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Cooper's Hawk, Chapel Hill, makes my day



	This morning as I walked up Hooper's Lane in Chapel Hill, a big,
long-tailed hawk dashed across the street in front of me and swooped upward
to land in a huge ash tree on the corner with Battle Lane. It was an adult
Cooper's, only the second Cooper's I can remember seeing perched like that.
(The other, five or so years ago, was almost at the intersection of Franklin
and Columbia!)
	I stood near the base of the tree and peered upward at the hawk. It
was surprisingly tame -- looked at me a couple of times and then ignored me
to preen. Its back was gunmetal gray and the tail stripes were not very
contrasty, but the white tail edge was quite prominent. When I went around
to get a front view, I was surprised that the breast was quite pale, almost
white, and perhaps a little pinkish on the sides -- but not streaked, as in
an immature. I showed the bird to a couple of passersby -- couldn't keep
such a wonderful thing to myself.
	Downtown Chapel Hill is really a hawkish place. The very closest I
have ever been to a redtail in nature was in front of the Chapel Hill
Florist on Franklin -- I was 25 feet away from an adult redtail in a maple
street tree. I've also seen a sharp-shinned perched in the big elm outside
Schoolkids Records in the 100 block. And the antenna on top of the
BankAmerica building where I work is an occasional hawk perch that is always
worth checking.  
	Jack Peachey is soooooooo right. ("Remember to look up!")
Ginger_Travis@unc.edu
Chapel Hill by day