Two West Seattle Cooper’s Hawk tales: First, Tom Furtwangler shares the top photo of a juvenile hawk spotted outside his Gatewood home – sighted by his wife, who happens to be urban-nature author Lyanda Lynn Haupt. Tom says it was there just a few minutes, and quotes Lyanda as saying, “I think it’s a male because it’s small for a Cooper’s, but that’s just speculation. It’s a hard time of year for newly fledged birds because they are just learning to hunt. I hope he makes it!” This provides the perfect lead-in to two other Cooper’s Hawk photos shared this week by nature photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker:
Trileigh explains:
The first photo shows a young Cooper’s Hawk practicing her landing skills on a snag in Lincoln Park, and although the second photo (a different young female) looks like she’s showing off her new jewelry, she’s actually just getting ready to scratch her nose.
She continues:
The bands they’re wearing were put on as part of an eight-year study being conducted to learn about Cooper’s Hawks’ nesting ecology and winter site fidelity. So readers should look carefully and see if they can find banded hawks in West Seattle! Sightings can be reported to the Washington Ornithological Society’s research page at wos.org/research — look for the instructions for “Accipiters and Merlins” at the top of the page.
Trileigh is now writing about her sightings, and celebrating “the beauty and power of next-door nature,” online here. She says her site “focuses on local natural history (especially Lincoln Park, of course!), and what we can learn both about nature and about ourselves from being attentive to the natural world in our backyards and beyond. Come take a look!”
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