Timmy, the hawk takes flight

Mended bird released in urban Hamilton

Timmy, a rehabilitated young red-tailed hawk, had no trouble soaring to freedom when released, not in the wild, but at his Hamilton home ground on the Mountain. He flew up, perched himself high on a pine tree for a few seconds, and then took off to enjoy his new lease on life.

“This is so cool,” rescuer Gord Marsden, a rehabilitation expert, said Wednesday as he prepared to release Timmy in a small clearing on his Upper Wellington property.

Timmy was a nestling blown out of his nest near the top of a 60- to 70-foot white pine beside Marsden’s house when he was found in early July. Marsden hadn’t seen him since rushing him to Hawkeye Bird Control Inc. near Acton.

Julia Staines of Hawkeye gave Timmy his name. And the bird expert is confident the hawk, now close to five months old, will do just fine. “It was a good release. He went up on the tree, got his bearings and flew off. And the way he flew, it was strong.”