Hawks in da hood!!

Lost a bit after being hacked by some virus, but there are still some decent photos and I can always continue!

A Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) pair has moved into da hood!! When walking around my neighborhood, I’ve occasionally seen a hawk flying over, or heard one keening as it flew by, but usually several blocks away, maybe even a half mile. A couple of weeks ago, however, on my return home from bootcamp in the early morning, I happened to notice the silhouette of a raptor in a tree one block from my house. Since there was no traffic, I pulled off a little and watched…. it flew to the next tree and landed in a nest that I might otherwise have never noticed.

Last week I rushed home from bootcamp, pulled out the big lens and the tripod, tossed a windbreaker over my trainer uniform, and trundled off to the next block. Lots of people looked from their cars, one even asked in they were red-tailed hawks (I said yes because that was what I thought at the time – still learning!). An older gentleman on his bicycle passed and said he thought they were feeding babies already. I didn’t (and haven’t yet) seen activity other than the two adults on the nest, but I think he lives right next to it so there might be babies – how exciting!!! I can hardly wait until I see something myself.

One of the pair of Cooper’s Hawks, keeping an eye on me in New Orleans, LA, 2010-Mar-08

The other of a pair of Cooper’s Hawks, New Orleans, LA, 2010-Mar-08

I don’t think this pair of Cooper’s Hawks is doing what it might look like! Literally one landed on the other and then immediately hopped down to the branch beside. It may be a courtship thing though. New Orleans, LA, 2010-Mar-08

All photos © Amy Friends Stone and all rights reserved.