Jody showed me a Cooper’s Hawk nest in Cornish. I travelled twice to photograph the family. It was amazing how much the chicks had grown in one week. And their breasts got darker and streakier.
I saw three chicks the first visit. Two were clearly visible the second visit, but I think there might have been a much smaller third chick in the nest.
I arrived very early both days. It was quite dark in the nest. I was shooting at ISO 6400, f/8, and between 1/200 and 1/800 second.
June 23
A parent brought a small stick to the nest. I can’t figure out why it thought that was a good idea. It stayed for less than a minute.
I got a lucky photo when it departed. It was over 10 yards from the nest when this photo was taken.
If you look closely you can see three chicks in this photo.
Here is another photo with three chick present.
July 1
Little happened for the first 30 minutes of my second visit. In fact, for the first 10 minutes I feared the nest was empty. But then one chick appeared, and eventually a second chick was visible.
A parent spent much more time in the nest during my second visit. It was in and out several times. The first visit lasted just two seconds. I believe it dropped some food for the chicks. Subsequent visits lasted many minutes as it fed the chicks, mostly with its back to me. But I was able to get a few feeding photos through the sticks that make up the nest.
After the chicks were fed, they got frisky. They ventured out of the nest to sit somewhat precariously on nearby branches. Here is one returning to the nest while the second is still being fed.
Eventually the parent left, and the chicks explored their nearby environment.
I could not tell if both chicks ventured out of the nest or if only one moved to branches to the left and right.
It was a fun couple of hours both days. I wonder how soon the chicks will fledge.
If you missed my Birds of Late Spring blog, you can find it HERE.