Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
These are some of the coolest raptors you could hope to see. Their gray plumage is gorgeous and those eyes are nothing short of awesome!
These are another couple cool shots I recently unearthed as I was sorting through old pics. Taken back in April near a friend’s home where this guy and his mate were establishing their own home. We had tons of fun capturing pics as they worked.
A tip from a friend (thank you, Patrick!) led me to a neighborhood not far from my house where a mated pair of these cool raptors is setting up a home in a backyard. They were coming and going, working on their nest and occasionally perching in a tree by the street. The male returned from one excursion and as I was snapping pictures, it hopped straight at me to another, closer branch.
It wasn’t till I got home and downloaded the pictures that I saw it had a kill firmly in its talon’s grasp – a small bird of some type. Even without these two pics, I was able to get my best images to date of this elusive hawk which certainly made for a fun encounter.
While not often seen, the Cooper’s Hawk is actually quite common. Typically associated with forests and woodlands, they have proven themselves to be very adaptable and indeed seem to thrive in suburban and urban environments. However, they usually opt to hang out within the cover of tree branches and leaves, not normally out in the open.
A very fun thing to see this past weekend although I didn’t get images of all the action. I spotted a gorgeous Cooper’s Hawk hanging out in a suburban park so naturally stopped to get a picture.
It flew off immediately toward some neighboring houses and I was going to give up until I hear some chickens making a huge ruckus. I walked toward the noise and see just over the short fence three chickens huddled up under a bush, clearly distraught. I knew then that hawk had to be there.
Sure enough, I see it standing in the yard, probably trying to figure out how it can enjoy a nice breakfast of poultry. Unfortunately when the Cooper’s Hawk saw me it hopped up into a tree, then decided it didn’t want witnesses to the slaughter it was contemplating and headed off. While I didn’t get any action shots, I did get some decent images of the raptor.
Interestingly enough, the term ‘chicken hawk’ actually refers to the Cooper’s Hawk. Apparently that is fitting.
A marked contrast in size between these two raptors to say the least. I was taking pics of the beautiful Bald Eagle when this young Cooper’s Hawk landed nearby. While I wish they were closer together, the image does do a nice job showing the difference in sizes between the two.
While the eagle has a wingspan between 6 and 7 feet, the much smaller Cooper’s is less than half that big. At one point the hawk gave me a wide-eyed look as if to say, “Check out how big that eagle is!” 😉
While not often seen, the Cooper’s Hawk is actually quite common. Typically associated with forests and woodlands, they have proven themselves to be very adaptable and indeed seem to thrive in suburban and urban environments. However, they typically opt to hang out within the cover of tree branches and leaves, not normally out in the open.
Finding Great Horned Owls can be a challenge, particularly in heavily wooded areas. They have a knack for positioning themselves in just the right spot to avoid detection and more than once I have walked right by one.
Sometimes, another creature though can give you a hand in finding them. I have always found Magpies to be useful for this as they do not like the big owls and raise a ruckus when one is in their domain – follow the sound, find the owl.
On this day, it was a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk that helped a friend and I, directing us to the nocturnal predator. I have seen this same hawk hassling the female owl at her nest before and on this day, she was out and about and once again, the hawk did not appreciate her presence. It was making a lot of noise, standing on a nearby branch, making sure the owl knew it was not wanted.
The noise led us right to her and allowed us to get some nice captures. The owl would eventually tire of being pestered, move to a new spot and the hawk would pursue, again raising a ruckus. It was kind of fun to watch although clearly the owl was not amused. 😉
A relatively common raptor but not one that you normally get an opportunity to see. These small hawks are not ones to stay out in the open, preferring the interior of trees where they can stay hidden and ready to hit their prey.
This particular one was keeping close watch for a meal and in fact it did dive after a Northern Flicker, action which I unfortunately missed.
Cooper’s Hawks have proven to have adapted to urban and suburban life quite well and are probably the most common #raptors to be found in those types of areas. It isn’t unusual to hear stories about folks with bird feeders seeing one of these on their fence, ready to snatch one of the smaller birds as they come by for a meal.
Taken in Longmont, Colorado.
Twice now I have witnessed a bit of conflict between this small hawk and the Great Horned Owls at a nearby open space. Everybody gets along fine until the male owl takes flight. That seems to draw out the Cooper’s and they chase it and pester the much bigger raptor incessantly. I know the owls have a nest at the location and I suspect the hawks do as well thus leading to the conflict.
On this particular morning the hawk had chased off the owl but knew exactly where it had gone and was keeping a close eye on it to ensure it did not return. That allowed me to get a couple of pictures of the Cooper’s Hawk, a common but somewhat elusive raptor.
These medium sized hawks are quite common across much of the United States and Mexico. Finding them however is not an easy task. They tend to prefer to hide within the wooded areas, usually well within the trees making them hard to spot.
I’ve in fact only seen a handful. That made happening across this pair that much more fun and, best of all, they were relatively in the open allowing me to grab some pictures. I was coming down a dirt road near Denver International Airport when I saw one, then the other, both in the same tree. They can be quite skittish but this pair didn’t seem to mind me much at all.
Cooper’s Hawks have proven to have adapted to urban and suburban life quite well and are probably the most common #raptors to be found in those types of areas. It isn’t unusual to hear stories about folks with bird feeders seeing one of these on their fence, ready to snatch one of the smaller birds as they come by for a meal.
My photo excursion yesterday was not as eventful as I would have liked. The one saving grace was finding this cool Cooper’s Hawk. It isn’t often that they are seen out in the open like this one was and since I have only captured images of them a few times, I was happy to get this series.
I call these Cooper’s Hawks a ‘gift’ because a couple of friends messaged me after work letting me know where to find them. Up until now I had only seen and photographed juveniles and longed to get pictures of adults. Those eyes are absolutely fascinating to me!
The pics aren’t the greatest as we had pretty heavy overcast skies today making for tough shooting conditions but this is one more raptor I can cross off my list. Scroll down to view the complete series of images.
