About an hour or so later I was in my office and some movement from a dark area of foliage caught my attention. I focused my binoculars on the area and there was the accipiter, sitting on a limb only a couple of feet off the ground and looking all around. I thought my camera was downstairs but realized it was at my feet (I was processing photos) so I grabbed it and headed for the door.
I was able to slip out the door onto my deck so that I had a very good view of the bird, but it was in deep shadows and the sun was by then at a low angle. I shot 30 photos as it left that limb, flew to our brushpile, then back to the ground. When they search for birds I've noticed they sometimes do it from the ground. It walked around awhile and finally flew back to the neighbors across the street.
From the photos I would guess it's a young Cooper's hawk, but I'm not an expert at such things. I figured that with all the trips the accipiter(s) have been making to the yard it was just a matter of time before I was able to photograph one... now I just need photos in better lighting conditions!
