Description

I discovered this Cooper’s Hawk on the ground close to our feeder array. I ran and retrieved my camera (no time to use a tripod) and made hand-held exposures, of which this is the best. The bird held the mantling position for about two minutes, or so, turning its head only, scanning back and forth from left to right and back again. Suddenly, it stood up, folded its wings, and ran rapidly into the evergreen hedge seen in the background of the photo. Within a few seconds the hawk emerged from the far side of the hedge, streaking into the nearby woods with a prey in its talons. She flew so fast and near to the ground that I could not even confirm whether the prey was a bird or a small quadruped. My guess is it was a chipmunk.
Note: this is a second submission of the same photo. The first submission was not acknowledged, and my attempts confirm that it was received have been in vain.

Category

Week 14: Birds of Prey

Species

• Cooper's Hawk