Shortly after I woke up this morning, just as it was getting light, I heard
the disconcerting thump of a bird hitting our front window. Our windows
have mature landscaping in front of them, so this doesn't happen very often.
A White-throated Sparrow was on the window ledge and seemed to be recovering,
so I went back to the morning routine and heard another thump, and 
then another.
This time when I checked outside, I was just in time to see a large accipiter
swoop down toward the ground beneath the feeder, and then up again.
It saw me when I moved to a different window to get a better view, 
and then flew
into the woods across the street. I am pretty sure it was an 
adult  Cooper's Hawk
based on overall size and the tail.

I felt sorry for the terrified sparrows, and sorry for the hawk, who 
must have been
hungry to be hunting so early in the day, and who was still hungry 
when it flew away.


--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods.
More than any other thing that pertains to the body
it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato