Watch them scatter

[Jaedon]

So I was shooting out my back window as usual when all of a sudden the entire flock of everything that was sitting around the feeder simply scattered and disappeared. Within seconds I see a pigeon sized bird swoop and land below the fence line in my back neighbors yard. I quickly ran and got my shoes on and grabbed a hoodie that I leave by the back door just in case and ran out for a look grabbing my camera along the way. My first glimpse had him sitting in a pile of garbage behind the shed but when he heard me he swooped upwards landing on a post behind the next neighbor over's shed leaving me with the perfect shot.... although I would've preferred a better perch than a 4x4 but you take what you can get.

When PAul ID's the species I'll know what it is lol. I haven't even taken the time to look in my birding guide yet.

***EDIT*** ok I looked it up and I think it is a Coopers Hawk.

All shots are full frame ISO 400 1/100th at F8. I didn't have time to grab the flash so all are taken in natural / available light.

[Cassie1]

although I would've preferred a better perch than a 4x4 but you take what you can get.

I quite agree Jaedon, better that than nothing at all. Great capture.


Cassie.

[Knight]

Very good Capture indeed Jaedon, it would be hard to just choose one ,i like them all

[mn shutterbug]

Nice shots, all. Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. This looks like a kestrel (sparrow hawk) to me.

[Jaedon]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

MN - I thought Kestrel at first too having never seen one before but then I looked at some of Loupey's Kestrel shots on here and knew I was wrong. The colouration and the bars on the tail say Coopers hawk to me. But I'll still wait for PaulNJ to weigh in on it lol.

[mn shutterbug]

Jaedon, I believe you are correct. I just googled images for cooper's hawk, and yep, you got it. When your post first mentioned pigeon size, my first thought was kestrel, due to it being a small hawk. I've never seen a cooper's before, so I have no idea how large they are. The colors sure are similar. My apology for the mis identification.

[Loupey]

Great find, Jaedon. We have coopers here and I love seeing them. A sharp-shinned hawk also looks very similar to a coopers and is even smaller. Don't know the range of the SSH however.

Nice find and images either way :thumbsup:

[Jaedon]

Thanx Loupey.

The Sharp Shinned around here all migrated south in November. I saw a lot of them during the Hawk Watch with a few full time birders up here. I thought it was the same for the Coopers but I was apparently wrong. But I also saw the Sharpies at about 100 feet + so I didn't get a super view of them all lol. I would've been happy with either considering all I was really shooting up to that point was cardinals and a euorpean starling female lol.

Right place, right time, right settings.....for a change lol.

[paulnj]

As a person who logged well over 1000 hours watching hawks fly over.....

That's a first winter sharp-shinned hawk because if the chest plumage. SS has a redish tne to the blotchy streaks, while cooper's has darker fine lined streaks. They are very hard to tell apart though.

[Jaedon]

Thanks Paul.. I knew you'd be able to give me the details I needed.

BTW this little fella seems to have taken up residence in the area now. I have seen him fly by about 15 times in teh last 3 days. Neighbors have witnessed him catching mice and small birds and snacking on them. Apparently there's easy pickings and no competition in the area. I am hoping for another chance with a better perch next time. He seems to like a large pine tree not far from here so I am going to stake it out and see what I can get in the next few days.

[paulnj]

Sharp-shinned hawks are a more northern species and can handle cold better. As long as it can still find food, it very well may stay the winter until the snow becomes too much to hunt in. It uses the pine as a perch, shelter and place to sleep Don't scare it too much, or it will leave the area from too much preasure.

[karen m.]

congrat on the FP:thumbsup:

[Jaedon]

Wow thanks for the FP. First time for me in this forum I believe.

[Cassie1]

Congratulations on the FP Jaedon, well done :thumbsup:

Cassie.

[Canon_Bob]

Congrats on the FP! I look forward to many more from you!

[Knight]

Congrats Jaedon ,on the FP well deserved

[AmberC]

Great captures! We get a lot of the cooper hawks around here.

Amber