OMG! I Had a Big Hawk in my Backyard

in Feathered Friends3 years ago (edited)

As I was taking my dogs out this morning I had a hawk sitting on fallen branches in my backyard. He flew off but I managed to get a few pictures on my iPhone of him. When I got in and looked at the pictures they were only barley good enough to identify him. I didn't think much more about it until I took the dogs out later and he was back again. I hurriedly took the dogs back in and grabbed my camera and back out again I went.

Here for you is the Cooper's Hawk, he is a beauty for sure. They are a medium sized hawk, and have long rounded tail with several black bands, which is how they are easily identified from the Sharp-Shinned Hawk. >They measure about 14-20 inches (36-50 cm) with a 2 1/2 foot wing span. Rusty breast and dark wing tips, slate gray back. Bright yellow spot at base of gray bill , dark red eyes.>

The Cooper's Hawk is a common hawk, when in flight look for the large head and short wings and long tail. They are known to ambush their prey, it will fly into heavy bush and will even run on the ground to pursue their prey. They also love to come to feeders to hunt their prey.

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Cooper's Hawk is bold and beautiful, he is not afraid of flying through the trees and dense branches for his dinner. He apparently is not afraid of me either as he stayed and posed for his photo shoot today.
Thank you for stopping by my blog, if you liked it please leave a comment or an upvote.

*all information was taken from "Birds of Missouri Field Guide" by Stan Tekiela

All photo's were taken by me with my Cannon EOS T2i rebel

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Wow that would be cool to see in your backyard.

It was and it was so unexpected I have many small animals like rabbits and squirrel and lots of birds so apparently it's a good place to hunt.

Enjoy it ;-)

Thanks 😊

Beautiful hawk!

He is beautiful thank you

🌞❤
Fantastic..!!!!!
@pinkdragonfly
The Cooper Hawk truly is bold and beautiful...!
A most wonderful,exciting, thrilling and amazing sighting.
You captured excellent pictures.
:-)

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thank you

Hello @pinkdragonfly!

great shots !
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thank you

He's looking for your squirrels.

either squirrels or rabbits I have a lot of both in my backyard 😂

You used to have a lot of them in your backyard right :-) Now it is hawk territory.

hehehe so true

So lucky to see that! and get some great pics of him...

@karbon it was very exciting, I normally do not see them on the ground only in the air or trees, thank you.

I occasionally have one come through and hunt my feeders. Mourning doves seem to be a favorite menu item for them. You got some great shots!

I think they hunt all my rabbits in the backyard, I find dens in my backyard where the rabbits have their babies. Last year I had an explosion of rabbits. Maybe this year there will be fewer 😂

I don't have rabbits, the foxes and coyotes make sure of that! Population control is a good thing!

How rewarding going out and seeing a bird you know is different, then he kindly stands and poses for you, what a bargain for any birdwatcher armed with a camera.

Lovely photography and interesting notes taken to obtain identification @pinkdragonfly

!WINE

@joanstewart thank you so much!

What a scoop!
We don't have them here and you were certainly fortunate to get him to come and pose for you.
Lovely shots of a very interesting Raptor.

It deserves a !BEER

@papilloncharity thank you, I felt very fortunate that he actually stayed and let me get so close to him. I thought he might be injured at first but found that he was perfectly sound.

Oh yes, I have also had some experiences like that and once a Gymnogene almost hit my my head when he took off. Nice when they sit so calm to take a rest.
Blessings!


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thank you!