Participant Photo: Cooper’s Hawk juvenile

This hawk spent the afternoon in our yard. He perched on the birdbath for a couple hours, patiently watching the little birds feeding in and under the bushes and even at the thistle seed feeder on the other side of the tree. Eventually, he took a bath and flew up into the tree where he perched, preening. He left some time later without incident. He came back the next day but much, much faster, barely missing me as I sat on the porch watching the many birds that exploded into flight at his entrance. Still, I did not see him catch a thing, although he returned to his perch in the tree to try again.