My Hawk Friend

Accipiter cooperii

For three hours this juvenile Cooper's Hawk remained with me in the backyard. I was alerted to her presence by the frantic early morning alarm calls of a Mockingbird pair. As I approached the paper mulberry tree where she was resting, I expected her to take off once I got too close. That never happened; in fact, even though we maintained eye contact, she behaved almost as if I weren't there.

She preened and fluffed at just a tiny bit over arms-length away. Gazing in different directions, she casually observed everything that was transpiring around her. The Mockingbirds were relentless and a squirrel cautiously crept down from the tree top to investigate the commotion. At one point, she even took a nap in front of us all!

After she awoke, we resumed studying each other. The mockingbirds continued their cacophony as they swooped around from the tree tops to the giant birds-of-paradise. The hawk had a plan. More pictures to come...