Yesterday the snow came down faster than I could keep the seed exposed, so there were few species to be seen.  The immature Cooper's Hawk hung out a while but I think failed to catch, as usual, any of the 50-ish House Finches or anything else.  His hunting skills leave a lot to be desired.

Today a flock of over 60 Brown-headed Cowbirds descended, with a few Common Grackles mixed in.  

I watched a gorgeous adult Red-shouldered Hawk swoop in but miss something, then momentarily stand on the brick grill in the corner of the backyard.  There are plenty of Gray Squirrels around, but I couldn't determine what he had spied.

Shortly thereafter, I saw that an adult male Cooper's had scored one of the grackles and was feasting in the middle of a neighbor's driveway.

After his hunger was pretty well sated and he was just standing over what was left of the grackle, another neighbor noticed him and crept around the corner to try to get a photo.  At that point the Cooper's left with his carry-out, flying past the side of my house. 

In the meantime, a sickly adult male House Finch flopped its way into a depression in the snow at the opposite front corner of that brick grill.

About 5 minutes or so later, a hawk flew in from the same direction from where the Cooper's had flown.  It turned out to be the Red-shouldered, and it landed to scavenge what might have been left of the grackle!  Unfortunately, there wasn't much, and after picking around briefly, the hawk left.

With no hawks in sight and probably oblivious to much of anything anyway, the decrepit House Finch left cover and gimped along in the snow.  Before making it to either the hedge or the feeders, however, he was handily dispatched by the Red-shouldered!

I have a female junco with fairly tawny sides that distinguish her from the others, but no other differences to make me think she's anything but Dark-eyed. 

Kathy Mock
Barberton, OH, near Akron
Summit Co.

"What is joy?  It is a bird that we all want to catch.  It is the same bird that we all want to see flying." -- Sri Chinmoy

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