Two thousand three hundred….that’s about how many pictures I saved from my February trip to Florida! I have been slowly sifting through them, and still have some shots I’d like to share, but today I thought I’d pause and give this beautiful hometown hawk a highlight.

Nine out of ten times, when a hawk shows up in my backyard it’s a Red-shouldered Hawk. But lately, a Cooper’s Hawk has been making frequent appearances. It would seem that he wants to feed on the birds that I am feeding!

There is no doubt what his intentions are as he carefully scans the yard, looking every which way he can.

The sunlight was hitting his eye perfectly, giving it a somewhat sinister gleam, though I think that is a rather unfair indictment on his character. I mean, he was simply doing what he was designed to do.

I’m including the picture below just so you can get a better glance at those sharp talons. Impressive!

As he got ready to fly off, he gave me a backward glance over the shoulder, I think just to let me know that he was keeping as much of an eye on me as I was on him.

Hey, as long as he doesn’t become a greedy glutton, this handsome hawk as an open invitation to hang out in my backyard.