Saturday was a day for hawks. I saw one on the highway as I drove home from John’s and then another one just a little farther along. Each was perched on a high limb, scanning the road and the verge for lunch. A third hawk, in the center of town, dove after a small bird, but being intercepted and stunned by a fast-moving car, wheeled back to land on a parked vehicle, catch his breath, and pose for photos.
I wondered why the hawk was hunting in such a heavily populated area. It must be hard to find food in this weather.
Fortunately, I had bought my camera, having decided that I don’t get enough pictures for the blog if I give in to the cold and take my daily walk indoors. There aren’t many photo ops when you go ’round and ’round from the hall to the living room to the dining room to the kitchen … .
If any reader knows what type of hawk this is, I’d appreciate being enlightened.
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Good for you! We’re tougher than winter (I think). As the Scots say: There’s no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.
Loved the photo!
Thanks. I don’t know that I will ever equal you with your mountain climbing in winter. Maybe if I wore a moonwalk outfit …
I love seeing hawks soaring over Arlington and Belmont. We had one visit our backyard in Arlington last year (it may have been a Cooper’s hawk). And we saw another fight with a squirrel a couple of years ago near our cousin’s backyard in Belmont. One of the best things about riding my bike is being more likely to see and hear birds than if I was driving a car. Thanks for your news and photo!
Walking and biking are best for seeing the world around you. I do see a lot of hawks watching the highway, but I can’t stop and take a picture.
ID is hard because of glare/washout of breast/front. But I too think it is a young (i.e. hatched out in 2014) Coopers’ hawk. Could be a Red-tailed hawk, but they usually have a clear upper breast, and this photo seems to show light vertical streaking on upper breast.
In any case, it sure is beautiful, and taking note of its beauty, its activity, and wondering about its wellness, is of greater value than naming it.
Kim, how awesome to have your expertise (and your advice about appreciation being even more important than identification)! Most of us have so little exposure to wildlife that we forget what a treat it is to see some. The hawk flew off into a nearby magnolia, and I turned off my camera only to see a young man with a look of delight on his face pulling out his camera. “I never saw one so close!” he exclaimed. He was happy. I will send you the video, too.
And thanks for the extra comments on the video I e-mailed you: “The film clip which I looked at frame by frame definitely ruled out Red-tailed. Coopers is still most likely, but in some frames it looks to have white over the eye (or is that glare) which in combination with its size it could also be a Northern goshawk.” I read the Christmas bird count article in the paper, and it looks like a Cooper’s was seen. I didn’t see a Northern Goshawk mentioned.