The Cooper's Hawk let her guard down at 8:15 p.m. this evening and showed me her nest -- neck-breaking high in a towering White Pine above my driveway. This ritual of hide-and-go-seek has continued for five weeks and she was far more successful than I. Perhaps she had grown to trust me and decided to share this intimate part of her spring season. I had not seen one of the hawks in two weeks but I hear one at all hours of every day. One of the pair (I strongly believe it is she) frequently gives a soft call that you would initially find difficult to be a bird and is usually well back in the thick canopy up the hardwood hillside above my terrace. Chris O'Bryan walked up the north ridge face and tried to see a nest a couple of weeks ago. Nothing could be found. Chalk this find up to Mike Poe ! He returned my cell call at 7:05 p.m. and we had bird book business to conduct on the phone for more than an hour. He was amused that I frequently gave him a play-by-play of her appearances and movements. First she flashed across the driveway well above the pavement and up the ridge into the woods. She made several flights between trees, always well back in the crowns. I could only see the flash of a large bird appearing in small openings. Mike and I talked about how difficult this possible nest had been to discover. But she eventually appeared well out in the open on a bare limb about 150 feet or so away. I had no binoculars. We talked on and she preened, stretched her long tarsus over the front of the limb and then dangled it in the back. She searched the woods and spread her tail. A titmouse and a chickadee showed up but stayed well away. They were noisy and she not interested. Shortly after 8 p.m. Mike and concluded our chat. I decided to stand her down. It was getting late in the afternoon. I managed to get to my binoculars and lean on my compact car. I acted like it was no big deal and did not try to move slowly or not make noise. She became more complacent. Less concerned. At ease with her surroundings and, I suppose, my presence. She was obviously ready to take flight and a few minutes later flew across to my row of tall white pines along the driveway. She then pitched up vertically and climbed easily to the highest part of the crown. I walked around for several minutes trying to get a look. Finally, I could barely make out the darkness of a nest almost to the point of imagination. THERE IT WAS! You would think I was seeing things. You would not be impressed. It would probably do nothing to satisfy your been there and done that drive. Chris and I had searched with binoculars from nearby roads and driveways but never were able to pick up a nest structure despite looking from more than a block away. Here are encouraging words from Rick Phillips of Kingsport who shared his thoughts in mid-May: This is just the kind of behavior exhibited by the Cooper's that were nesting over here at Oak Hill a couple of years ago. They would approach the nest tree and fly straight up to the nest, and then depart the same way. They were not vocal at all and I only remember hearing them call a couple of times. I never heard the young at the two nests at Oak Hill call for food. The young birds remained in the cemetery and usually within a hundred yards of the nest the rest of the summer. I would often see them near each other and when one moved a short distance the others usually followed. Don't remember the exact dates but you could search the archives for 2006 and get an idea of the time frames for nest building, eggs, and young. Rick His descriptions kept me focused and kept me hopeful. Thanks Rick! Now I have much of my summer birding ahead of me with mom and the kids. How rewarding. I've seen Cooper's Hawks nests before. I've captured adults from the wild. We have had climbers get the young and they have been banded and photographed. Now I have a "yard nest" on my list and much excitement ahead. Let's go birding..... Wallace Coffey Sullivan County Bristol, TN