My sister, Allison, was visited this morning by an immature male Northern Goshawk.  She first spotted it in her yard where it had a still squirming pigeon on the ground.  It then flew off under some white pines and stripped the feathers off, then took the carcass under some spruce trees to eat.  The final eating place was about 20 -30 feet from her living room window,  where she was putting up new curtain rods.  So that project came to a halt, concerned her activity would scare it off.   She called me and I helped her identify it as a Goshawk, not a Cooper’s Hawk, and by various size comparisons she’s sure it’s a male, not a female.  She finally got a good look at the eye stripe, present in the adult and immature, so that clinched it.

 

I convinced her to risk going outside with her good camera and telephoto to get some pictures.  He flew off with the remains about 5 minutes after she took the attached shots.  These photos were taken through the rain, with no  flash (for fear of scaring him, given she was so close), and the bird was under the darker cover of brush.  Not bad, considering all that!   

 

Photographer is Allison Jones, owner of Applegarth Farm and Pottery,  Maryland, NY.