...a Cooper's Hawk is in the ice house.

Matty and I are housebound again today, so Rick (The Spotter) came home to say hi and pick up an extra hard drive. As he swept through the kitchen, he spotted a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk on the willow and grabbed the camera. I told him because of all his recent spotting activity I was changing his name from The Spotter to just "Spot." Spot is shorter and easier to write and will save me time with the blog (he just smiled, the joy of being a blog character). 

The Cooper’s Hawk, looking regal, surrounded by ice. 

The willow branches are drooping more than usual, and several branches have snapped. It doesn’t look like the ice will clear anytime soon, and more snow is on the way for Monday (more snow days from school? Matty will be happy).

Cute Junkies on the Loose!

Hello, I'm cute.

Hello, I'm cuter.

Hello, I'm Cutest!

There's no doubt the frigid cold and white snow make the snow birds irresistible.  Dark-eyed Juncos are nicknamed “snow birds” because they arrive in the autumn as the temps start to drop and stay until spring, when they return to their nesting grounds. This year, our Juncos arrived on November 8, 2008. Rick spotted them, living up to his nickname, The Spotter, and taking the coveted First Junco Sighting of the Year honor. In the winter, Juncos hang in flocks of six to 30 or more birds. Each flock has a dominant male, but I’ve not been able to identify ours. Juncos prefer to roost in evergreens at night and return to the same roost every evening.

In The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Autumn Journal, October 26, 1857, even Thoreau is smitten by the charcoal-hooded beauties and writes:

How often they may be seen thus flitting along in a straggling manner from bush to bush, so that the hedgerow will be all alive with them, each uttering a faint chip from time to time, as if to keep together, bewildering you so that you know not if the greater part are gone by or still to come.

New Backyard Bird, a Red-shouldered Hawk

As Rick (the Spotter) walked into the kitchen this morning, what did he see? A hawk staring at him through the kitchen door window! He immediately grabbed the camera and snapped off a quick shot.


Then he had Matty open the door slowly so he could photograph him using the monopod.


Let’s zoom in a little bit. Isn’t he a gorgeous, stocky bird? His colorful chest and bold black and white bars on his tail are very striking.



As he was looking over his new territory, a young Cooper’s Hawk flew up and perched in the same tree. The Spotter scores a twofer! Unfortunately, the Cooper’s Hawk was a bit skittish, so Rick had to retreat back inside to photograph him. Our greasy, grimy gopher gut windows didn’t allow for a crisp shot, but it works for me!

A juvenile Cooper's Hawk perches near the Red-shouldered Hawk.

…such a saucy minx.

A phrase taken from the movie, Love, Actually, it seems to fit this cutie pie.

...photo by Rick, the Spotter. This is 

one of my favorite female cardinal shots.