Cooper's Hawk - 08 Oct 2020

Shortly before sunrise Yara and I were snuggling on the futon. I could barely make out the first sparrows of the morning. One looked like a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on the ground under the feeder, so I leaned over to grab the binoculars. In the time it took me to raise the glasses to my eyes the sparrow was replaced with a very large juvenile Cooper's Hawk! 

I quietly climbed off the futon, and moved the scope and Sony a7III into position and turned on the video recorder. It took off without any prey, so the young White-crowned Sparrow survived another day.

A short time later a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visited the feeder next to the birch tree, then flew to a branch overhead. I couldn't get the scope on it as it was blocked by the window frame. Grrr.

The day would see a steady stream of sparrows: White-throated, White-crowned, a Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhees, and Dark-eyed Juncos. The Pine Siskin would reappear, as well.

Brownton Abbey, 26340 Higgins Way, Wayne, Michigan, US
Oct 8, 2020 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM
Protocol: Stationary
8 species

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)  1     Came to the nectar feeder at just before 8 am, then perched on branch next to it and preened. Just outside back window! Female/juvenile.
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)  1
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  1
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  4
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  1
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S160213805

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)