Cooper's Hawk~ A Frequent Ranch Visitor

I was finally able to capture a decent shot of a frequent ranch visitor.  A Cooper's Hawk.  As Paige and I were driving up the hill to our house in the middle of the day, this guy was perched on the T-post waiting for something to capture himself.  Or maybe, he too was fooled by the Flipping the Bird Decoys that are still sitting upon the fence.

Well, whatever the reason, I was glad to have my camera laying in the passenger's seat ready to go.  This guy is really big.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  I wish I had a gotten a little closer.

But this is as close as I could get before he flew off.

This is also one of the reasons we would go outside with Chloe at night for her last potty break of the day.  She has been circled by a few of these as well as the resident barn owls on more than one occasion.

A little later in the afternoon, we found a grasshopper on one of Bryce's boots.  Now, I'm not usually keen on picking up crawly things but when I was a kid I would catch grasshoppers all day long growing up in Penngrove.  I thought it was so much fun.  And I haven't done it since, until this day.  And it was just as fun!

I wanted Paige and Bryce to experience the feeling of holding a grasshopper....Paige went for it, Bryce did not.

 And this is how we ended the day......yet again.

 Happy Saturday!