Cooper's hawk

When I went for my walk yesterday morning, I arrived at my favorite parking place and was greeted by the "chee chee chee" of a hawk somewhere nearby.  I didn't have my camera with me.  I found a large Cooper's hawk who immediately spotted me and took off.  His mate was nearby and the two of them soared and flew through the palm trees.  By the time I finished my walk, they were back in one of the palms and I got a real good view of him.  Of course, by the time I grabbed my cell phone to take a picture, they flew off.  But, in going through my archives from August, I found I had some photos of one of them, so here they are!  One flew right over me while I was walking and I didn't hear a sound.  I wonder how their prey evades them?  We saw a whole family of them (mom and two youngsters) over in Arizona when we stayed up on the Mogollon Rim in August and they were VERY loud!  They awoke me every morning right at daybreak.  It was actually Mom calling to the youngsters.  They kept her very busy!  There are a lot of rabbits along this area where I walk and I'm sure these two feed on them....ducks and water birds are there, too, out on the water courses on the golf course.  And, there are enough trees for them to hide in!  I love walking there and I never know what I'm going to see, but sometimes I just don't want to lug around my camera!  I was taking it in the mornings and then bringing it to school with me, so I may just take my Nikon with me from now on.  These photos were taken with my new Canon 7D.

Cooper's hawks~Outdoor Wednesday~082411

When I awoke that first morning, I heard a screeching call over and over and over.  It was very high pitched and was coming from right across the wash behind the cabin.  It wasn't completely light yet (that's why the photos are so dark).  I followed the noise and found two hawks in a nearby pine tree.  A third was below them.  It was a mother and her two "youngsters".  As an animal observer and photographer, I stood and studied them.  It was very interesting over the next 4 days for me to watch their interactions and their actions with their prey.  Later that morning, the three of them took off across the street (I presume to find their breakfast...).  Mom came back and so did one of the youngsters, but the other one didn't.  She called and called all morning and was silent for a couple of hours.  When she started up again in the afternoon, I had to go out and see what was going on because her cries were quite pitched.  The "missing" young one had returned and had "lunch"...some kind of rodent!  And, he wouldn't share it!  They were up and she was calling every morning as soon as it started to get light, which was 5:30 a.m.  They all took off in the morning to find breakfast and returned soon thereafter.  They were out there in the afternoons, too.  I'm glad I got to observe and watch them.  It was sad to leave them.  One afternoon, two of them were up in "their" tree (they did claim one tree as their own...) and the beautiful squirrel that lived around the cabin area was out hunting for food.  I had fallen asleep and hubby called to me, "You better get out here.  That squirrel you've been watching is about to become supper for the hawks!"  I ran out and yup...two of them were up in a nearby tree and were triangulating on the squirrel.  It was completely oblivious.  Fortunately, she managed to survive.  The hawks flew off to find an easier meal. Outdoor Wednesday for August 24, 2011. Please go to http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ to see other participants in Outdoor Wednesday.