We are fortunate to have a large wooded area behind our house where we can view a variety of wildlife. About 50 yards into the woods is a fox den which has been dug under a fallen tree. The den is not used every year but when it is, we get an opportunity to view fox kits as they play and explore. A few years ago one evening, four kits came onto the backyard patio which activated the motion detector on the outside light. With the yard lit up, the kits ran around and played for few minutes then suddenly left. The light remained on for about ten minutes before turning off. We thought the action was over. Five minutes later the kits were back and as before activated the outside light. What happened next amazed us. When the light came on for the second time, we didn’t pay attention the bugs and beetles on the patio floor that had been attracted by the light. The four kits sure did and had a feast. It was almost as if they knew that the light attracts food.

A few years later another litter of kits emerged from the den. These kits were very skittish and never ventured to the house. We could view the kits from the deck but it wasn’t close enough and there were too many obstructions for a good shot. And whenever the kits saw me they would run back into the den. One morning I got up, grabbed the camera and sat down next to a tree close to the den. The kits were still in the den and I was hoping they wouldn’t notice me when they did come out.

As you can see from the photo above, one of the kits did notice me, and stared at me for about ten seconds, letting me get off a few shots before disappearing back to the den.

In April, 2010 we saw a pair of Cooper’s Hawks working on three nest sites in the trees behind the house. Although they both worked on the nests, it was the male that did most of the building. I watched everyday as they worked on each nest hoping that they would finally choose the one closest to the house. There was also the chance that they might abandon all three and nest elsewhere all together. The pair chose the one closest to the house which put me in a perfect place for viewing and photographing the hawks from a second story window.

I got very attached to the adults then the young birds that finally hatched. There were three young that hatched but only two survived. I took photographs everyday of the adults and chicks. There were many times that I thought the nest or the chicks would never make it through some of the violent thunderstorms we had. At one time I thought the adults left the nest for a couple days. On closer observation I could see the female laying very low in the nest protecting the chicks.

The two shots are only two weeks apart. In the top photo, taken in mid June the young hawk is taking in the new surroundings. As you can see, feathers are fast replacing the down. Two weeks later the two fledglings began to fly from tree to tree but were still returning to the nest. In the second photo, the young hawks are looking for the mother as she was calling to them to fly to another tree. She was training them to be on their own. A couple of days later the entire family of Cooper’s Hawks was gone.