cooper's hawk

      Everyone asks me if we have had any wildlife sightings lately. My reply is.. not really.

However, just this morning, as I was walking through the yard, I saw a javelina up behind the fence on the hill. Just one, but I'm sure there were others, as they travel in packs. And now that I typed that, I remembered I saw four pretty large deer a couple of weeks ago. They were in front of a house around the corner, just munching away on their trees. I'm not sure if this counts or not, but yesterday I passed a flat rattlesnake that didn't quite make it across the road around the corner from our house too. So, now that I'm thinking about it..."why yes, I have seen some wildlife!"

Oh...and I forgot about that rat that interrupted my sleep a week or so ago! How could I forget that one!?? Maybe I've become used to these interactions that now I don't really think so much about it?
I better not be letting my guard down!!

As I was going through my photos, I saw this group of shots that I forgot about. Last November, I saw this guy out on the fountain in front. I looked it up and the best that I can tell, it's a Cooper's Hawk. I'm not sure if it is a male or female, but what I do think, is that it had a wounded leg. foot. claw? You can see how it held it up close to its body.

He (just because it looks like a he) sat there for about an hour. I periodically looked out the window and he was just there. Resting. You can see his eyes were closed.

Now open. Even though I was taking the pictures through the window, I think it could here the shutter click on the camera. He would sometimes even look my way.

                                                  It looks pretty peaceful here.

  Soon, he started looking out towards the driveway and the sky. I kept watching, at this point, wondering if he was going to take off. His foot was still tucked up towards his body.

                               He started to make a move and hopped over to his left a little.

               And then swoosh...faster than my finger could snap a photo...he was on his way out.

But, instead of taking flight all the way out, he landed here for a bit. Maybe contemplating his next direction or maybe the first small flight was just a test to see if all systems were go.

                             A subtle move made me think he was ready. Nope, he just sat there.

                                                                          Observing.

                                      He was looking back and forth with his foot still tucked.

 I missed the photo of it flying off. It sat there so long I had gone on with my day. When I looked back out it was gone. It was pretty fun to watch it for awhile that morning.

Yes...I guess I have had a few wildlife sightings. Just not as exciting as some. Thank goodness..


And yes, a little gentle wildlife is an ok thing.