Cooper’s Hawk

Correction 10/08/2015: This is a Sharp Shinned Hawk and Not a Cooper’s Hawk!

Young Cooper’s Hawk

The Cooper’s hawk is an accipiter that has adapted to life in what has been termed “the urban forest” of the northeast part of Albuquerque. Here, in a limited part of the city, their concentration is as great as in any of the “natural” habitats. What you see in this image is the type of environment in which you might see them.

Cooper's Hawk
Young Cooper’s Hawk

Those of you who have been regular readers here know of a rather prolonged encounter I had in August of 2014 with a young Cooper’s hawk. I had seen them passing through the yard sporadically before and after then, but I really became interested in them at that time. I kept waiting for another prolonged, intense encounter with one of these beautiful and impressive birds. A pair was known through the summer to have set up housekeeping at the arroyo at the end of the street, so I thought that sooner or later a young one might appear.

You can’t plan these things. This afternoon I was rushing around, trying to get some place on time. I had everything ready to go, and glanced out. Well, you can’t just ignore these wonderful things – any wonderful things – when they drop in, no matter how unexpected at the time. I hurriedly changed lenses, and made a few images.

I expect – perhaps I should say hope – to see more of this bird in the coming months.

4 Replies to “Cooper’s Hawk”

  1. Wonderful photo. It’s looking rather coy don’t you think? You can’t imagine how many times when I’m trying to leave the house or just get to my car, and the photo opts just delay me one after the other. It’s like I am OCD when I comes to photo ops.

    1. Hi, Tim. At this point, it was trying to figure out whether I was OK, or whether he should fly. It did stay for a bit.
      I agree – no photographer is going to leave a photo op behind. I thought, “If I’m late, I’m just late.” I think only other photographers can understand that behavior. 🙂 )))))))))

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