Like many other people around the country, I take time out each week to gather data for the Cornell Laboratory Bird Count. This involves watching my yard for 30 minutes and counting the number and types of birds which visit my feeders.
Today was amusing..... As I sat listening to about 100 American Sparrows snuttering and enjoying the sunshine in my blue spruce (see picture above), all of a sudden there was silence. That can only mean one thing .... hawk! (see second / third picture).
This hawk has been in our neighborhood for about four years. He first visited when he was a fledgling and it was hilarious to watch him learn to hunt. He would swoop down from the tree and attempt to dive feet first into the blue spruce after sparrows or mourning doves. One afternoon, he attempted seven dives before he caught dinner! Now he almost always 'gets his bird'.We find it humorous to hear others talk about trying to keep hawks away from their bird feeders. In the majority of instances, Cooper takes out the slower birds and only once have I seen him take out a 'favorite' of mine (i.e. cardinal, blue jay, house sparrow, woodpecker, etc.)
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