Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Makin' A Mess


1/125 sec. f/8 ISO 1000


1/20 sec. f/2.4 ISO 50

The last photo shows the scant remains of a starling after it was killed and eaten by one of the Cooper's Hawks. Other than feathers, the only parts left were the head and beak in the center of the photo. This took place in the backyard just a few feet from the feeders. Unfortunately, I wasn't home at the time so I didn't get any shots other than this one of the mess. It hasn't hurt the starling population any, either, much to my dismay.



32 comments:

Andy said...

First class photos Brian. The exact same thing is happening in my backyard.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Fantastic photos Brian- the hawk at my house seems to prefer field rats lately. He isn't even looking at the starlings or other birds for some reason.

Ramakrishnan said...

Mind blowing pictures of this amazing hawk !

Carole M. said...

so intense the look in the second photograph

Kerri Farley said...

well....I guess they gotta eat :)
Absolutely Fabulous captures!!

Bill said...

Excellent shots!

Montanagirl said...

Beautiful bird. Really nice photos of him. I've watched them do the same with an injured Blackbird.

TexWisGirl said...

love that face in the first! want to enlarge it and draw just the head and shoulders. whew!

great lunch leftovers. barely scraps. good for him that he didn't waste. :)

Bas. said...

ja daar heeft hij geen moeite mee,het blijft natuur.

Hootin Anni said...

The leftovers is nothing compared to the beauty of the hawk!!

Karen said...

A beautiful beast, the Coopers! Great captures. I see that bottom scene way to often in my yard!

Gail Dixon said...

Exceptional shots of the hawk!!! I have to say, I'm not minding that he took out a starling. The hawk has to eat and starlings are one group of annoying birds.

JOY @ http://joysjotsshots.blogspot.com/ said...

Amazing that you caught a shot of this Hawk. Every animal around here scatters just seconds before one of these flies through here. It's a wonder they catch anything with the communication line going on around here. Ahh...enJOYed your first 2 shots. Good to know the food chain is still going on.

DeniseinVA said...

Oh wow, brilliant photos of this beautiful bird Brian. Nature's way on seeing the third which was in itself a very interesting view of nature at work.

HansHB said...

Awesome photos!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Yeah, he can make a mess of starlings any time as far as I'm concerned. What a beautiful raptor.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I hit send too soon (darn IPAD) ... meant to say we have that Eagle Nest near us here and the starlings just roost right next to them every night and the eagles pay NO attention...maybe they're just too small for them to bother with -- or there's safety in numbers. So we could use your hawk.

eileeninmd said...

Cool shots of the Coopers! He did make a mess, I can not feel sorry for the starling. The Starlings seem to make a mess out of my deck railing all the time. Have a great evening!

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

Great shots of the hawk. I would agree, there are too many starlings in the world.

Joe said...

Great shots of the hawk.

Anonymous said...

What beautiful shots of the hawk! I found a similar bloody scene in the front yard the other morning.

Connie Smiley said...

Wow, your photos take my breath away, once again! It's a jungle out there, isn't it?

Debbie said...

ooohhhhh Brian, I did not see that coming!! I guess the starling didn't either ;)

A Colorful World said...

Oh isn't he a stunning bird! And he'd been busy...I find such evidence in my yard sometimes too, but rarely see the birds. The first year we were here, we saw Cooper's Hawks and a Grey Hawk as well as some smaller raptors. They would even land in the one tall tree on the edge of our yard, and swoop down and try to kill the doves who came to feed closer to the house. But, we don't see them as much anymore. Great shots!

Gillian Olson said...

Great pictures of the hawk, small birds beware!

Andee said...

Oh those pesky hawks. I had to stop putting out seed. The hawks were eyeing up my puppy. They have killed many birds at the feeders, but I wasn't risking my puppies life as she sunbathed on the deck! Great shots non-the-less :)

Anonymous said...

Amazing shots of the hawk. I was thrilled to capture (and share) a shrike with its prey this week. Amazing birds.

Wally Jones said...

Brian, splendid photographs of that magnificent young Cooper's Hawk!

Superb composition, detail, exposure and just plain appeal (to me, anyhow!).

Nice job.

Ida said...

Awesome shots Brian. Wow you really captured some great shots of this hawk. After seeing your photos I know that my hawk was (not) a Cooper's as it was much smaller then this one.
Ewwwww on the mess though, but I guess that's part of life.

Unknown said...

Awesome shots of the hawk.

Grampy said...

Superb photos of these adapt hunters. The coloration of the feathers really pop.

TheChieftess said...

He is quite majestic!!!