Death From Above

A couple of mornings ago, the chickens started clucking up a louder than usual racket. I went out and looked around, but couldn't figure out what had them so bothered, so I went back in to finish my breakfast. They kept it up for long enough that I figured I'd give it another look. This time, I spotted the small Cooper's Hawk that was hiding in the upper branches of the avocado tree. Once it discovered that its cover was blown, it relocated to a nearby power pole.

It was small enough that it wouldn't be able to give the adult chickens much of a problem, but I'm sure it would love to get its talons on one of the new chicks. Speaking of the chicks, just the day before that, one of them managed to wiggle its way out of the coop. When I looked out, it was obliviously running around the yard. It's a good thing the hawk wasn't around then. Earlier today, Jeanine saw the chicks catching cockroaches, so they're definitely not quite at the bottom of the food chain.

Eventually, it gave up and darted off across the rooftops. Hopefully, it forgets it ever saw our yard. It's a good thing that hawks aren't as smart as crows.