While out taking photos I saw this Pied Billed Grebe with fishing wire tangled around his beak and neck
I watched it for a while, saw it try and fail to eat a crawfish because it couldn't get its mouth all the way open. After a while, it swam up to me and just kind of lingered a few feet away.
So I decided to do the only rational thing, and grabbed a bird
Removed the wire, did a quick once-over to make sure there wasn't anymore, and off they swam
This hawk was in an oak tree outside my backyard fence this morning. I tried taking a photo through the storm door because it was raining. But some leaves were covering the head of the hawk, so I made a hasty waterproof cover for my camera and went out into the rain to get some photos. I think that this is a Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) based on its size, but it could be a sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus). I'm basically guessing between the two they look so much alike.
Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high-speed pursuit of other birds. … With their smaller lookalike, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawks make for famously tricky identifications. Both species are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds).