Lithuania Coopers, 2013

[Leslie]

This is the second year that a pair of Cooper's hawks have nested in the backyards north of Lithuania Park, itself just north of High Park, in Toronto.
See eBird.
I have seen them nearly every day since July 7.
I saw 4 juveniles on July 8.  I have never seen them together since, so I don't know if all still survive.  A neighbour did report seeing five hawks on Sunday morning, but did not note the plumage.
I heard a juvenile begging call on Sunday about noon in High Park near the greenhouse--maybe one of the Lithuania clutch.
Last year's clutch was very "sticky"--they seemed to stay in the foursome almost until disbursement near the beginning of August.  This year's clutch seem less "clingy"--I often see two together, rarely 3, and four only once.
The young are learning life skills such as determining what makes a good perch (no to the telephone wire, no to the window ledge with a barrier you can't even see but can tap with the curved top of your beak), tracking flying insects with their eyes, and running.
A neighbour's choke cherries are red, & the cedar waxwings came to check them out.  This inspired a young hawk to check out the cedar waxwings.  But the waxwings have more experience in not being eaten than the hawk has in catching waxwings, & they slipped off silently before the hawk even landed.

[Leslie]

Dispersal is a process, not an event.
At first they are quite comfortable near "civilization," perching in the trees, on the ground, on the fence near the house, on the balcony.  As the days progress they move more and more into tree cover.
Two weeks ago Tuesday all four fledglings made a rare visit to the backyard.  It was only the second time I have seen all four together of this year's brood.
Later in the week one of them was perched in the elm when her brother came to join her.  She drove him off (he didn't go far)--first time I've seen them even notice a sibling.  She tried to perch where he had been, but she's bigger & had to choose another after much futile flapping.
Juveniles are not properly afraid.  Once I was talking to my neighbour when one of the fledglings flew down for her daily bath, in spite of me standing about 15 feet away (old units, sorry).  She made a variety of calls, such as the one Coopers use to defend the nest, but very softly.
The last time I saw one was Tuesday.
I have been hearing them.  Their cries are episodic, so I assume that means a food delivery.  The last time I heard a cry was Saturday morning (August 11) at about 6:00.
I'm not the only one seeking predators.  The chickadees have been calling loudly.  Apparently the number of "dees" in a chickadee's call is a sign of the magnitude of the danger.  One or two "dees" is nothing much to worry about--a four-alarm "dee" is serious.  Four "dees" have been normal here.  I usually don't register how many "dees" until after the call is finished, but one day last week I think I heard a call with at least seven.  One chickadee repeated the entire call 3 times, except it seemed to choke on the middle, like this:  chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-chick-a-dee-dee-dee(chokecoughsputter!deep breath)chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee.
Last evening and the one before a small flock of about half a dozen or more robins, including immatures, have been gambolling about the lawn.  The chickadees are silent.
I think the hawks have moved on.