Two reports:

I was walking through Volunteer Park, Seattle this morning at 8am and
pretty much concluding apart from the residents there was nothing of
interest in the park.

On the east side of SAAM there was a large clearing with several
American Robins on the ground feeding and a quick scan showed a
single Varied Thrush amongst them (Peterson says they rarely
group ... I guess for earthworms they will).

Whilst watching it the robins gave an alarm call and disappeared and
three dark birds flew through. Two crows and ... something else crow-
sized but not a crow.

The usual problem of trees getting in the way but in the rather low
energy chase the bird appeared and showed the shape, the wings and
white terminally banded tail of a Coopers Hawk.

It then perched in a tree with some minor harassment from a pair of
crows (not the usual mob behavior ... because they're paired and nest
building?) where I got another look of the tail and the head (but not
the chest which perceived to be whitish ... a juvenile still?)

Then it headed back out over the SAAM to try again for breakfast.

----

Last Wednesday I saw an adult Coopers Hawk on Federal Ave E (south of
Aloha) in the trees along the bank of Lowell school playfield last
week at midday.

Another of those "crows in flight were one of them looks different"
as two of them flew a phugoid and up into a tree branch. The Coopers
sat there for a while (this is perhaps 10 feet AGL) looking around. A
very sharp looking Coopers: flat head with very dark top of the head
with a sharp boundary; bright orange breast and belly. It looked very
fresh (new moult perhap?) and slender (but that might just be a bulk
issue). The local crow pair moved it on (again not raucously but
following it as it moved on it) and the hawk seemed rather
nonchalant. Not sure if this one was making an attempt on an adult
crow or perhaps a rodent on the ground (and the crows were incidental).

I mention this because over the winter I've seen at least two
"resident" Cooper's on and off around Broadway (pigeons are the Fast
Food!). In previous years Coopers have nested on Federal and in the
Park.

So is this one of our residents or just moving through. No sign of
any activity at the tree they nested at last year. Yet.

----

Same time I also saw two adult and one immature migrating(?) Bald
Eagles (soaring and heading north), one migrating(?) Turkey Vulture
(soaring and heading north), two migrating(?) Red Tails (soaring and
heading north) and one large falcon species (in same bin view as a
closer Red Tail for a size comparison) soaring and heading northwest
(Queen Anne? Discovery Park? Ballard?). I presume the latter is
probably a Peregrine from shape and size.

There was a fair amount of convective cloud that day so ideal weather
for soaring.

Watch the skies :-)
--
Kevin Purcell
kevinpurcell at pobox.com