Twice this week my backyard was visited by hawks. Unfortunately I couldn't move quickly enough to get a picture of either visit. On Tuesday, there were two hawks sitting on the lower branch of the Honey Locust Tree (the tree just in front of the pines on the far right of the picture). One hawk had landed, and the other plopped down next to it setting up a momentary squabble before they both flew away in a huff.
This morning as I got up to let the dogs out, a hawk, which I was finally able to identify as a Sharp-Shinned Hawk, was facing the house and serenely surveying the backyard as if thinking, "all this is mine." It was on the fence for several moments giving me an opportunity to positively identify it as a Sharp-Shinned due to its small head relative to its body. Again, I was unprepared with my camera, and it flew off before I could snap a picture. A moment latter, a squirrel snacking on peanuts, the apparent object of fascination for the hawk, scampered off to the Honey Locust when I let the dogs out. The squirrel was in plain view of the hawk, but had its back turned, and appeared blissfully unaware of its present danger.
Project FeederWatch is an excellent resource for information on how to tell the difference between a Sharp-Shinned and Cooper's Hawk.
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