Raptors are common here. Though usually they’re soaring overhead rather than perched in the trees facing the abbey. I’ll let the chickens out later this morning, when I’m sure the coast is clear.
Update: A friend on Facebook identifies this as a sharp shinned/Cooper’s hawk and says that they don’t normally go after chickens. Judging from a Wikipedia photo, I believe this is a young hawk.
Here’s a picture of the juvenile Cooper’s Hawk that hangs out in the white oak in the common area behind my townhouse. Does it look like the one hangin out up there in Stokes County?
http://agoodsnapshot.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-garden-waiting-on-lunch.html
Karen in Greensboro
Yep. They look the same to me…