Two walks so far this fall season and a Cooper’s hawk was seen on both. This bird, more often seen high in the sky or skulking in shrubs near bird feeders, may not be seen again this year. That is the unpredictability of birdwatching.

Mature Cooper’s Hawks have much streaking on the breast.

The thin, dark streaks indicate that today’s bird is a juvenile.

Other birds.

Species list: double-crested cormorant, Canada goose, mallard, Cooper’s hawk, killdeer, red-bellied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, American robin, yellow-rumped warbler, house sparrow, northern cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, house finch. (18 species)

Today’s group:

Park scenes:

Some botany:

Thanks to Brian Whitefield who sent me this:

NATURE POETRY

Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done:
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go      – William Blake (1757–1827) 

Miles Hearn