on a high roof at Open Square (shown above), and I watched as one of the adults brought in breakfast. The other siblings weren’t in sight. Last year, the fledglings all but…

Holyoke hawk fledging update: One step at a time

All three siblings were on the nesting platform this evening, despite the fact that at least two have now taken their first flights. On Monday morning I spotted one fledgling on a rooftop near the nest; another was perched on a window ledge well above the nest. With heavy rains last night, this morning, and again this afternoon, though, it…

Fledging update: Full house at the hawk nest

After spending most of the morning on a bridge over the canal, yesterday’s fledgling decided to spend the rest of a lazy Sunday afternoon and evening around the nesting platform with the other two siblings. The fact that the fledgling managed to fly back up to the nest means that it’s already beginning to master the art of gaining altitude…

A fresh start for The Birds Downtown

When I started The Birds Downtown as a blog in the fall of 2011, it was an experiment, and a challenge to myself. Could I really find enough birds in a post-industrial New England landscape to keep posting month after month? The sheer variation in birds I’ve found in Holyoke’s urban and industrial core has been enough affirmation to keep…