Friday Sequence for the Bucket has had a great run. It’s time for me to move on. I will continue to contribute, but on a very random schedule. I appreciate all the support and interest shown by others in our community.
Here are some random sequences as a farewell.
Monitoring Cooper’s Hawks has been a passion of mine for over 4 years. I probably spend over 20 hours a week monitoring nests after a time of watching likely spots where Coops might hang out.
Here is a video taken just Wednesday of a female Coop preparing prey to feed her chicks.
Being able to understand vocalizations is important. Female, male and chick vocalizations are different . Hearing the ‘kik’ of a male brings my awareness that a prey delivery is imminent. Hearing the “kekk, kekk, kekk” of the female can be a request for food or with a different intensity, the warning for a crow to get out of the territory. The Whine of a chick, of course, means “I want food.”
I enjoy taking photos that are unusual poses. This Coop was perched on a branch behind the trunk checking out something it heard.
Having a Coop fly directly at your can be startling, especially if it is through a zoom lens.
Coops can give you the ‘eye.’ One leg is tucked into its breast. This is a male because the federal band is on the right leg. It would have a purple band on the left indicating it as a male.
Coops have rounded wings and a long tail making them very agile and able to fly through dense forests.
Some nests are very difficult to find. We only find them by watching the adults bring sticks to the nest, or if we miss one, by the young Coops branching nearby.
This is the closeup I can get with zoom lens and cropping.
The sign that a Coop is on eggs is the tail up in the nest. There is a ‘high brood’ and a ‘low brood.’ In a low brood, the Coop is on eggs. As the chicks hatch, to give them more room, she partially stands which is a ‘high brood.’
Sometimes the Coop shows just the head and eye. It’s a challenge to see a nest that looks empty, but after watching for ½ hour or more, see the female stand and shift before settling down again.
After about 10-12 days, the chicks are big enough to be seen over the rim of the nest. The white fluff is the youngest. When a black mask begins and darker feathers form on the head and back, and the wings show feather capsules not developed, the chicks are closer to 15 days old.
One nest that I am observing this year has five chicks. The male does all the hunting for the chicks, the female and itself. This female is H/E, a contradiction in terms ( a H/E being a she). She build a new nest this year in an area where a previous female lost her mate and abandoned the territory.
I’ll be keeping an eye on you as you comment and hopefully add some photos of your own.
It’s not good-bye. It’s just I’ll be seeing you later.