Cooper’s Hawk

I’m so glad that different species of birds are showing up in my backyard. The one I photographed yesterday was a bonus because I was done for the day with my camera equipment such as my tripod, lenses, camera etc. I put everything away. When of a sudden this Cooper’s Hawk I see it standing on my deck railing it was definitely a surprise. Grabbed my camera, changed lenses, made adjustments and started shooting. I shot a whole series of pictures. Until it flew to several locations and the disappeared from my sight. This morning I went down there to the creek and found a bunch of feathers, seems like the victim was a Mourning Dove.

19 thoughts on “Cooper’s Hawk”

jmgoyder on March 31, 2012 at 8:12 am said:

Handsome fellow – poor dove!

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- avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 9:24 am said:
  
  That’s life in the wild! 🙂
  
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Beedie on March 31, 2012 at 8:22 am said:

Absolutely Gorgeous!

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- avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 9:25 am said:
  
  Oh Yeah! Raptors are all very handsome! 🙂
  
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bayphotosbydonna on March 31, 2012 at 9:40 am said:

That’s just what happens often to me, put equipment away and then an op appears that I almost stumble over my own two feet trying to set up and shoot, LOL. Seems I’m getting better and better at it every time with all the practice. You did, what beautiful shots, well done!

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- avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 9:47 am said:
  
  Thanks Donna! Don’t worry about it, when you photograph birds everything is unpredictable and you have to keep your cool in order to think fast for the next move. You’ll get better with practice. 🙂
  
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H2O by Joanna on March 31, 2012 at 11:20 am said:

hawks and eagles…my favorites… greatly captured HJ

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- avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 11:21 am said:
  
  Thanks Joanna! 🙂
  
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tootlepedal on March 31, 2012 at 1:08 pm said:

Great pictures.

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avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 1:10 pm said:

Thanks Tom! 🙂

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Derrick on March 31, 2012 at 2:29 pm said:

A Cooper’s Hawk for you too, eh? My sighting and photo op happened just a little bit down the road from where I live. 🙂

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- avian101 on March 31, 2012 at 2:32 pm said:
  
  The Hawk came to me! 🙂
  
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Karen Chandler on April 1, 2012 at 11:12 am said:

Great photos, H.J.! What a great opportunity to have him perch on your deck!

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- avian101 on April 1, 2012 at 11:19 am said:
  
  Thanks Karen! “Things happen everyday, I just open my eyes and become a witness” 🙂
  
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Scott on April 2, 2012 at 12:21 pm said:

Mourning doves seem like such easy prey.

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- avian101 on April 2, 2012 at 12:34 pm said:
  
  The Mourning Dove in presence of danger, by instinct remain static, no movement to blend with the background. (Most animals see only when there is movement!. The M. Doves mechanism works most of the times but Hawks know about this and then it becomes a game of how long can you hold without blinking? So when the hawk approaches the area where he saw the dove last, the dove panics and move. End of story!
  
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  - Scott on April 2, 2012 at 12:38 pm said:
    
    Ah, cool.
2me4art on April 6, 2012 at 4:46 pm said:

Very lucky!!!! Great shots.

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- avian101 on April 6, 2012 at 5:07 pm said:
  
  Thank you! 🙂
  
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