You may recall that I discovered a pair of Cooper's hawks building a nest
across the street from my house in Hollin Hills (a wooded but still very
suburban
neighborhood three miles south of Old Town Alexandria) about 20 yards from
the snag in which the barred owls nested about 5 years ago. I got a chance to
observe the pair doing the wild thing while the immature female was eating a
small bird. To my embarrassment, however, I have not had the time or fortitude
to follow events closely. The few times that I looked at the nest, I could
see no evidence of it being occupied, although I would occasionally hear the
flicker-like call of the hawks through the early summer.
After returning from work this afternoon, I heard a vocalization I had never
heard before. I walked across the street and but was unable to locate the
source. Until a Coop flew up with something in its talons, and the calls of at
least two birds intensified. I saw one briefly, clearly also a hawk. My
deduction: whether they built another nest or just used the one I found in a
very
stealthy manner, the Coops have fledged at least two young, and the call I
heard was a begging call.
Just the thing for the mid-summer duldrums.
Ben Jesup
Alexandria
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