[Bristol-Birds] An old friend dropped by for a brief visit

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:30:48 -0500
I felt a warm and fuzzy feeling and began to smile
as she came up my long driveway, Wednesday.
She really looked good and seemed to be the
same as the last time I saw her.

I've missed her.

Cooper's Hawk came flashing thru the trees from
across the street.  Quickly she dashed among my
towering row of White Pines and headed for her
place in my world.

I didn't read too much into her presence until she
swept almost vertically over the upper terrace and
climbed steeply into the perch tree she had used
for many weeks last summer when she nested 
just out our side door.

Amazingly,  the big Cooper's headed for the very
limb she always favored and pulled up to that
special spot on the branch where she mostly
perched during the last long breeding season.

Nothing proves this is the same bird.  But the
odds are not that astronomical.  After all,
a Russian satellite and an American satellite,
each weighing half a ton, collided in space today
and splattered into 280 billion pieces.  There's
a better chance that a commercial airliner flying
south at 2:23 p.m. would crash into your house
and hit the front porch while you were painting 
the porch furniture.

The likelihood that this is the same bird is 
fascinating.  I did not discover her last year until
about the middle of May.  Thus I might be three
months ahead of her beckon to nature's calendar.

Has she moved to his nesting territory as early 
spring approaches ?  Does she occupy a small
annual range within his annual range ?

If her annual range is small, has she been here
all along and I just, by chance, was in the yard
when she was in the neighborhood and simply
stopped back by last year's nest site and perch
in response to an urge from old habits ?

Is last year's mate still in the area ?  Is he still
alive ?  Did he winter elsewhere at some 
distance or does his winter range overlap her
winter range along some edge ?  If so, did they
recognize one another at some significant 
distance or never encountered one another 
during winter ?

Is she part of his coming breeding season
equation ? If he did not survive the winter then 
when will a new mate establish himself here
with her.

Males normally stay near the nesting territory
and occupy it in early spring.  They defend
the nesting territory.  Males advertise
for a mate by soaring above the territory on
sunny days, among other gestures.

Females may use the same nest two consecutive
breeding seasons.  The same male will be with
her both seasons, in some instances.

Not a lot is known about all this.  I will learn little
more.  In the coming weeks I'll watch carefully
as time permits and maybe get another month
or two of first hand knowledge and enjoy the
experience.

Let's go birding. . . 

Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
[Bristol-Birds] An old friend dropped by for a brief visit

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