If you follow our blog,
you know that last year my husband and I were privileged to watch a pair of
Cooper’s Hawks court, mate and raise three youngsters in and around our back
yard.
Much to our delight they
returned again this year.
Following is a journal I kept of their activities and my observations.
2/14 - A
lone Cooper’s Hawk spotted in a neighbor’s tree behind our house.
2/16 - Cooper’s
Hawk makes a kill in our back yard
2/17 - Two
Cooper’s Hawks spotted in a neighbor’s Pin Oak Tree (across the street) – My
husband thought he saw them carrying nesting materials into the tree
3/16 – The hawks have been courting in the Pin Oak
across the street since 2/17 and are now nest building in a crotch high in the
tree. My granddaughter and her
friend have been watching them every morning as they wait for the school
bus. Every afternoon when she
returns from school I get a Cooper’s Hawk activity report.
3/24 – World Bird Sanctuary
had to cancel World Eagle Day today due to a severe snowstorm moving
into the area this morning. We’re
supposed to get 8-10” of snow. We
already have two inches and the storm shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, I hear thunder. Went outside to take photos of the snow
covered trees and saw one of the Cooper’s Hawks come through the yard and land
in the Pin Oak next door. He’s
sitting watching our feeder.
April-June – Hawks have abandoned the new nest in
the Pin Oak across the street and returned to last year’s nest. I see them going into and out of the
tree—but can’t see the nest because of the dense foliage.
June-July – The parent Hawks are still flying to
and from the tree, but we have seen no sign of the fledglings. Maybe they are in another neighbor’s
yard in all the thick foliage.
Week of July 1st – Have seen the two
adults in the tree next door exhibiting breeding behavior again (this is the
same branch where they mated earlier this year). Have seen no babies yet and am beginning to think that they
may have lost the nestlings due to weather or predators. A second nesting would be highly
unlikely, but they don’t seem to think so.
7/7 – Saw three fledglings in our yard today. They are already well coordinated and
flying well, so guess they must have spent those first couple of weeks in the
heavy tree cover two yards down.
They are still a little wary of me, but curious.
Week of 7/12 - Have begun seeing the three
youngsters in our yard on a regular basis. As the weather has turned hot they have been coming to our
birdbath in the afternoon heat.
7/17 – The youngsters have now broken down into two
groups—the two females and the lone male.
He is wary of his two larger siblings lest he become a meal. The male seems to frequent the yard
more in the morning, while the two girls hop about our patio and take baths in
the afternoon. They have all been
watching the feeder and hunting in the back yard. Our granddaughter and a grandniece who is vacationing with
us have been enjoying watching their antics.
7/19 – This morning the male landed in the Star
Magnolia and is watching the bird feeder.
I decided to fill the feeder and see if he would tolerate my
presence. He doesn’t seem to be
bothered by my presence as long as I don’t appear to be stalking him. He was only fifteen feet away from me
on a branch just five feet off the ground! I guess they’ve watched me fill
the feeders and become accustomed to my movements, so I went back inside to get
my camera. After taking a batch of
photos I came back inside and called my niece to come out and try to get a
photo before she returns to Florida.
As long as you casually stroll out to the feeder it doesn’t seem to
bother him. Our niece was so
excited to have this opportunity!
She’d never been this close to a wild raptor before.
We
leave for the Lake and a week’s vacation this morning. I wonder if the hawks will still be
here when we return.
7/27 – Back from the Lake, but no hawks spotted
yet. I have a feeling that once we
left and the feeders were not being filled their free lunch wagon disappeared,
and they’ve moved on to other sources of food. This is probably for the best as they need to learn to hunt
more difficult prey if they are to survive the winter.
Mid August – The hawks have definitely moved
on. We occasionally will see one
in the vicinity, but not inhabiting the yard on a regular basis as they were
before. Even though we miss
watching them on a daily basis, we know that developing a wider hunting range
is in their best interest.
Hopefully, this same pair
will survive the winter and use their tried and true nesting area again next
year.
Submitted by Gay Schroer,
World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer/Photographer
1 comment:
Fun to read! I'm jealous of your experience!
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