> I worked from the house yesterday and enjoyed being able to watch the bird
> activity in the back yard. About 3:00 I glanced outside and noticed a
> very unusual feeder bird! There, on the top of my hopper feeder, was a
> gray raptor with a long tail! I have a large window above the tub that
> looks directly out at the feeder station so I crawled in there and peeked
> out the window with my binoculars at this beautiful bird. A Cooper's
> Hawk! The eye was so ORANGE! I have seen this bird high in a cottonwood
> and also as it streaked through my backyard hunting before but have never
> been priveleged enough to get such a close look at it. From the window to
> the feeder is only about 15 feet so I was able to get some GREAT looks at
> it.
>
> I decided that I should try to capture it on film so I crawled back out of
> the bathroom (I didn't want it to see me and fly away) and went running
> around looking for my point and shoot. I couldn't find it anywhere so I
> took the SLR in there and snapped off one quick photo. Then I noticed
> that I was totally underexposed! Rats! As I fiddled with the exposure
> the bird flew away! Oh well, I'll have enough proof to show it was
> actually there!
>
> Backyard birding - you've got to love it!
>
> Thank you,
> Cathy Wise
cathy.wise at attws.com
Marysville, WA