[Bristol-Birds] Another neighborhood cuss fight ?

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'bristol-birds'" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 15:22:57 -0500
 

At daybreak Monday morning, as I was loading groceries into

my house ahead of pending serious weather developments,  a small

group of crows were fussing in my front yard.  I barely noticed.

 

Trying to beat the coming snowfall,  I was at Food City just moments

after they opened about 6 a.m.

 

The growing din of angry crows lured me to get my binoculars

from the car seat just in time to see the mob flush an unwanted

intruder.

 

Cooper's Hawk was put to wing and chased out of the maple

by the road but then turned towards the pines that line the long

driveway leading up to the house.  

 

Of all things,  Cooper's went to the middle branches of the same

pine tree where it (or another cousin) nested in the near tip top

six years ago.   Once in the pine,  Cooper's hopped branch to

branch upwards to where that May 2008 nest was located.

 

A few minutes later,  Cooper's flew to another tree about 30 feet

or so away and seemed to have little concern about the crows.

 

But the crows were again upset and began fussing and threatening,

 

Then they chased an adult Red-tailed Hawk from somewhere

nearby and, of all strange things,  Red-tail flew to the same nest

tree Cooper's had just inspected.  It landed on a branch very

near where Cooper's chose to land while fleeing the pesky

crows.

 

As if it was Cooper's mate,  Red-tail then hopped up

the pine limbs well into the crown where Cooper's had just

visited and near the nest location of several years ago.

 

None of this set well with Cooper's who began cackling

and set out on a dash into the top of the pine.  Cooper's

chased Red-tail out of the pine and across the street into

the city park and a big sycamore tree up Cedar Creek.

 

Red-tail gave a defiant scream from the park.

 

That did not please Cooper's who then gave chase after

Red-tail and they both went winging up Cedar  Creek beyond

my view.

 

Of course you are not interested in my bucket list of questions.

But I must share a handful for those of you who may:

 

1.     Is Cooper's in the vicinity of a nesting territory where

maybe it nested years ago and is coming back for

another breeding season ?

 

2.    If this Cooper's is one from the 2008 nesting pair,

was it just curiously (by habit) visiting where the former

nest site was after having made several hundred trips

up the limbs to feed baby Cooper's another season ?

 

3.     Was Red-tail going up the tree to seek out

Cooper's hawk and thinking to chase it out of the big

Buteo's present nesting territory ?

 

4.     Has Red-tail decided to nest in this same pine

tree and was going to remind Cooper's it did not own

the deed to the tree ?

 

5.     Or was this simply just a neighborhood squabble

that several neighbors got into a cuss fight about and

the crows were proudly doing their usual unfriendly

encouragement ?

 

I will let you know if anything develops that is worth

getting all worked up about.

 

Let's go birding . . . .

 

Wallace Coffey

Bristol, TN
[Bristol-Birds] Another neighborhood cuss fight ?

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