I've been hearing the distinctive sound of a hawk's call for the past few weeks, but was never able to spot the bird. It was always calling from a neighbor's property and hidden by tree branches. Several years ago, I managed to see a Cooper's Hawk in a distant tree, but the only pic I managed to snap of it was somewhat blurry because of the amount of zooming I had to do with the lens of my cellphone camera. I was certainly hoping for a better chance this time.
And that chance finally arrived! I was standing outside on the patio behind my house when the hawk flew into my yard and perched in a nearby tree! I'm not a good judge of distances outdoors, but I was perhaps two or three car-lengths away from the base of the large oak tree in which it was perched about a third of the way up that tree. Fortunately, I had a relatively unobstructed view of it!
There is plenty of small prey for the hawks in this area. Sadly, smaller birds are fair game for them, including the songbirds that sing so sweetly all year long — wrens, sparrows, chickadees, tufted titmice, nuthatches, cardinals, and many others. But they also eat small rodents like field mice and moles, as well as lizards and other things. [1] They can eat all the mice they want, as far as I care, 'cause the mice don't make music. 😆
Borrowing from the folk song "Old MacDonald" [2], I present the following ditty:
𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝙴-𝙸-𝙴-𝙸-𝙾
𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚠𝚔, 𝙴-𝙸-𝙴-𝙸-𝙾
𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 "𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎!" 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 "𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎!" 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎
𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 "𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎!" 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 "𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎!"
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 "𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎!"
𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙲𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎, 𝙴-𝙸-𝙴-𝙸-𝙾
And then, a couple days after the above sighting, I saw it again! It flew into my yard with the sunlight streaming down through the feathers of its outspread wings! It was a beautiful sight, but happened so quickly that there was no way I could have gotten a pic of it even if were holding a camera. It landed on a tree branch much higher, and out of sight from my viewpoint, so that fleeting memory is all I have of that encounter.
If anyone reading knows a lot about birds and thinks this is something other than a Cooper's Hawk, I would appreciate hearing about it in the comments. Many websites about birds report that hawks are sometimes identified incorrectly as there are often very small visual differences between some species.
Do you have hawks in your part of the world?
😊SOURCES
1 Wikipedia: Cooper's Hawk
2 Wikipedia: Old MacDonald
𝖠𝗅𝗅 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗈𝗌 𝖻𝗒 𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖲𝖺𝗆𝗌𝗎𝗇𝗀® 𝖭𝗈𝗍𝖾𝟤𝟢™ 𝗎𝗇𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗐𝗂𝗌𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽.
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13-Mar-2025
Great photos. We had a fair amount of hawks nesting and hunting around our areas, I've seen a lot less rabbits about.
Hopefully, you can get a good pic, too! 😃
I don't think I have ever seen a Cooper's Hawk. I see lots of red tailed hawks.
I love birds of prey! Big guys from the top of the food chain! I work in a place where we need to take a dirty road of 6km. It is very common to see Hawks and even Bald Eagles sometimes. I try to stop once in a while to take a picture but I miss the moment hehehe good shot!
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Wow!
Fantastic photos!
Wow, what an exciting and beautifully captured encounter with nature! It must have been a real thrill to finally have the chance to see that hawk up close, especially after hearing its calls for weeks. The way you described its presence—perched in the oak tree and later flying into your yard with sunlight streaming through its feathers—paints such a vivid and magical picture. Moments like these remind us of how special it is to connect with the wildlife around us.
Your ditty about "Old man Cooper" is an absolute delight! It adds such a fun, lighthearted touch to the story, perfectly complementing your joy at the hawk's visit. I also love your balance of admiration for hawks with your practical approval of their rodent-eating habits (and cheeky dismissal of mice for their lack of musical contributions 😆).
As for hawks, many people do find identifying them tricky since their species often have subtle distinctions, but your description strongly hints at a Cooper's Hawk! Their presence year-round in your area and the prey you mentioned certainly align with their behavior. It’s fascinating that they’ve chosen your environment as a home.
I do see stories and photos of hawks being admired in various regions, occasionally in California I come across one. Your narrative, however, stands out as one so intimately tied to your appreciation of both the bird and your surroundings. This written article of hawks journalizes them and snapping pictures makes for an even deeper connection with these amazing creatures, sis!
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