Thanks Vic, for that affirmation, but I have to say, I am not an expert ant
hawk i.d.  I think there is some chance this bird might be a Sharp-shinned
Hawk. I based my decision on what looks like a larger head, and perhaps a
larger bird, a longish rounded tail, and, probably a young bird as the eye
is still yellow and the coloring is brownish. The angle of view in my
pictures could be deceptive. I would expect an expert might even have more
to say.  I also hear some "kik" calls -I interrupted this birds meal and
got scolded!

Interesting that Blue Jays are getting hit-we have many of them this
year-sometimes 17+ at a time.  That is unusual where I live.

Cynthia Crawford

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On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 7:32 AM, Victor Henningsen <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Meant to post this earlier.  Last Friday morning, the 9th, we watched for
> almost two hours as a hawk calmly devoured a hapless blue jay underneath a
> feeder we hang from an apple tree.  We don't have a decent camera but were
> able to spend a good bit of time with binoculars and scope watching the
> event.  Based on white speckles on the scapulars, we tentatively identified
> the culprit as a juvenile red tail. But Cynthia Crawford's post and
> pictures this morning sent us back to our guides and field notes.  Based on
> a closer reading of bird behavior and feeding habits and a review of our
> field notes, we now believe what we saw was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk,
> particularly given that one mark we noted clearly was that the tip of its
> bill was dark, almost black.  The only remaining doubt is that the tail of
> the bird we saw didn't look as long as the guides indicate for the
> Cooper's. But Cynthia's pictures resemble the bird we saw and, bowing to
> her superior expertise, we'll revise our log.  We need to get a decent
> camera!
>
> Either way it was a dramatic event. Nothing left at the end of the meal
> but a few feathers — not even a stray bone. Felt bad eating breakfast while
> this was going on outside the window, but the  chickadees continued to
> frequent the feeder during the latter part of the feast, so we weren't
> alone.
>
> This listserv is enormously useful for those of us who are what might
> charitably be called "emerging birders."  Thanks to those who post to it
> and maintain it.
>
> Vic Henningsen
> Thetford Center
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
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