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 *Creature Kinships and Natural Affinities* Animal and Nature Paintings, Portraits and Prints www.creaturekinships.com MORE PHOTOS and ARTWORK: http://pbase.com/creaturekinships EVEN MORE PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/33836164@N03/ BLOG: http://creature-kinships.blogspot.com/ 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] > > **************************************************************** To post > messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your > e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list > owner: [log in to unmask] > ---------------------------------------------------------------- Web based > archives and subscription management are available at: > http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html > **************************************************************** **************************************************************** To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Web based archives and subscription management are available at: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html ****************************************************************