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.
3 comments:
so THAT is a cooper's hawk! I see all kinds of birds, vultures, and hawks flying around out here but I don't really know how to identify them.
Fun fun! I'm still playing around my camera. Some cameras are better for those instant shots when something happens from out of nowhere.....and others, there are too many lenses that have to be switched! I'm also finding that the camera stuff gets heavier as we upgrade. I want a tripod, but don't want to have to carry it around on my hikes!!
Another name for a Cooper's hawk is the chicken hawk. They will eat nearly ANYTHING! It was so interesting to watch the family while we were in Arizona! They met in the morning, headed out for breakfast, met for an after-breakfast family meeting, and then disappeared in the afternoon. They all reappeared about 4 pm each day, then went out for their nightly hunting.
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