TheFoothillsForum

Thanks Toni!

At first, I thought it was a kestrel (aka sparrow hawk) by its behavior, but I have to agree, it looks more like a young red-tail hawk.

Sent the first photo to Dan Cooper of Cooper Ecological and he thinks it's probably a Cooper's hawk based on markings and body shape.

http://www.cooperecological.com/
"Daniel S. Cooper is the author of Important Bird Areas of California (Audubon California 2004), and is an authority on California bird ecology, identification and distribution."

But who really knows.

Nice pics, no matter what type of hawk.

Cool, thanks!

Here's the gorgeous bird I saw in Sunland Park a few weeks ago....almost a 100 percent positive that it's a juvenile Cooper's. Absolutely beautiful!

Simply beautiful. I've seen you staking out the trees with your camera!! Well done on capturing this one so nicely!

Not surprised at that....I'm usually out and about early in the morning, just after my husband goes to work. I saw our new neighbor again today, btw. Just like before, our little raptor caught me by surprise but I got off a few more shots than the last time and even better, I managed to get right beneath the branch she was roosting on, just about ten feet above my head. I was really surprised at how close she allowed me to get....she barely turned a feather even when I turned my Tammie 200-400 up at her, almost as if her curiosity ever so briefly got the better of her instinctual fear of humans:

I love the expression on that furious little face, the puzzled look in her eye as she seemed hard pressed to figure out just what sort of bizarre creature was jabbering away at her and invading her space. Moments after I took this, she zero'd in on a couple of youngling crows squawking like crazy from the other side of her tree...needless to say she kicked the livin' S@#! out of 'em!