Happy Return

 The other morning a juvenile Cooper's Hawk stopped over.

He was looking around, shouting once in a while, and cleaning the feathers. He was relaxed and spent a long time here.

"I am a juvenile hawk.  Now that I landed here, everyone is gone and hiding."🥲

"I can shout loudly.  Everyone, please come back here."🙂

"This is my back.  Since my back does not have 

bluish grey color, I am not grown up yet."♥️🌸🌷

On a Warm Day

 My old PC crashed during the ice storm.

Now I am using a new photo editor with another PC.   It can make a photo more clear, but the filing system is a bit hard to use.  Technology changed too much, so it takes time for me to get used to it.😰😟🦜

The other day I saw a crocus in bloom in my front yard.  This weekend is Chinese Spring Festival (Lunar New Year).   I already celebrated mine on Jan 1, though.  

On a warm day, even squirrels were enjoying sun bathing.

"I cannot move away from this warm spot."

A Spotted Towhee was taking a bath.

"I am going to get cleaned today."

A young Cooper's Hawk came here to see me.🤩

(Sometime ago, the old hawk was scared of me walking around in the backyard.  

He quit coming here.😢)

"I am new around here.  Are there any meal for me?👀"

(Cooper's Hawks are known to frequent bird feeders.)

A Fall Day

 Last week schools started around here.  I saw many school buses going and school kids waiting for the buses.  In my front yard, Roses of Sharon is in full bloom. 😊

The bees are busy collecting the nectar. 😋

At the wetland, I saw a Cooper's Hawk early in the morning (I rarely see one there, though.)

"I see some bushes changing the colors to orange.  

It's fall and tonight is the full moon🌕. "

Return to Backyard

 Cooper's Hawks returned to town from the woods where no food is available now.  On a sunny fall afternoon, I saw one hovering high in the sky.

"I feel so good!😊"

"On a nice day like today, it's ok to fly 

together.  Usually we bully each other, though."

"Who could be a better flyer?"

A Surprise Visitor

Hawks often visit my backyard during winter, but not in summer. The other day my husband saw one diving behind the back fence.   So I went out and sat halfway hidden under the patio.  For a while nothing happened.

Yet, a House Sparrow's warning call, chi, chi, chi, chi, went on.  I sat still....  Then suddenly jumped out of the rhododendron bush was a Cooper's Hawk.

"No luck here."

And off he went to another location.

Welcome Back #5

In the fall, hawks returned from Alaska.  Cooper's Hawk is one of them.  One day I was looking  toward the backyard, then this one just landed on the fence.

"I thought I heard all the tweets.  Now everyone fled."

"I am back....  Come on out, friends."

Return of Predator

Lately I had not seen a hawk, maybe because they know I hang around outside on and off.  Then as I was slowly and quietly tiptoeing back into the inside of the house, a hawk jumped onto the fence from my veggie garden area.  It was a Cooper's Hawk.  I stood still and was  ready to take quick shots.  Since I was dressed in black, he did not notice me.

"Is there any more little birdies left here?"

"I'm still hungry."

"I need to see you.  Come on over..."

Sunny and Cold

A clear sky for a week  means to be very cold,  around 17 degrees F (15 degrees below the freezing).  But something good happens on a nice day:    

1)  A beautiful sunrise

2)  Cooper's Hawk perched at a nearby maple tree branch for a good snapshot.

3)  A Bushtit came and said hello.

"Hi, I like your suet."

Forest Fire

Due to the dry summer months, many forest fires are going on.  The careless use of firework have caused the closest one,  which now sends ash to the Portland metropolitan areas.  My backyard received a lot of fine ash particles on the vegetable leaves and bird bath water, etc.

The sky is hazy with the ash for several days.  I hope the ocean wind will come to clear the sky soon.  Meanwhile birds are doing ok.  A young Cooper's Hawk stopped by a couple of times.

"I don't like the smoky sky,   I just came here from the north

where I was born.  My mom told me to live here."

A Gentle One

Last week it rained most of the time.  The only lucky surprise was to see a Cooper's Hawk landed on a wisteria branch one morning.

"Everyone took off.  I just wanted to see little birdies."

Believe it or not, this hawk has a gentle eye expression, quite different from others I've seen.  Is it because this one is a female?

Here is a photo from the other side:

"Yes, I am a gentle kind.  Trust me."

Two Generations

Cooper's Hawks frequent many backyards with bird feeders.  One afternoon when I was watching the birds behind the camouflage curtain, one matured Cooper's Hawk just landed on a pear tree branch and came out to the metal feeder in front.

"I am a matured hawk with the bluish gray back and red eyes.   

Even an experienced hunter takes time to find some food."

Another day I saw one surveying the backyard from a branch of the maple tree.

"I just heard a tweety bird.  I am immature 

with the brown back and yellow eyes."

"Wow, someone is down there."

Close to Autumn

Close to the fall, predators will return to this area.


