Wednesday Wings - Hawk and Spots of Yellow

This bold and confident hawk sat in a tree top about twenty feet from the feeder I was filling. I was sure it would fly off before I could get back in the house for the camera, but it was happy right there and never moved.

I only have a guess for identification. It is too small to be a Red-tailed Hawk. It's probably a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk.

The Sharp-shinned and Cooper's are identical except for some obscure difference in their tail feathers. The Sharp-shinned is smaller than the Cooper's, but there is size overlap. This hawk fell in the overlapped area, so I'm stumped.


Look, look. See, see. (I learned to read with Dick, Jane, and Sally who said "Look, look. See, see." on a regular basis.)

The male Gold Finches are just starting to change into their spring mating yellow color.


In other springy news, the foot of snow we had last weekend is melting and should be gone by the coming weekend when the temps are going back down and more snow is forecast.

The daylight hours are increasing and the birds have turned their thoughts to finding mates and staking out nesting territories. Woodpeckers are drumming for mates. The Cardinals are sitting in their favorite bushes singing their spring song.

We've reached the point now where each snowfall can be considered a temporary inconvenience. Spring is on the way.