One of the adult hawks takes flight from a nest on High Street recently. (c) Greg Saulmon 2013

Last summer, while the young Red-tailed Hawks that hatched at the Open Square nest were still in the neighborhood, I noticed a third nest in downtown Holyoke — this one on a High Street fire escape.

I’ve been keeping an eye on it ever since, mostly figuring it was a nest the pair of hawks built early in 2013 and decided not to use.

Over the past few weeks, though, I’ve noticed a lot of activity at the High Street nest. And, I haven’t seen any activity at last year’s nest, nor at the Race Street fire escape where the hawks lived for several consecutive years.

So, have our local hawks found a new home? We should know in the next few weeks. I saw the pair engage in what appeared to be mating behavior Sunday afternoon, up near the top of City Hall.