December's Hawk

December’s Hawk Hosted on Zooomr

About two weeks ago, I saw the hawk (one of a pair) in the picture above from my backyard. Subsequent viewings of the hawk(s) from a distance led me to identify it as a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), which spells trouble for the birds at my feeder. Cooper’s Hawks will prey upon unwary birds at feeders, and will even chase songbirds into trees for a tasty treat.

Yesterday, I was out in our driveway with Trip when a Cooper’s Hawk came flying at full speed around our house, no more than 3 feet off the ground. He came around the corner into our driveway headed towards the feeders, saw us, banked sharply away from Trip, and then flew at low altitude away across my neighbor’s backyard.

Holy moly, was he fast!

(Trip was facing away from the whole thing, so he missed seeing it. This is probably for the best: having a hawk zooming at you at eye level would startle anyone.)