A beautiful sunrise:

A returnee, Cooper's Hawk, perched at a favorite look-out spot:

A morning hunting a few days later:

"Darn, I was just about to catch a noisy wren.  I need more practice."

A Winter Scene

Now that food is scare out in the field, a predator returned to town for food.  Everyday I look out my patio sliding door to see what birds are here.  There it was, a bold, familiar predator, Cooper's Hawk.

"Bad weather brought me here today.   A hungry day."

"Did I hear someone out there?"

He stayed on the feeder iron for sometime.  When the large rain drops started pounding on the ground all of sudden, he took off toward a neighbor's huge Sycamore tree to get a cover.

Chilly Morning

The morning temperature was down to 48 F, although the daytime temperature still climbed up to the 80's. Cabbage Butterflies float around my veggie patch.  One landed on a flower for a very short while.

"I still like the lavender juice.  Slurp, slurp..."

With the cold morning temperature,  a predator already returned to town.  He/she just landed with the wings wide flapping on the neighbor's backyard.  Upon seeing it, I sneaked outside and waited.  A squirrel stayed frozen for a while.    Just about to give up, I saw a Cooper's Hawk hopping up onto the neighbor's shed.

"No one is here."

"Next time I will grab one."

Hawk's Tweet

A cloudy day.  After several days of hard rain, birds were very happy to fly out this way to peck on their favorite suets.   When little birds make a lot of commotion, in comes a Cooper's Hawk.

"I've seen many little birds a second ago."

"Tweety birds,  why not come out to

 play with me?," tweeted the hawk.

A High-pitched Warning

Lately when the sun comes out, I am on the patio sitting on a small gardening box with a camera, leaning onto the house where it is still shaded (in a sense, I am half-hidden).

Suddenly I heard the house sparrow's high-pitched, continuous chi-chi-chi-chi,-chi.......  I looked in the direction where the warning came.  There I found a young Cooper's Hawk just landed on top of the fence next to the blueberry bush, scanning the surrounding area.

Wow....I began to shoot photos, hoping the hawk does not see me.....

"I am starved."

Right then one of the neighbors started making noise in their backyard and scared off the hawk to somewhere else.  Surprisingly after a few minutes, it returned and even landed on the bird bath which I had never seen one there before.

"I just need to have a tasty bite right at this moment."

And then it came down onto the ground to thoroughly check it out for any victim.  But to my relief, every little bird was wiser and did not make even a wee little tweet.

"Being young, I didn't have much of luck today.  

Ta, ta, I am off to a better hunting ground."

Ready for Winter?

Ready or not the seasons are changing.  I can feel it in the coldness of the early morning air, and in the changes that have been taking place in birds.

Goldfinches have changed into their winter coat.  Their beak is already dark; their coat less bright; the black top of the male is almost gone.

 "I now have less conspicuous coat, which will protect 

me from predators when the leaves are fallen."

Rufous Hummingbirds are getting ready for their migration flight to the south to spend a warm winter.  Before the long flight, they have to fatten up.

"I will be leaving in a couple of weeks."

Some birds do not migrate, but just return to the lower elevation to spend winter.

Song Sparrow:  "I just got back from the woods."

Lo, behold!  Someone else is back, too.  Here comes a Cooper's Hawk.

"I am on the trial run today.  I checked all over inside 

these apple, plum, and pear trees."

Nature's Rule

A cold-blooded murderer!  I thought when I witnessed early this morning, but it is only a Nature's rule.

Around 7:40 AM in the Pacific Time (still somewhat dark) it happened.  One bird was drinking at the bird bath by itself.  No one else was around.  Too early in the morning.  Near freezing, the bath water was mostly frozen but a little bit around the corner,  where the bird was drinking for an unusually long time.  It must have been very thirsty or somewhat ill.  I started worrying about a possibility of a predator.  But bushes and hedges are nearby for safety....

At that very moment, out of the left corner of my vision, a meter above the ground, a hawk dashed straight into the bird, nailed it, and flew off in no more than a second!!!  The remaining was a couple of blood stains on the edge of the bath, nothing else.  Wham.....


Victim:  a House Finch, male and probably old

"I am not the victim.  But I will keep it in mind to 

stay alert and do not stay at the bath too long."

Predator:  Cooper's Hawk

"I need to eat, you know.  I do not waste my food 

and appreciate food every bit of it."

Witness:  Backyard Owner

"Yes, I understand.  Nature has to be kept in balance,

 including the population of all the living things."

Grown Up

Yesterday I saw a matured Cooper's Hawk.  Through the fall months, he was still a juvenile with yellow eyes and brownish back feathers.  Now in January, his appearance has changed.

Let me introduce to you a fine grown-up Cooper's Hawk. Ta, da,......

"I am a good looking, but hungry hawk."

"Now, down to a branch to better

scrutinize the surrounding."

"Anyone around here?"