The Mystery Hawk

It was such a cold morning that sparkle-dust was floating through the air. My husband hollered from the living room that a hawk was in our front yard, watching the bird feeders. So I went out and grabbed my camera and snapped about 30 pictures through the window. The spot it picked was in a tree with lots of tiny branches which obscured the hawk and prevented easy identification.

I put the photos on Facebook, and we played a guessing game. Who is this hawk? What kind is it? My own guess was red-tailed. Someone else said Cooper's. And yet a third party suggested red-shouldered. At this point, we don't know and the hawk isn't telling!

It sat there for quite a long time, fluffing its tail feathers frequently. In fact, I've never seen such tail feather fluffing. The bird also looked rather large, which suggested female to me, but may have more to do with the creature fluffing its feathers up to stay warm, as the local temperature was in the teens F.

We were pleased to see such a large creature in our yard. However, we worried a little about it. Should we try to intervene if the hawk went for one of our favorite birds? The cardinals, for instance? I don't know if we could stand to see that happen, as much as we love our cardinals. But what if it were one of the other, less favorite birds? 

Who can say? Push never came to shove; in the end, the hawk flew away without our even seeing it go. I imagine it may be back again; if so, I'll hope for a clearer shot next time!

The soundtrack song for this mystery hawk, whose name we do not know, is the Who, with Who Are You.