.garrettparkinson

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I took work off today. I guess most guys would have gone golfing. I took my camera to my favorite spot. About one half hour into it, I stumbled into this immature Coopers Hawk. I literally mean stumbled. I was walking along minding my own business, stopped to look up and was face to face with this bird that I initially thought was a Green Heron, (about the same size, lots of striping). I took one step back and it turned to the right. Sheeessshh! There was this Coopers Hawk staring at me no more than 15 feet away. I set my tripod down as gently as I could as it flew back about 10 feet to another branch a little farther away. I took two shots and realized that it was almost too big for the frame. So I rotated the camera 90 degrees and managed to take 5 more shots before it flew off with a second hawk. It truly was a gift on my birthday.