As I walked toward a brush pile yesterday at my favorite marshland park, I flushed a bird. It flew to a a nearby tree and perched. Slowly I moved closer, hoping to get a better look at the bird, which seemed pretty large, though not as large as the eagles, ospreys, and hawks that I occasionally see at the park.
I took a series of shots and was disappointed at first that the head was not visible in any of them—the bird was hunched over and facing the opposite direction. Upon closer examination, I was thrilled when I noticed a bright yellow eye in one of the shots. That yellow eye and the long, rounded tail suggest to me that this is an immature Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, adult Cooper’s Hawks have red eyes, while juveniles have yellow eyes.
The young hawk’s face is partially hidden in the image and the background is cluttered, but I am excited that I was able to capture an image of a species that I knew lived in the park, but that I had never before seen. Leaves are starting to fall from the trees and I hope that I will be able to spot more birds as the density of the foliage decreases. I can hear so many birds as I walk about, but so often they remain hidden from view.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I wonder if it had seen a rabbit in that brush pile.
The face might be partially obscure but you’ve captured that eye pin sharp and the detail of pattern and texture in the tail feathers. How interesting that the eye colour should change so dramatically with age.
Good catch, Mike! This hawk looks relatively small, compared to say a Red-tailed Hawk. Perhaps you should call him “MINI Cooper!” 😉
Love the “MINI Cooper” line, Walter. That my kind of humor! In fact, this hawk did look a whole lot smaller than the Red-shouldered and Red-tailed hawks that I see from time to time at HMP.
Occasionally I see a peregrine falcon when I’m biking to work. Makes me wish I had a better quality camera to take pictures like yours. 🙂
You’d need a sidecar for your bike in order to carry “Bazooka Joe,” Mike’s BIG lens!