Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Raptor Wednesday

I surprised this adult Cooper’s Hawk bathing in the Sylvan Water, in the only patch that was un-iced along the water’s edge.
A couple of days later, in the same tree. The bird’s crop was bulging with a meal, and there was blood under the chin.
In addition to having the russet rippled chest as opposed to the streaky dark blobs of an immature bird, an adult Cooper’s doesn’t have much white on the back and wings.
Stropping the bill.

One response to “Raptor Wednesday”

  1. Beautiful…thanks for the photos.

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