After a rain-out Friday, one of the young hawks fledged around mid-morning today.

I could only see two chicks on the nest when I visited around noon, and at first I thought maybe the third was hunkered way down in the nest cup. Soon enough, though, it emerged from the courtyard the nest abuts, making a small flight to a railing about 15 feet directly below the nest.

From afternoon until evening, the fledgling made just a few short flights around the courtyard, making some surprisingly graceful landings.

I watched until dusk fell, wondering if one of the two remaining siblings would fledge before nightfall. Both spent most of the afternoon and evening resting and snacking, but there were a few ambitious jump-flap sessions right at the edge of the nest that I thought might end with a fledge.

The first out of the nest, meanwhile, ended its series of flights by roosting on that spot right below the nest.

If remaining two chicks fledge on Sunday, they’ll have a very quiet day downtown to get used to their new surroundings. Last year the brood of two both fledged on the same day — a weekday — when the area around their nest was bustling with pedestrian and vehicle traffic. They’re in a much more secluded spot this year, with plenty of landing places to explore out of the way of the main downtown roads.

I’ll post a full gallery of this year’s fledge as soon as the remaining two have taken their leap of faith.