06-07-2005, 12:00 AM
I had a wild experience with a Cooper's Hawk yesterday when I was picking my b/f up from work I wanted to share with you guys.
Chriss truck was in the shop so I went to pick him up from work. The parking lot at his work has several oak trees that shade the area quite well. I was sitting in my car reading while waiting for him when some birdcalls caught my attention. I got out of my car and walked around to see what they were being there was a couple of them at least. There was a family of Cooper Hawks hopping around tree to tree, four of them to be exact. One of them I could never get a clear view of to see if it was an adult or immature. Two of them were immature, and one was an adult, clearly the mother from all their actions. This in and of its elf is pretty cool, to get to watch her looking out for them and them getting excited and calling out when they see her. However I have more of an interesting thing happen.
The mother saw me. She watched me for a bit. Then she decided to shoo me away from her kids (that is the impression I got). She swooped down at me! She landed in another tree and watched me a bit, now my attention fully on her. She swooped down right at me again! Every time she would swoop down at me I would get these electrical chills that would start at the base of my neck and completely wash down my back. At this point I had walked away from where her kids were and it was just me and her watching each other. She proceeded to swoop down a total of 11 times at me. Going directly to me, getting closer each time, she managed to get about 6 feet away from me the last couple of times she did that. The closer she got, when she was right above me, the stronger the electrical rush was that flooded down my back.
We ended up back at my car. Me leaning against it, her in a small tree about 20-30 feet up. We watched each other for a long time it seemed. We would look around at other things, but always ended up back at each other. She never called out; she would just watch me and swoop down at me. When Chris came she looked at us for a minute or two then flew away (without the swooping down part). I am sure that part if not all of that was her protecting her kids since I took an obvious interest in them. I wonder if she was thinking the opposite of what I was What is the deal with this crazy human?!.What is the deal with this crazy hawk?!
Chriss truck was in the shop so I went to pick him up from work. The parking lot at his work has several oak trees that shade the area quite well. I was sitting in my car reading while waiting for him when some birdcalls caught my attention. I got out of my car and walked around to see what they were being there was a couple of them at least. There was a family of Cooper Hawks hopping around tree to tree, four of them to be exact. One of them I could never get a clear view of to see if it was an adult or immature. Two of them were immature, and one was an adult, clearly the mother from all their actions. This in and of its elf is pretty cool, to get to watch her looking out for them and them getting excited and calling out when they see her. However I have more of an interesting thing happen.
The mother saw me. She watched me for a bit. Then she decided to shoo me away from her kids (that is the impression I got). She swooped down at me! She landed in another tree and watched me a bit, now my attention fully on her. She swooped down right at me again! Every time she would swoop down at me I would get these electrical chills that would start at the base of my neck and completely wash down my back. At this point I had walked away from where her kids were and it was just me and her watching each other. She proceeded to swoop down a total of 11 times at me. Going directly to me, getting closer each time, she managed to get about 6 feet away from me the last couple of times she did that. The closer she got, when she was right above me, the stronger the electrical rush was that flooded down my back.
We ended up back at my car. Me leaning against it, her in a small tree about 20-30 feet up. We watched each other for a long time it seemed. We would look around at other things, but always ended up back at each other. She never called out; she would just watch me and swoop down at me. When Chris came she looked at us for a minute or two then flew away (without the swooping down part). I am sure that part if not all of that was her protecting her kids since I took an obvious interest in them. I wonder if she was thinking the opposite of what I was What is the deal with this crazy human?!.What is the deal with this crazy hawk?!