chapter 476

7/21/2017

My Cooper's Hawks

next generations

My Cooper's Hawks have made their presence felt in a special way this summer. They've been around here for decades but sparsely. This time the family of at least 3 maybe 4 have hung around quite a bit. They will hunt from different spots from the same tree or take up positions in different trees. Then in a somewhat coordinated fashion they will dive bomb on squirrels in a sort of cross fire.

They are ever wary and stealthy, quietly and constantly looking around in all directions for prey. They squawk and shriek to each other in some form of communication. Love to have them around.

This one is getting ready to flutter up to a higher branch. It's clever how they can hop around among the tree limbs dodging branches. If spooked they just flutter back to Colleen's higher pine trees for safety. These hawks are named after a member of the Cooper family member, a naturalist founder of the New York Academy of Sciences .

It was the Cooper family who founded Cooperstown, which we ironically visited this week. This from the Fenimore Art Museum. A review of native art and the Wyeth Collection, a lunch at lakeside, then to Ommegang Brewery to sample the local Belgian style beer (note that it was the Coopers who made wooden beer barrels - they are everywhere).

A visit to downtown Albany for a (free) bluesy concert by Grammy guy Joe Louis Walker was very rewarding. No Cooper relationship. Ran into 3 fellow retirees under this Egg Building at the Plaza performance. After the concert Joe thanked me for my photographing and compliments on his shirt and his Blues of the Month Club song.