Hawk wing too close for the Bazooka to focus

I was sure I had posted this story in August 2021 after it happened, but I apparently got distracted by my mom’s death and didn’t post the incident with a Cooper’s Hawk. I mentioned the story to Brad, who had posted a story on Brian’s Wildlife Intrigued, and Brad wanted to see photos. It took me a while to find the photos because I couldn’t remember right off hand when the incident took place.

I was out on the beach photographing the pTerodactyl one afternoon in late August 2021 when a dove came flying straight at me with a Cooper’s Hawk on its tail. The dove took evasive action at the last second to avoid crashing into me, which made the hawk do the same thing. I was trying to get photos, but everything happened quickly, and the dove and the hawk were too close for the Bazooka to focus on them since its minimum focus distance is 11 feet. The hawk and dove collided right above my head, but the hawk could not grab onto the dove. The dove flew into the salt cedar, and the hawk flew into the bosque.

I checked on the dove, and it seemed to be okay. As I walked from the river bed into the bosque, the hawk was waiting for me. It flew over me, chattering up a storm, and then it landed on a low branch about 15 feet from me and started giving me a beak lashing up one side and down the other about me messing up its kill. That hawk chattered at me for several minutes, flew to another branch, and chattered at me some more before it flew into the salt cedar to see if the dove was still there.

Cooper’s Hawk flying away after colliding with the dove.

Cooper’s Hawk flying to a tree to scold me as it flew over me.

Cooper’s Hawk telling me off for messing up its kill.

Cooper Hawk flew into the salt cedar to see if the dove was still there.