Cooper's Hawk Visit
Illustration: "Birds of America", 1936
Hi all,
Yup... Got up close and personal with a couple of Cooper's Hawks today. (The Cooper's is on the left above; the Sharp-Shinned is on the right.) Interesting encounter... The crows and squirrels were doing their usual gluttony routine... And then there came this blur. At the time I was working on one of our computers (weren't they supposed to make our lives easier?), and a hawk swooped by narrowly missing one of our "Don" squirrels. The yard kind of went still, and I went back to work. But with time, I looked out the window and there sat a Cooper's... To borrow from Monty Python, "Beautiful plumage." The chest area was especially striking. He (she?) looked exactly like the image above. On a lark, I decide to venture out and see if I could get a better look. Normally, hawks are skittish, but this one seemed rather indifferent.... I got within 15 feet or so, and the only reaction I inspired was some head scratching on the bird's part. However, I did keep an eye open for it's mate. The last thing I needed was to be raked by a ticked-off hawk. (Imagine trying to explain that in the emergency room.)
Anyway... I know that this all may seem stupid and boring to the uninitiated, but even for a casual backyard naturalist it was pretty cool, and it sure broke up the day.
Occasionally and very pleasantly distracted by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding
