This juvenile Cooper’s Hawk,
Accipiter cooperii, spent at least fifteen minutes clambering around our brush pile earlier this week, trying to get at a flock of House Sparrows. She even wedged between the brush and the privacy fence, disappearing from view. Some curious squirrels almost seemed to take pity on her, and one squirrel walked through the pile as if to help flush out some sparrows.
The young hawk took a break on the fence just as the wind was picking up.
After a few minutes she jumped back down to the brush pile to give it another go. I finally gave up watching from my precarious perch on a workbench, unable to get sharp photos through a dirty basement window.
Two days later we saw her, or possibly a sibling, eating a catch on the ground under a pine tree. I went out after she flew away and found no trace of feathers nor scrap of prey. I wondered if it had been a vole or other rodent. The below photo, from last year, is of an adult on our trumpet vine arbor, eating what I think was a dove.
For great facts and details about Cooper's Hawks, go to this
link to Cornell Lab of Ornithology page and see Life History. It's some interesting info!
