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July 15, 2014
what indeed is for dinner? Or, rather, for breakfast?
This morning I looked up from my orange juice to see one of the juvie hawks in the cypress right outside my window. He was eating his breakfast too!
I walked outside to get a better look, and took several photos. He was in no mood to leave his meal! In frame 6, he appears to have dropped the last piece, and searches for it in the last frames.
Hey! Wait a minute! What in the world is the little hawk eating? Let's take a closer look!
Wow! It's a bird leg with long talons, and it's almost as big as a juvie hawk!! After close examination and conferences with friends at Raptor Central and Birds of Texas Facebook, the majority opinion is: Prey is grackle. Whew! Thank goodness! And there are plenty of grackles to feed a family of hungry Cooper's hawks! Hmmm? But I thought grackle legs were dark brown, almost black?
All the same, this evening I kept walking out to try and get a count. I will just feel better knowing all four fledglings are still safe and sound.
July 16, 2014
This morning I continued to walk about under the cypress trees and nest tree to see what the fledglings were up to... and to get a count. Suddenly two of the young hawks flew across the canal and up onto our rooftop, one chasing the other. Then, in one of the cypress trees I located two more, moving about from limb to limb. That makes 1-2-3-4!! All four fledglings are accounted for. Now I can breathe easier!
Continue to Chapter 24: Always Hungry
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