Cardinal and the Cooper

Today we woke up to about six or seven inches of snow. Thankfully it was on the low side of what was predicted. I've had a wonderful time bird watching this morning and have quite a few pictures to share but I wanted to do these first. My feeders were all covered with solid sheets of ice, yet my yard was full of birds. Many of them were coming to the suet feeder which is right at my window, since it was less frozen than the rest. I couldn't believe it when this female cardinal landed right on the feeder. She was literally within a few feet of me. I wish my windows had been clear but they were splattered with snow and sleet. Shortly after this, I opened this window and cleaned it well.

I've sat at the windows most of the morning, drinking coffee and watching the birds trying to maneuver the frozen bird feeders and the ice on the branches. At times this has been quite funny to see. I was standing right in front of the window, when I saw this Cooper's hawk quickly swoop right by my feeder, it didn't even slow down. It flew out of my sight for a just few seconds and came right back with this starling in its talons, landing just a few feet from the feeder where it caught its prey.

I wanted to get a better picture and slowly began to open the window, it must have heard and quickly flew away. Well, at least I didn't have to watch it eat, and I'm sure you all are glad that I didn't have a chance to capture that event in pictures, which I surely would have done, despite the gross factor. It would have been so amazing to photograph a Cooper eating a starling in the snow only a few feet from my house. Yea, it probably is a good thing it flew away.