Someone else is watching my feeders, too

Just as Mary got to watch a Cooper’s hawk near her house yesterday, I had the thrill of watching one watching my feeders.

I couldn’t see it until I uploaded the photos, but this one has yellow eyes, meaning it is a juvenile. The streaking on the breast also shows an immature hawk. As they age, the streaking becomes more reddish and is more “barred” than streaked.

This is the second year I have seen juvenile Coop’s in our yard. I would love to find the nest!
That darn red twig got in my way. My trees are showing signs of growing new branch tips.
In the upper left corner, you can see the hawk watching my feeders on the lower right.

It took off without a meal today. A chickadee was giving it royal hell from our crabapple tree, and one actually flew up to the tree right in front of the hawk ans started yelling at it. Pretty bold for a smaller bird…I have read that songbirds will torment the larger hawks like red-tails but will leave a Coop or Sharp-shinned alone, instead taking on a “sleeking” posture and sitting still.

Last night, we stopped at the VOA park right before dark to see any cool birds. All we saw was a red-tailed hawk and alot of rain. The girls like to hold my binoculars and “bird” with me.