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.
