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A gorgeous Cooper's Hawk hunted in our backyard this afternoon. It cornered a House Sparrow beneath our garden hose storage compartment for several minutes, but came up empty after the sparrow made an amazing dash for cover under our deck. Still optimistic, the hawk perched on the deck railing for a while and watched, but the sparrow wasn't about to give up its hiding spot. Eventually the Cooper's lost interest and flew to our neighbor's yard. I managed to capture these close-up portraits of the hawk by poking my spotting scope & camera out our patio window.
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(click on image for larger version)
When the Cooper’s Hawk wasn’t around, other birds in our backyard included:
Hairy Woodpecker -1
Downy Woodpecker -1
Dark-eyed Junco - 10+
House Finch - 2
American Goldfinch - 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
Black-capped Chickadee - 2
Mourning Dove - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
American Crow - 2
Blue Jay - 5
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Happy Holidays to all!
Cooper's Hawk images © 2006 Mike McDowell
