Injured Hawk Rescued by Good Samaritans

State Trooper Steven Borowski and Paul Kupchok, with hawk. ERIc GROSS Judy and Mike McDermott of Southeast believe in totems—natural objects that are symbols of personal or spiritual identity. Last week while traveling along Doansburg Road, the couple came upon an injured red-tailed hawk perched on a rail. Judy, who has taken scores of photos of wild animals, realized the raptor was in “serious distress. All her back feathers were disheveled. Her right wing was hanging limp at her side and her beautiful tail feathers were in total disarray.” Judy contacted a longtime colleague, Paul Kupchok, master falconer and wildlife rehabilitator at Green Chimneys School Soon Kupchok arrived with a long-handled net, and while State Trooper Steven Borowski stopped traffic, he netted the bird and examined it before it was removed to the Green Chimneys emergency room. Kupchok said the hawk should recuperate with “plenty of TLC” and would be released back to the wild when fully recovered.