Look what Spaz got in her yard now! I'm jealous again.
So I'm sitting here with a slice of Baker's Square French Silk Pie, listening to Gregorian Chant (really quite soothing at 11:45pm) and reading through 2 bird books: Birds of Illinois, by Stan Tekiela and Birds of Chicago, by Chris C. Fisher and David B. Johnson, trying to determine whether Spaz's hawk is a Sharp-Shinned or a Cooper's Hawk.
Both books say they are quite similar, but Sharp-shinned is smaller with a squared off tail. I cannot really tell the scale of the bird and his tail is hiding. When frustrated, I just take another bite of pie. Darn those Baker's Square bakers.
I'm going to assume it's a Cooper's for two reasons. 1) It looks exactly like the picture in Birds of Chicago. 2) Birds of Illinois claims that the Sharp-Shinned is rarely seen in winter.
OK...push the pie away. Far away.
Spaz, thank you for yet another beautiful bird picture! Makes me want to move out to your neck of the woods. Keep up the great photography work. Nature loves your yard :)
