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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

How did I know?

At the end of my post, yesterday, I mentioned that a second year female (in my opinion) Cooper’s hawk was trapped inside the National Library in Washington DC.  Well, tonight, on the NBC National Evening News a follow up story reported that the juvenile female Cooper’s hawk had been trapped and moved to a rehabilitation facility.  So, how did I know the age and sex of this bird from watching the news?  Stay tuned, and I’ll let you know.  :)

_MG_7629 _MG_7633

The bird flying around the library was similar to these two pics that I took outside the VIS at Anahuac.  While not my best bird shots, they will suffice to explain my identification.  First, I determined the sex by the size of the bird.  Cooper’s hawks are accipiters with short rounded wings, and a relatively long tail.  The females of this species are decidedly larger than the males.  Now for the age part.  The bird in the newscast and this bird were born last year; hence they are in their second calendar year.  I know that because of the striping of the feathers on the breast.  A first or second year bird will have brown vertical stripes on breast feathers.  Older birds, after a late summer molt will have reddish orange horizontal stripes on the breast and gray wings and back.  Another feature not seen in my pics or on the news video is the color of the eye.  Young birds have a yellow eye, and adult birds have a red eye.  I have read that up to 80% of young birds don’t live through their first year.  Many make mistakes, like flying inside of a library where usually there aren’t any small birds to eat.  :)  (bird brains, maybe:))

 

I was actually feeling a bit better this morning, and as the day progressed, I didn’t seem to regress.  Thank goodness!  The electrical problem with the toad lights was solved, and the new washer/dryer was installed amazingly quickly.  There are just a few wrap up things to take care of tomorrow, including the bill.  I’m feeling better, but the thought of hooking up and driving down the road tomorrow was something I wasn’t sure I was ready for.  As I began to bring this up with the owners, they assured me that I could stay as long as I needed to before I pulled out.  What a relief.  I need at least another day of recuperation before tackling the rigors of the road.  I’ll let you know tomorrow if it looks like I’ll have to sell pencils on the side of the road, or rob a bank.  :)

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy

25 comments:

  1. I am fully prepared to buy some pencils from you. Glad you are feeling better.

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  2. You need to tap into that Bailey's in your new refrig.....

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  3. Don't worry, you will not have to sell pencils. You can get on the Tonight show with the "I can guess the age of that bird show" !

    They will be amazed.

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  4. Glad you are feeling better. Hope the bill doesn't cause a relapse.

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  5. Good Job! Where did you get all of that knowledge?
    I just started a file in my computer of RV repair centers that bloggers are happy with. It may help me at some point down the road.

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  6. Well, after reading your informative post I, for one, feel bird-brainy! Kudos to you for knowing so much about our feathered neighbors. I am really glad to hear that you are feeling better and that you won't tackle the road right away. Been thinking about you!

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  7. You're good...I need the male and female side by side to compare size for sex...hmmm, that sounds almost diry..LOL...I am getting better with the first winter plumage and such though.

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  8. Good information on the bird in the Library and glad to hear it's been moved.

    Now that you're feeling better I just hope the bill tomorrow doesn't give you a heart attack!!

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  9. Wow - when I saw the news broadcast - I saw a bird.

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  10. Glad your repairs went so well... now to get YOU fixed up and ready for the road! Get well and on to the next adventure?

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  11. Oh, gosh, Judy, sure hope you don't have to sell pencils!

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  12. Congratulations on your good eye for birds. I'd need at least a half hour to study one before I could even begin to see the little differences. I was surprised when I lived in NC and finally was able to correctly ID all the woodpeckers that visited my feeder (as well as the big ones that visited my trees).

    I sure hope you feel better soon. I agree with the suggestion you hit the Bailey's Irish Creme!

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  13. WOW...you are really good with your bird knowledge. I'm impressed. We had a small hawk fly into our home by way of our back backdoor sliders which I had left open. Heaven only know why it did that! Husband was out...but I managed to guide him through the house to get him safely out by way of our front door.

    Glad to hear you are giving yourself one more day/night before hitting the road. Easy does it now!

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  14. Like I have said before, I always learn something reading your blog. Thanks Judy. Hope you continue to feel better.

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  15. I heard you can hold a cardboard sign and make hundreds of dollars daily or even become a radio DJ! Hope it won't come to that...
    Feel better!
    Kathy
    http://seashellsandoveralls.blogspot.com

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  16. you could always sell your bird knowledge on line to pay for the bill!..hope you are back on the road soon!..but not to sell pencils!

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  17. I think the American Air Force is going to come knocking at your door recruiting you & your keen eyes to identifying high flying aircraft. I hope they hold off a few days until you are feeling better:)) Let me know if you see a UFO will ya............

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  18. Excellent post Judy, very interesting and informative. I do hope you are feeling better soon! Also, thank you for identifying the Loggerhead Shrike for me in one of my previous blog posts!


    John
    relaxedrush.blogspot.com

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  19. Glad to hear you are feeling better, Don't push it. Just take your time and make sure you are a 100% before you venture out.

    Travel Safe
    Dawn & Denise

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  20. Judy, Thank you so much for the nice comment and for following my adventures! I enjoyed reading about the Cooper's Hawks and look forward to learning more bird knowledge in future posts :)

    I'm glad your feeling better,
    John
    backcountrybanter.blogspot.com

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  21. Glad your feeling better and can move on soon. Thanks for the bird lesson.

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  22. Thanks for the info on the birds. Glad you are feeling better. A shame you didn't get to do much. Hope your able to get on down the road soon.

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  23. Glad to hear that you are feeling better and that the repairs are going well.

    Stay safe...

    Kerri in AL :-)

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  24. You're amazing in how you knew the details on identifying that bird!

    Now that you are feeling better, I hope the repair bill doesn't make you ill all over again!

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  25. Mrs. Magoo here--I mostly identify by sound as that hasn't gone out of commission yet! Hence my troubles identifying the plastic Christmas penguins on a roof top.......

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