A Walk Paused for a 'Moment of Silence'

So, do you remember the other day when I posted this photo? 

I said it was a 'clue' left for me by the flock of White Ibis so I could hunt them down on my morning walk.  It was a great clue and I eventually found the birds.  Well, today on my walk I came across this:

This is not a clue. This, if you are a small bird, is a warning to fly far, far away...and to everyone else, it is a murder scene.

From what we could surmise, this was once a mockingbird. We have tons of mockingbirds in our neighborhood - they are the Florida state bird, after all - and during Spring they are vicious little birds! I have, on more than one occasion, experienced their wrath of dive-bombing when they are protecting their nest.

The 'murder scene' tells me (and all the birds in the area) that our neighborhood Cooper's Hawk is back again. The Cooper's Hawk mainly eats medium-sized birds - like doves, pigeons and jays - although they also will eat rabbits, mice and squirrels.

Our neighborhood hawk is so fast that most of the time you don't even see him until he is flying away with his prey! However, a few months ago the hawk was here and he did set up shop on our neighbor's fence; Ma was quick to catch a photo, through the sliding glass door, before he flew away.

Anyway, when we came upon the 'scene' this morning, Ma and I paused in our walk for a moment of silence.  I hope the poor little bird didn't suffer too much in the end.  It is always sad to lose an anipal.