It's All Fun and Games Until...

...the Cooper's Hawk shows up.

On this snowy day our feeders were hopping with a nice variety of songbirds enjoying the thistle and safflower seeds, and suet, and heated birdbath.

This male Downy Woodpecker and pair of House Sparrows were sharing the suet feeder as well as the myriad other birds at our other feeders. But as typical on snowy days when birds are very visible at the feeders, a raptor had to break into the fun and scare everyone away.  This time it was the Cooper's Hawk.

This raptor measures about 15 inches long and has yellow on its beak as opposed to the Sharp-shinned Hawk which can also be found hunting at bird feeders. The Cooper's is more the size of a Crow and the Sharp-shinned is more Mourning Dove sized. This day this Cooper's left our yard without a meal. When you suddenly see that NO songbirds are at your feeders, look around for a raptor in the vicinity.