The world's woes, and certainly my own, are easier to deal with after I have some time with nature. Yesterday I was greeted by two hawks on my walk through the forest. Some of the photographs below include them and some are from last week's outing. It's a favorite habit of mine, to take a daily stroll where birds are chirping, hunting, flying, playing, singing, sleeping and otherwise making the most of their day. And, if you follow my blog at all, you know I like the furry critters and insects too.

"The human spirit needs places where nature
 has not been rearranged by the hand of man." 
 ~Author Unknown

My good friend, Jake, emailed me and corrected my identification of these hawks. Here's what he wrote:

I jumped on your blog briefly and noticed the hawk pictures you have up on your "Nature is good company" page. I just thought I'd let you know that all of those hawks are actually of the same species. They are called Cooper's Hawks. The thing that probably threw you off was the color difference between the mature bird (rust colored breast with bluish back) and the more plain colored immature birds. The immature Cooper's Hawks will molt out this summer and grow new feathers that will look just like that pretty tiercel (male) you got pictures of. 

"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, 
which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright."
  ~Henry David Thoreau

"If you compare the pictures to each other, you will see that they are all of the same build, beak shape, eye shape, etc. The other change that they make over time is the change of their eye color from yellow to blood red. The Cooper's Hawk is a member of the Accipiter family which includes Goshawks (Gos-Hawk), and Sharp-Shinned Hawks. They all look very similar to each other, size being the best way to tell them apart although it's sometimes tough to tell Sharpies from Coops unless you get a good look at the tail. Sharp Shinned have a squared off tail with feathers of the same length, whereas Cooper's hawks have a rounded tip to their tail because the outside tail feathers are shorter than the center tail feathers. They are one of my favorite hawks. I don't think that there is a more tenacious and blood thirsty raptor out there. They're kind of like the wolverine of the hawk world and they are mainly bird eaters. They are the cause of the prejudice that poultry farmers and game keepers in America have had for all hawks for over a hundred years. The government even had a bounty on them at one time. Surprise, surprise.  Well, this might be more info than you wanted about them, but they are a fascinating bird that few people know about." 

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  
The winds will blow their own freshness into you, 
and the storms their energy, while cares 
will drop off like autumn leaves. 
 ~John Muir