Cooper’s hawk bags lunch at the Knox Mill Monday

Mon, 04/21/2014 - 3:45pm

CAMDEN — The Knox Mill on Mechanic Street in downtown Camden is a popular spot for birds of all sorts, especially pigeons, up on the roof. And where there are pigeons, they are likely to be hawks and falcons drawn to the potential for a meal.

A month ago, the pigeons that routinely fly down off the mill’s roof for a snack of scattered seeds on the grass bolted back up into the air in a start. A few seconds later, a hawk landed in the middle of Mechanic Street looking a bit stunned and downtrodden, having just missed catching lunch as the flock had raised the alarm and safely took flight into the sky.

But today, it was the flock of pigeons that were on the losing end of the game. A hawk, most likely a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, was seen gliding low across Mechanic Street around 2 p.m., carrying something steel blue and a bit fluffy. A closer look at the hawk and its prey, which had come to rest under a large pine at the corner of the parking lot, confirmed the prey was a pigeon.

Watching the small pigeon as it gave one last struggle to break free from the hawk’s talons holding it on the ground, a few fine white feathers drifted in the breeze.

Another moment later, and the hawk was airborne again, lunch in tow, gliding away into the trees behind some houses on Free Street.

Thanks to birder Kristen Lindquist for help in identifying the hawk species.


Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or 706-6655.