Backyard and Beyond

Cooper’s Hawk near the bird feeders. But, as you can see from that bulging crop, already full.
Juvenile. As this bird ages, the chest will transform into russet bars. The eyes get oranger and redder with age, too.
The bird was perched at eye-level about 20 feet off a path. After someone walked by, without spooking the bird, I cautiously walked down the path, too. A few more people passed me as I took photos, including one with a leashed dog. Coop don’t care — which is unusual, since Accipiters are fairly jumpy birds. But you know how digesting a big meal slows you down. And, of course, the park is packed with people, so the bird has probably spent a lot of time around us.

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With much of the news entertainment corporations prostrate before Trump, and most Americans getting their information from little bursts of TV junk, it’s good to be reminded how fucking bonkers Trump is, and how his response to COVID-19 had been — and promises to continue to be — a disaster.

Also: Trump and his goons are trying to suppress a intelligence report that shows how the U.S. isn’t ready for a pandemic.