Photography

My Morning With The Hawks

March 9, 2011 /

This morning at work I had to run an errand which required a trip across the historic campus.  I enjoyed the walk this morning and had the campus practically to myself…students are out on spring break this week.  As I was walking back to my office, something swooped past me and landed in the tree in front of me…..a Cooper’s Hawk.  Suddenly I realized where I was on campus ~ well, let me clarify…after I saw the hawk and realized where I was at that moment, I knew this was one of the pair of Cooper’s Hawks that had taken up residence in one of the beech trees by Washington Hall last spring.  It looks like they have returned once again this spring.  I hurried back to my office, grabbed my camera (yes, it comes to work with me each day), told my supervisor I was taking some of my lunch hour now, even though it was only 9:00 a.m. ~ and took off back to Washington Hall.

Washington Hall is an academic building on the south side of the Sunken Garden on the historic campus.  The garden is lined with American beech trees on both sides so as I approached I began to scan the trees for signs of the hawks.  I wasn’t disappointed….as I was walking across the garden, the male swooped across the field to a tree near where I saw him this morning.  I got to the area and was surprised to see both a male and female sitting close together in the tree.

They were fairly high in the tree but didn’t seem to mind me moving all around beneath them as I tried to get a good shot.  I also found the tree where their nest is located…in fact they are still building.  I observed the male breaking off several branches from this tree and flying them to the nest.  A quote from an article about the hawks on the College web site last year…

“This is amazing,” ornithologist Dan Cristol said. “Fifteen years ago, Cooper’s hawks didn’t even nest around here, let alone on campus right over a pathway.” 

It was very cloudy today so the sky is a bit blown out, but one of my favorite shots….

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