robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

With it being a 60's, partly cloudy day with a shower now and then the small birds were swarming the feeders for fuel to keep warm.
And the well stocked fresh food buffet attracted a hawk. It appears to be an immature Cooper's Hawk getting close to maturity, eyes are still yellow; back, wing & head feathers haven't turned blue gray but chest/belly markings are tending to horizontal. If any hawk experts can confirm or correct me I would appreciate it. This bird is too big to be a Sharp Shinned. Those boards in the fence are 5 1/2" wide and 6 1/2" cross piece to top putting this bird in the very large male to small/average female size range for Cooper's.

The small birds blasted off and the hawk landed on the old swing set looked around, went to the fence top on the east side of the yard and looked back for a while before leaving. Now here it is an hour later, the sun has come out and nothing but a few hummers have returned to the yard so far.

Canon 80D, Tamron 150-600 G2 @483mm, 1/2000 @ f/8.0, ISO-4000
under cloudy conditions and I had the zoom backed off hoping to get a few shots with wings spread, no luck at that
Processing in LrC, PS, Topaz Denoise and Sharpen AI

(Download)

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Another excellent shot, Bob! Unfortunately, ALL the birds know about good things to eat at Bob's place.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Great capture Robert. I think it's nice of you to provide nourishment for all the birds

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Thanks. The hawk must have left the area for a while-just had a murder of crows around that probably chased him/her away. Then the small birds came again and just now a bunch of doves where chowing down to get ready for sundown.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Thanks, a message to pass on from the small birds and doves: "We don't think it is funny. You are hereby canceled."

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Very nice.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Thank you

merrytexan Loc: georgia

great shot...you have such fun adventures with the birds right in your own yard.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Thank you, well in the long run I spend less on bird feed and making nectar for the hummers than I would spend if I drank and smoked.
So I get to take pictures of them, they get to eat and I also get to indulge my inner "too lazy to go chasing the birds to take pictures"
Our oldest son likes the flowers and plants I let grow up in clumps around the yard among the potted plants. He says it makes our yard more pleasant than just grass. When he is here he will often sit at a table in the back yard to study (2nd or third Masters, I lost count). He has a room here and we keep his cat, the Army sort of frowns on soldiers carrying a cat around to different bases with them.

merrytexan Loc: georgia