I stopped by the Cooper's hawk nest near Matthews Beach in north
Seattle today while bicycling on the Burke-Gilman trail. I haven't
been by there for a couple of weeks so it was interesting to stop and
watch on my way out and then again on my way back since the babies are
out of the nest.

The fledglings were very vocal as they called to each other and their
parents from various trees in the area. Lots of short flights but none
very far from the nest. One flew over to the other side of the trail
and got into some kind of ruckus with a crow before returning to a
branch closer to the nest. There seem to be three fledglings but maybe
another one in the nest. Hard to tell.

Whenever there was any activity right by the nest (adult or baby
leaving or arriving) a hummingbird would come over and circle the nest
clicking away for a couple of minutes. Not sure what the problem was
there. ;-)

The nest can be easily viewed from the Burke-Gilman trail just after
it crosses over Sand Point Way when traveling south. It's in a tree
right near the Great Blue Heron nests if you're familiar with where
those are located. Just listen for the baby hawk chatter.

Craig Kerns
Lake Forest Park
http://troublebound.smugmug.com