Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Wild America

This morning I was plugging along at work and saw a commotion in the tree. It was a large bird, but it wasn't black so I know it wasn't the usual crow. After I saw it hopping around a bit I realized it was a raptor... some sort of hawk.

In it's talons was breakfast. He was hopping around on the branches trying to keep a hold of his quarry and balance on the branch. Finally he found his center (ooom) and Mags and I watched as he defeathered his breakfast. First came the poofy downy feathers... then came the larger grey feathers. I'm not sure what it was.... but I'm guessing breakfast might have been a mourning dove or a mockingbird.

We watched from my office window for quite some time. It was as if Discovery HD was on in front of us.. in our yard! I snapped some photos and was pleasantly surprised that the images came out rather clear for being taken 40 feet away through dual pane windows with an eastern exposure at 7am-ish! :D

In speaking with my dearest friend Mandy, who is a Wildlife Biologist, she said it looks like a Cooper's Hawk! Apparently they are not commonly sighted in our area and since he was comfortable dining in our mulberry, he may come back. Goody! To view photos, click to enlarge!




1 comment:

Ann said...

Great pictures !

Couldn't have said it better....


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