Flicker darting at a Blue Darter

A cool but pleasant fall morning began with an adult Cooper's Hawk perched high on a dead tree on the far side of the marsh. The blue back reminded me of one of the bird's nicknames: Blue Darter. Only the adults have the blue backs; the immatures are brown but with the same structure (short, broad wings with long striped tail). As I mentioned in an earlier post, accipters (including Cooper's) are bird specialist and have the ability to fly through woodland tracts -- to chase prey or simply to get away from harassment -- without getting bonked by tree limbs. But this one was just sitting out in the open and leisurely attending to her (her?) toilette. Possibly because a accipiter sitting out in the open is assumed not to be hunting or because other birds are afraid of coming too close to this fearsome predator, no one was venturing very near. A few Am Crows and Blue Jays were making noise and hovering in the neighborhood but always keeping their distance. The accipiter, drying off in the sun and straightening its feathers, paid no attention. Ironically, it was a Northern Flicker, probably a passing migrant, that came right in with its substantial beak ready to strike. That finally routed the hawk which took off for parts unknown.

The head of the marsh was, as usual, very active with a familiar avifauna that included two winter birds: Blue-headed Vireo and Brown Creeper. Only four of the five possible woodpeckers this morning; the Sapsucker didn't show.

Eric Salzman