The first full moon of 2012 finally rose above the clouds last night and was visible through the trees. The bird of prey made the photo of the day over the moon, because I found the bird to be much more exciting than than the moon. After more careful analysis of yesterday’s photos, Ingrid (our resident bird expert in the office) and I decided it was not a peregrine falcon, but rather a juvenile cooper’s hawk. I updated yesterday’s entry. The white crowned sparrow in the second photo was one of the birds the hawk desired for lunch yesterday. The last photo is a still life of one of the scented candles we’ve been burning during the holidays and a card we got for Christmas.
Off Center & Not Even 
On Christmas Day, there was a bird of prey in my mom’s yard. We finally concluded it was a juvenile hawk, but then when I saw your post last night,
i decided it was what you had.
Now I’m back to thinking she had a juvenile hawk, but perhaps not a Cooper’s. The head was shaped a little differently. Regardless, your photos were great!
All of the photos today are very interesting and different. I have seen a Cooper’s Hawk in our backyard a couple of summers ago. It stayed for a long time and I was able to go inside to refer to my bird book and confirm its identity. It must have been waiting for a tasty morsel. I recall it hanging around quite a while, if I was able to ID it then go back outside and watch it some more. It is very distinct.
The young hawks can be hard to identify, but they are fun to watch up close. Always alert and looking around.