Looks like a Coopers to me as well. I had one spend the day in the backyard on Saturday. Needless to say, I didn't much in the way of other birds. ;)

One dog dies last year and I believe the other did this year. Maybe she just got tired of them and gave them up. It has been quite quiet around here, neighbors have commented on it. As for moving should she replace them, I inherited the house I grew up in. My mother designed it, my father built it. There are over 400 specific plants in the gardens and there is just too much sentimentality involved, not to mention that I am a bit old to be relocating. For now, her hedges have thickened and grown tall enough that all anyone sees is a nice green backdrop for my gardens. You would not even know there was a house in there. It is very unfortunate because the house has an excellent picture window that used to overlook the valley. Last summer, in the only patch of sun filled area in her yard, she had a lawn chair out and was sunning herself. I could only see her through a bathroom window and she looked like the proverbial beached whale. I pulled the curtains to stop from laughing. The dogs are just a memory now....

thats a sad lesson about nature for your kids. maybe the other nestlings will have a better ending.

Sure looks like a young Cooper's hawk. Cooper's hawks and sharp-shinned hawks (both immature and adult) look very much alike and can be very difficult to tell apart. Sharpies are the smaller of the two (a little larger than a blue jay) and Cooper's are crow-sized. Sharpies also have a square-tipped tail whereas the tip of the Cooper's tail is rounded which appears to be the case in your photo. Both fly with shallow wingbeats in a quick flap, flap glide pattern though the smaller sharpie will have quicker, more spastic wingbeats than the larger Cooper's. Hope that helps. Beautiful hawk you have there and nice pictures! One question to the experts: Anyone seeing an eye stripe or is it just me? I really doubt is a young goshawk but just wondering.