This evening one of the fledglings went down on the ground and into the bushes near the highway for a few minutes.  In a move only a young fledgling would do, it flew right into a group of people.

The group of experienced hawk watcher knew not to force the bird up the hill and towards the highway, so the group gave the fledgling lots of room to roam.  These young birds tend to do silly things when crowded and it was great to see such a responsible response.

One could have interpreted the birds behavior as proof that the young birds are fearless and undisturbed by people.  But I don’t think this is the case.  We’ve seen year after year, fledglings just off the nest be unaware of danger, just like a toddler, only to be more sensible as they grow older.