bit of a ruckus, big accipiter

A bit of a ruckus this morning among the jays and crows at the head of the marsh was followed by a large raptor flying out, along the woodland edge just in front of the trees and then vanishing into the woods. It was a big accipiter with a long tail, a bulky striped body and broad wings. I got no impression of color on the breast striping and my first thought was that it was a young Goshawk! That would have been a Wow! However the striping was horizontal and this fact (plus the probabilities) would point to an adult female Cooper's (the reddish coloration of the breast striping being not always so obvious). I went searching for the bird in the direction of its flight but I found nothing. It might have continued on to some other location but even if it perched, it could be well hidden inside the woods and difficult to find (unless discovered by the jays and crows).

There are at least four Green Herons around -- probably two adults and two young (I never did find the nest but it must have been somewhere in the area). Also the faithful Yellow-crowned Night Heron was in the pond -- at least until I arrived.

Eric Salzman