So, we were sitting on our deck at about 5:30 last evening when a hawk swoops in to our back yard and takes a rest on a branch right above our feeders. We’ve seen this guy before but can’t decide if it’s a Coopers Hawk or Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Luckily, I had my camera near by and I took a few pictures.
Right after I snapped the pictures he dove off the branch and nearly picked off one of the male Cardinals that frequent the feeders. The Cardinal escaped several attempts by the hawk to grab it. The two of them were flying in/out, and around a magnolia bush and pine tree. Finally the hawk gave up and sat back on the same branch he started on. I took a few more pictures. Unfortunately they are pretty blurry due to the low light and my having to hand hold the camera. Here they are. Maybe one of you more experienced birders can tell us which hawk it is, Coopers or Sharp-Shinned:
These first two are of the front of the hawk:
Here’s a couple of the back:
Based on these pictures, and our Kaufman Field Guide
, we think it is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. What do you think?
This past weekend Atlanta, and most of the Eastern half of the country, got a fair amount of snow. In the two years we’ve lived here this is the largest amount of snow they have had. While it was a “significant snow event” for Atlanta, it barely qualifies as snow for our old hometown of Chicago! Either way, it was nice to see some snow in the yard. I took a few pictures of the feeders and yard to prove that there actually was snow. Here they are:
A Winter Wonderland
This first picture is of the backyard at nearly the “height” of the storm. There was a bit of slush/ice on the roads for a few hours. The snow stuck around on the grass for a day or so and in the shady areas for nearly 3 days. We ended up with maybe 2″ of accumulation.
Carolina Wren
here is one of our regular Carolina Wrens sitting on the snow covered platform feeder. You can also see the beak of a male Cardinal peeking out from behind the tube feeder.
Cardinals And Yellow Rumped Warbler?
Here is a picture of a couple of cardinals along with what we think is a Yellow Rumped Warbler. There’s a little bit of yellow under the wings along with the “wing bars”. What do you more experienced birders think?
Another Picture Of The Warbler (We Think)
Here’s another picture of the bird we think is the Yellow Rumped Warbler. See the little bit of yellow on his head? The only place we didn’t see yellow was on his rump 
Winter is on its way out here in Atlanta. March is usually when things start to warm up a bit here in the South so the late snowfall (March 1st) was a nice treat. Pretty soon we’ll be complaining about the 90 degree days with 90% humidity.
