Bird Watching My Cooper Hawks

Egg from nest

A couple of years ago I started taking pictures of the water birds that appear around my sailboat. Then I would take pictures of the Pelicans flying along the Pacific Ocean by the bluffs or those trying to feed off the returning fishing boats. When there is a lot of bait in the water by the boat Terns, Grebes and Cormorants are here fishing too.

Getting ready to fly

The Grebes and Terns were new to me and the majority of people in the marina probably know the difference between a Sea Gull and a Pelican but not much more. 

Fledgling with downy featers

The populations of the Grebes vary here as they are migratory and they breed and nest in fresh water lakes in Northern California that have been effected by the recent drought. 

Long tail

Last year when walking my German Shepherd below the Korean Bell I saw a nice Red Tail Hawk in the tree and took several pictures with my Samsung Galaxy (gone to smart phone heaven). My Nikon had become retired and put away (it happen when you get old and outdated) but I had several lens so I got it out of the closet (It was never Gay) but it refused to work again. Cost to have tested was $250.00 so I bought another one just like it that worked for $90.00. 

growing up

When I was a preteen I had a BB gun and a Wham-o sling shot but I never shot at birds sitting on the power lines but once we took out a window in a garage on the alley of Tenth Street in Santa Monica.

 My arsenal also included a bow and arrow, several 22 rifles and a WW2 Bayonet. 

proud parent

I surmise now looking back that birds were pets and you didn't shoot them. My Grandparents (Father's) had a walk-in bird cage where they kept their aviary in the backyard on Vermont (Los Angeles Born) In Santa Monica where I grew up the next door neighbors had a walk-in aviary between their garage and rear house cottage. How cool were these bricklayers (they built brick walls) that Harry Junior had a room full of trophies from Motorcycle racing and sailboat racing. These hulls were wooden (before fiberglass) and his fore decks were parquet and so very pretty.

in the nest

So recently I observed a pair of Cooper Hawks building a nest in a eucalyptus tree high up in the fork of the tree. The parents to be were stripping off small branches from the pine and gum trees. There is a small park below Fort MacArthur on a small hill side slope. Lots of people use the path for walking and biking. The downside is so do the homeless. Actually Richard Henry Dana lived close by where his Hide House when he was living here. There is a plaque in the Fort bearing his presence.

nice tail feathers

I had been walking below the small park and would often take pictures of all the small birds and the butterflies. Then I noticed that the small birds but not the humming birds had changed locations, they had moved out. Cooper Hawks are bird eaters and have long tails and shorter wings to fly within the trees when hunting prey.

My interest in birds took me searching the local library for Bird Guides and I borrowed several books, also bought two guides off of E-Bay. 

It is very hard to see the Cooper's in the trees because there frontal plumage blends in with the trees. A Cooper builds barrels and Captain Ahab would have had a few working for him but back in the time of Audubon (painter and bird shooter) there was another bird watcher named Bonaparte and he named the Hawk Cooper for a friend.

young pair

Animals have Greek or Latin names and birds are not without exception so we have: Accipiter cooperii.