On a recent morning when I went out to the patio to fill the bird feeder, I looked up and thought maybe the neighbors had put one of those owl statues on their wall to deter unwanted birds and other critters. Then the statue moved – a big, handsome young hawk, an immature Cooper’s I think, judging by the speckled white breast, the long rounded tail and the relatively large size. A handsome, bold predator, maybe hoping for a fat dove at the feeder. When I took his picture, he sat for a bit, then tired of the attention and flew off, at which point the sparrows and jays and cardinals returned, the squirrels took up their chattering and tree-leaping shenanigans again, and life resumed in the walled gardens of my part of the city.
Photo also by Christa Watters