Standoff between Cooper’s Hawk and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
A couple months ago I noticed signs of a Cooper’s Hawk nest on the far wooded hillside above Coyote Canyon—whose trail I hike most days with dog. In the past week or so I’ve seen a lot of Cooper’s Hawks.
Female Cooper’s Hawk (with prey).
Today I saw two, each with prey in its talons. The first was a small sleek adult (a male, I feel sure) was perched in the open, fending off a brave attack by two tiny gnatcatchers. The second (a few minutes later) was a big female in the trees, whose occasional calls sounded a lot like a sapsucker.
[Note: I’ve edited yesterday’s “sapsucker” mention—I’m sure it was the same bird.]
I’ve lately seen at least one juvie Cooper’s circling. I’m sure the young ’uns have fledged. The adults’ behavior interests me. (Did the male bring the female the bird he caught? If so, why?) Most notable, today, was the difference in size of the adults: the female (as is not uncommon hawk circles) was nearly twice the size as the male.
It seems, at least, there are plenty of smaller birds about to feed the family.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Last evening, a fire broke out below the trail dog and I hike each day. No word on the cause (I suspect human carelessness), but it spread over about four or five acres before a quick response by firefighters—helicopters dropping water and fire retardant—doused the flames. Crossed the trail at one spot and left a scar on the landscape. Nonetheless, birds aplenty this morning.
Quite a few more species than usual for summer, in fact. Notable was the first Black-throated Gray Warbler in a couple weeks, I’d guess (and my first female), along with a Western Tanager, a Cooper’s Hawk with prey, the young Red-tailed Hawk again—and the clear voice of a sapsucker that I never caught sight of. (I suspect a lifer Red-naped Sapsucker, but I can’t be sure.)
Got up into the 90s (F). Not a whole lot of wind. Draught conditions, or so it seems (no rain in the ten-day forecast). Still there’s that will to survive.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Another cloudless day, with coolish temperatures early and hot temperatures late. (It’s a dry heat.) Lovely hike with dog—many bird species.
Northern Flicker (female).
Lots of fledglings out there. Chippies and buntings and (at home) California Quail chicks. The funnest occurrence was when, as we were hiking a high deer trail, a Cooper’s Hawk abruptly entered the picture—zipping downhill, low above the slope, into a sagebrushy area maybe 150 yards away.
As we hurried down in that direction, my GoPro’s battery ran out, so I replaced that thinking I’d missed my chance—but no. The red-eyed bird posed for a bunch of photos and a video. Despite a general upset in the little bird population. I could find no evidence that it’d made a kill.
(Later, I got a lovely photo of a lovely female flicker with tiny black hearts on its breast.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson
