Today there are about 40-50 Evening Grosbeaks hanging out on a cluster of
vine maples and eating the seeds. A bunch more are scattered across several
bird feeders in the neighborhood. I sat for awhile and just watched the
grosbeaks as they chattered and fed. Suddenly a Coopers Hawk came full
throttle across the road. The Grosbeaks flushed with an incredible cacophony
of sound and Chaos of flashing wing bars. The hawk got into the midst of the
flock and..sort of floundered in midair, it looked as if it went sort of out
of balance in the air, tilted one way then another and its head waved back
and forth. The hawk passed through the flock without touching any of the
grosbeaks, then turned around and rapidly pumping its wings went after the
birds. I limped down the road as fast I could to get a look and by the time
I got there the hawk had risen up and was circling, as if searching. The
hawk made a pass overhead then headed north out of view. It was then I
noticed that the cedar tree I was standing next to was full of grosbeaks,
all very quiet, all below 10 feet and well covered by the thick branches.
The Grosbeaks stayed in hiding for 10 minutes and I had to leave so I didn't
see how much longer they stayed from eating.



Rob Sandelin

Naturalist, Writer, Teacher

Snohomish