On Wed, 2009-03-25 at 01:12 +0000, Don Simonson wrote:
A pair of COOPER'S HAWKS are building their nest in our next-door
neighbor's yard in Darnestown.  wonderful to watch, but putting a damper
on the bluebirds, and I dont think I will try to revive our Purple
Martin colony this year!. Also explains the Sharp-shinned Hawk feathers
I found strewn in a circle a couple of weeks ago. The male is doing all
the gathering of sticks, with much flapping of wings, he breaks off long
branches sycamore and maple branches and carries them to the nest in a
white pine, while the female perches nearby and keeps up stream of
architectural and design advice via constant mewing sounds.  The birds
are unafraid of us and are constantly flying back and forth across the
yard.  quite a sight.
> Good birding -
> Don Simonson
> Darnestown, Montgomery County
>

Don,

Last Saturday, I spent some time watching a pair of Cooper's Hawks south
of Bowie.  One bird had a blue back, the other, a brown back.  Both had
rusty, barred breasts so I assumed the brown-backed bird was the female.
It was the brown-backed bird that did all the work visiting the nest
adding sticks.

Dave

--
David Mozurkewich
Seabrook, PG MD