From the mid-Willamette Valley we've had multiple reports of Cooper's Hawks
"mousing" by hopping along on the ground and chasing voles, usually in
grass-seed fields shortly after harvest when the voles are exposed by the lack
of cover.
The elder Richard Hoyer (not "Sr.," he and his son Rich have different middle
initials), a noted herpetologist and falconer, has reported Red-shouldered
Hawks "hunting" worms in bare fields around Corvallis in some recent winters.
He regards this as a desperation strategy in periods when other prey is scant.
You do what you gotta do to survive.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
