On July 29th, while walking to marching band sectionals practice, a stray bough sticking out of the small forest caught my eye. At the base of a fairly steep hill (for Indiana), I saw an odd, whiter nub, protruding from the dead stick. I shook my head and glanced around a bit self-consiously, (what would you do if you were walking up a hill, lugging a mellophone, soccer cleats, and a sheaf of music, towards what you probably thought was a bleached portion of a stick?) and then began trudging up the hill. Squinting hard, I decided that it was just an oddly formed branch. And then the nub's head moved. Feeling my jaw drop open and the load drop from my hands, I proceeded up the hill, until I was about 10-15 feet away from a magnificent juvenile Cooper. Not being well acquainted with identifying birds of prey, I memorised every sharp feature of the hawk while she nervously hopped from branch to branch, squeaking, bobbing her head, and eventually fluttering off. After marching band (an agonising 5 hours more of it) I dashed home an identified her.
To make a long story a good deal less exciting, I, after many days, discovered that she was not a fledgling but the mother (or father--how do you tell them apart?) and that she and the older father were raising a nest of vociferous chicks. Two days later, I found the nest. Three, and I observed the parents feeding a rabbit or groundhog to the invisible-as-of-yet chicks. Now, whether at soccer or marching band practise, I can hear whenever the parents are catching or are intimidating prey by the sharp whistles and cheers that echo onto the field. Does anyone have such an encounter? If so, please tell me anything interesting that you know about Cooper hawks. I'd love to know.
To make a long story a good deal less exciting, I, after many days, discovered that she was not a fledgling but the mother (or father--how do you tell them apart?) and that she and the older father were raising a nest of vociferous chicks. Two days later, I found the nest. Three, and I observed the parents feeding a rabbit or groundhog to the invisible-as-of-yet chicks. Now, whether at soccer or marching band practise, I can hear whenever the parents are catching or are intimidating prey by the sharp whistles and cheers that echo onto the field. Does anyone have such an encounter? If so, please tell me anything interesting that you know about Cooper hawks. I'd love to know.
