Hi Tweeters!
This afternoon I heard the "kek-kek-kek" call of the Cooper's Hawk that
is nesting in the 8 acre woodlot behind my house, so I grabbed my bins
and went for a look. I flushed the male who had been making the calls,
and didn't get a great look. The nest is about 50-60 feet up in a fir
tree, and well hidden by foliage. The nest itself is not much, but a
collection of small sticks stuck in junction at the trunk of the fir
tree. Many of the sticks are alder, complete with catkins. It almost
looks like there was a designer doing the place up.... Presently, the
young bird that is there is near fledging, and the white down from its
youth is stuck to many of the sticks in and around the nest. I have been
frustrated for lack of a vantage point. Prompted by Carol Schulz's
question on eye color, I tried for another vantage point.

This time there was a young bird standing upright on the nest, and I was
able to get intermittent looks at it between the foliage. At first, the
eye color appeared to be blue-gray, but then I saw it from a different
angle, and it was a very dull yellow. Excited by actually seeing a bird,
I went back to the house for the scope. When I returned, the bird had
settled down for an afternoon snooze, so I had to stare at its
tailfeathers until it woke up. Through the scope, the eye color appeared
dull blue-gray initially. At a different angle, it was a dull yellow.
Near as I could tell, there was only one bird in the nest. It did appear
based on eye color, that there were two different birds. I think the
angle may have a lot to do with the perception of the color. With the
bird looking in my direction, it appeared blue-gray. On a side view, it
was a dull yellow.

I also observed the male make a food delivery of some bird. He did not
take it to the nest, but landed higher than the nest, and left
immediately. The female also made a delivery to the nest, a little bit
later. The vocalizations were interesting.

The male gave only one call - the typical "kek-kek-kek-kek" call. The
female, who was around but not visible most of the time I was there, gave
a call that sounded somewhat like a young crow food-begging, or a
Red-Shouldered hawk. It was totally different from the male's call. The
young gave a "peep-peep-peep" call similar to an Osprey. Based on calls,
there were two young, one of which is a brancher somewhere above the
nest.

Jamie Acker
Bainbridge Island,WA
Biowler1 at juno.com


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