I returned home on Sat, 11/14 and upon pulling into the driveway I immediately noticed an accipiter sitting at the top of the pine tree in the front yard. I have found these bird wary in he past but in this case the bird let me go through the front door. Upon entering the house I immediately raced upstairs to my office where i retrieved my camera. The next step was to get out on my office deck so I had an unobstructed view of the bird.
I managed to creep out on the deck and I immediately began taking photos. After a few minutes the accipiter flew down to our brush pile where it proceeded to hop back and forth trying to flush something from inside the brush pile. After spending a couple of minutes in that location it flew to just behind where I currently have my photo observation chair located and perched on a branch for another couple of minutes. It then flew back into the foliage where I was unable to visually follow it. I wasn't sure it was gone from the yard but within just a couple of minutes birds started returning to open environs and I decided it had left.
I believe this bird would be classified as a sub-adult but I'm uncertain as to whether it is a Cooper's hawk or a Sharp-shinned hawk. If I had to hazard a guess I would guess the former. Comments on the species are welcome!
