Cooper’s Hawk: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — We had gathered at my daughter and son-in-law’s home in Santa Fe for a backyard cookout / rehearsal dinner for their one year, delayed due to Covid, celebration of their wedding vows…20 or so people chatting in groups in the backyard, when a biggish bird swooped down at about 5 feet through the yard, just at my wife’s eyelevel and only about a foot from her face, and then swooped up into the tree over the grill. It sat there for at least 15 minutes giving us the eye as at least some of us paused to wonder at it. I was the official casual photographer at the event so I had my camera in my hand and got some photos. At first I thought the hawk had some plastic wrapped around its talons and tail, but closer examination of the photos when I got home showed that it had picked up something furry and apparently grabbed the plastic along with whatever it caught. After a while it moved on into a tree in the next yard, where it stayed for at least the next hour. Hopefully it got its prey, and itself, untangled from the plastic before it moved on. We have seen three individual Cooper’s Hawks in the 5 days we have been Santa Fe…one at the Santa Fe River Preserve where it is to be expected…this one making this unexpected visit to a backyard full of people…and another hunting House Sparrow along the Camino Real hike and bike trail along the Santa Fe River channel. It must be a good year for Cooper’s Hawks in Santa Fe. Sony Rx10iv at about 370mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.