The other morning when I got to my regional office at the Gwynnbrook
Wildlife Management Area in Owings Mills, I observed what appeared to be an
adult male Cooper's Hawk engaged in what seemed to be an unusual behavior
and I am just curious if anyone has ever seen this before.
 
When I pulled into the lot the hawk was on the ground in a section of mowed
grass with some small bushes/shrubs here and there.  My initial thoughts
were that maybe the bird was injured and after a minute or two it walked off
into a shrub (maybe multiflora rose, I didn't examine it that closely).  I
waited a minute or two before I was going to walk up and see if the hawk
needed to be sent to a rehabber.
 
About that time some small birds flushed and the cooper's hawk also
reappeared I think the cooper's hawk initially walked out of the bush and
then I couldn't tell you who was chasing who but I think the coopers was
chasing the smaller birds which in turn were also chasing the coopers away
from probable nest sites.
 
My initial impression after watching all of the drama unfold was that this
Cooper's Hawk appears to have learned how to "shake the bushes" so to speak
in order to flush potential prey into the open.
 
Mike

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