Hello Tweeters -

Pretty much every morning, the local Cooper's Hawk gets chased and accosted by our ever increasing flock of crows. This morning was no different except for the hawk's reaction.

Tide was out and the beach was covered in seaweed. The crows were hassling the Cooper's Hawk as it flew over the beach, diving at it and snapping all the way. All of a sudden, it was as if the hawk had finally said "Enough!". It began to chase the crows back, swerving and striking, until they all finally seemed to head off to a tree to regroup. The hawk, still seemingly in a foul mood, took off towards the tideline and went after three ducks just off shore.

Splash! as one duck went under to avoid the Cooper's hawk attack - it swooped around and did that two more times before it decided it needed a rest and landed on the beach. After sitting for about 3-5 minutes to "catch it's breath", the Cooper's Hawk took to the air again, strafed the ducks, strafed one of the GBH's (which squawked) further down the beach and the small flock of seagulls (which also squawked and ducked) feeding a little further down. It then landed again to rest a little longer before flying off over the trees and off to parts unknown.

It was as if the Cooper's Hawk was saying "And I hate you guys, and you are a big bully and you all drive me nuts too!" If only he could have shaken a fist, stamped a foot or blown raspberries, instead he had to settle for a strafing run down the beach.

All in all, a most amusing encounter! And this was while I was walking the dog, before I had even had a chance to have my first cup of coffee.

Happy Birding,
Whitney H.
Des Moines, WA