Cooper's Hawk on the West Campus

I was walking the perimeter of my workplace, the West Campus of Modesto Junior College, when I spotted the fourth hawk species of the new year, a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). It joins a list that includes the Red-tailed, the Red-shouldered, and the Swainson's. The campus is a good environment for hawks, as there are a lot of open fields full of ground squirrels, snakes, and other food sources.

I saw this Cooper's Hawk a few times last year in the grove of trees on the east end of the campus near Carpenter Road, but I usually wasn't able to get many good shots. I took twelve shots today, but ten of them focused on the branches in the foreground (yes, I know there is a manual focus on my camera, but I didn't have time). I liked how this one turned out, though. Cooper's Hawks are very similar to Sharp-shinned Hawks, but I don't think I've seen one of them yet (although I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I've photographed a few and misidentified them).

First Bird of 2019: A Cooper's Hawk! What was yours?

Of course I'm crazy, but there was a reason. We've got three cats in the house right now, and they have needs...at 5:45 AM. I tossed and turned for awhile after dealing with them and was wide awake, so I decided to make a first bird search for the new year. The sun was not yet up at 7 AM when I started looking for birds, expecting to see doves or crows or mockingbirds. Much to my surprise, the first bird I saw was not an overly common sight: a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). It was perched in a deodar tree near the trailhead for the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail where I make most of my birding ventures.

What was the first bird that you saw today?

Cooper's Hawk at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

We were fighting the crowds at a couple of shopping centers in Turlock, saw that the sun was sinking in the west, and just simply decided we wanted some peace and quiet. The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge was just 15 or so miles to the south (specifically the Bear Creek Unit). We headed out of town and drove to the auto-tour and slowly crept along the road. The pools were all dried up so no migratory birds were present in that part of the refuge, but we did see a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) perched in the trees along the east edge of the trail. The Cooper's is similar in appearance to the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but the tail was distinctive enough that I went with the former as an ID.

Those red eyes are intense!

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk on the Tuolumne River

I'm never going to catch up, which is fine because it's better to have lots of material than to not have any. I'm still plowing through my bird pictures from Hawai'i, but I've since been to Washington and Oregon, with a rest stop at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of birds! But then I've been home for a week, and I went walking along my short stretch of the Tuolumne River. And more birds have been appearing! I've added three to my river trail list, for a total of 52 species (and I know there are many more). In any case, I was walking by a thicket of elderberry shrubs near the sewage treatment plant (as I've said before, not as bad as it sounds), something caused me to look back, and I realized I had strolled right under a juvenile Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). It had let me wander within 15 feet without startling.

The adult Cooper's Hawks are more gray in color, with reddish eyes. The species is similar in appearance to the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but I'm calling this one a Cooper's because of the rounding of the tail feathers (the Sharp-shinned tail is more squared off).  The species can be found across the entire United States and Mexico, as well as southernmost Canada.

We stared at each other for a few moments. I didn't move closer or anything, but eventually it grew bored with me and wandered off.

Cooper's Hawk on the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail

The press of a new semester and other complications have kept the birding expeditions to a minimum of late, but I got down to the Tuolumne River today to check on the progress of the Tuolumne River Parkway trail. It's going slowly, but there have been some improvements at the western end at Reinway Park. With the stairway access completed, it's now possible to walk a loop instead of out and back.

I didn't see all that many birds, but I think I saw the same hummingbird three different times. I was concentrating on getting pictures, but I had that feeling that I was being watched, perhaps in the way I was watching the hummingbird. It took a while, but I finally saw the hawk perched in the oak tree on the slope above. To the best of my knowledge it was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk (the "best of my knowledge" is a limited thing; it could have been a Sharp-shinned Hawk or other species)

This Cooper's Hawk patrols the section of river between the water treatment plant and the stairwell. I say so only because I've seen this particular hawk a half dozen times, generally around the same three or four trees. It's certainly not a bad environment for a Cooper's, as there are many small birds (their main prey) living in the underbrush along the river.

The River Trail is certainly looking different these days. The trees are barren of leaves, but the grass is thick and green. It's been a while since things have been green like this. We have a few more storms on the way, and it would be nice if we could have an above-average year. The birds would appreciate a bit more growth along the river too.

Cooper's Hawk near Dry Creek in the Sierra Nevada Foothills

I'm digging into the archives today for some of my favorite shots from the last year. Last March 30, I was doing my daily walking north of Waterford at Dry Creek. There is a chick-processing plant north of the creek, and whoever lives next to it has their own little golf course. They left a dead tree standing next to a pond, and on that day I saw a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) for the first time.

Cooper's Hawks are said to be notoriously difficult to distinguish from a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), and I admit to feeling not completely confident in my identification here, going mostly by the rounded tail feathers. I'm open, of course, to gentle correction.

Cooper's Hawks generally feed on smaller birds, and they are expert fliers in heavy vegetation. They'll occasionally take small mammals as well. They range from southern Mexico to just north of the Canadian border.

It was a gorgeous bird. I felt lucky to get so many close up shots (from 80 yards away!).