Church steeple goes to the birds

Mic Smith
The Post and Courier

Two hawks that have taken up residence with a nest on construction site at Grace Episcopal Church rest on the church's cross Thursday.

Construction hits snags: weather delays, equipment trouble, cost overruns.

And talons.

No, that pair of red-tailed hawks perched on either arm of the gold cross atop the steeple of Grace Episcopal Church isn't going to budge, not even for the scaffolding for a $12 million renovation project. Not when there's a pair of chicks nestled in the crook of a pinnacle below.

The mockingbird harassing them can't drive them off. The house sparrows nested nearby just leave them be. And if a construction crew member ventures onto the top the highest scaffolding level, just below the nest, one of the hawks spreads its four-foot-long wings and drops to circle the steeple menacingly.

The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the taking of the birds, their eggs or their chicks. And besides, this is the raptor whose shrill shriek has been used in movies for years to send that eerie chill up the spine.

So, the church has to wait seven or eight weeks to reinforce the steeple of the 160-year-old sanctuary.

Read more in tomorrow's edition of The Post and Courier