More feathered visitors - big and very small

I spent part of Sunday afternoon in my backyard doing observations for my second weekend of FeederWatching. It had been several days since I had seen or heard the little female Rufous Hummingbird that had spent several weeks in my yard, so imagine my delight when I heard the chattering that announced a Rufous among the shrubbery.

When I finally was able to locate the bird and get my binoculars trained on it, though, I was in for a surprise. It was not the female but an adult male in glorious full rufous color! Of course I didn't have my camera - I never do seem to have it at these moments - so I ran inside to get it, hoping that the bird would stick around. It was feeding from my Cape honeysuckle so I figured that might keep it nearby for a while.

When I got back outside though the bird had disappeared. I sat down to watch and wait, hoping that it would return, but then suddenly my attention was distracted by another bird.

Yes, it was our resident Cooper's Hawk. He flew through the yard and perched in my neighbor's pine tree. He sat there for several minutes, long enough for me to take a series of pictures.

Once the hawk showed up, all bird activity in the yard stopped and everything became quiet and still. After several minutes the hawk flew on his way, but the Rufous Hummingbird never returned - at least while I was watching. Again today I looked for him but never saw him. He may have moved on or he may just be hiding among the leaves laughing in his feathers at my futile attempts to get his picture!