Multitasking Cooper's Hawks!

Guy David, an active birder and Discovery Center Bird Club member, was recently hiking in Honeybee Canyon, Arizona.  He shared a few photos from his hike – highlighting some Cooper’s Hawk activity.  He knows I'm a fan of raptors and specifically Cooper's Hawks, as my 7-year old happens to be named after one!

 

Cooper’s Hawks are a bird we see in Wisconsin in the spring, summer and fall; but is one we seldom see in the winter.  They migrate south and their winter range is from southern Wisconsin to Central America.  As Guy said in his email to me, “I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions about what these birds were up to.”

 

After I asked Guy for permission to post the pictures, he shared a bit more…
 

We first saw the male when it flushed ahead of us and circled behind us and landed in a tree.  So we backtracked to get a better look at the male when we saw the female.  She was busy tearing flesh from some prey that looked to us like part of the hindquarters of a rabbit.  The male moved around in close proximity to her and mounted her… while she just tried to keep on eating!  After he dismounted, they looked at us as if to say “Did you see that?”  Eventually the male flew off while the female kept on working on the prey.

 

 

All photos credited to Guy David

 

Article compiled by Discovery Center Executive Director, Sarah Johnson

Call For Wildlife Artists: 2014 Wolf Awareness Week Poster Contest

We will celebrate National Wolf Awareness Week October 12^th -18^th, 2014 with our annual poster. Thousands of organizations and schools focus on the wolf and educate the public on this charismatic and often misunderstood species.

The poster is the most anticipated and widely distributed piece of Wolf Awareness Week literature each year, and reaches thousands of people throughout the United States and Canada. It has historically become a collector’s item following publication.

The Timber Wolf Alliance is now soliciting entries for the 2014 Wolf Awareness Week poster.  Artists working in a two dimensional medium are invited to enter this competition. Entries must have as their subject wolves (either gray, Mexican gray, or red) in their native environments of the United States.  In return for use of the winning artwork, artists receive prominent credit on the poster, 200 copies of the poster, and a $500 award.  Special consideration this year will be given to artwork that incorporates and celebrates the Wilderness Act of 1964 – a piece of legislation instrumental to our nation’s wildlife and celebrating its 50^thanniversary.

For more information, application form and poster submission guidelines, visit WWW.TIMBERWOLFALLIANCE.ORG.

Pictured above is the 2013 featured artist, Wildlife Artist Jon Ren, with his winning submission "Kindred Spirits." http://www.jonren.com