Wow! Very, very cool! Hackberry is a wonderful tree. I know of 5 butterflies that it host. Mourning Cloak, Snout, Hackberry and Tawny Emperors, plus Question Marks. Then, it also makes berries for birds. The Monarchs should be there soon. Two laying eggs in Northern VA on the Journey North sightings.

Pankhi...This year was the first nesting in our pine tree that I have ever seen.This Mama Hummer is on her second batch! She made 2 nests in 2 different pine trees about 20 ft apart, so I guess I can say they like large pine trees and some bushtits are about 5 ft from her in the same tree!! The nest have been within 10 to 12 ft off the ground in the lower branches so we can see the nest real well. The first babies did great despite all our rain and hail the last of Feb.I was worried.I will try and post a picture in the gallery!I have a small pond that has been in about 6 years, so you have to be patient. I have a feeder and other plants that attract hummers.I am not too sure how many species you have in your area and the likelyhood of them breeding in your area. Check out hummingbirds.net it has ALOT of hummer info! Happy bird watching! Pam

It looks from here to be a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, as already stated. The tail on Accipiters is long with wide bands, and this bird has that. As for the differences between Accipiters, juvenile Cooper's Hawks have fine brown chest streaks that usually come short of the belly, and this bird has that. So, good call.

No, nothing like that. I'm starting to think of more unlikely explanations. The city is pretty good about keeping mosquitoes down, I wonder if someone diluted the spray incorrectly that the truck comes through and sprays the neighborhoods sometimes? If for some reason the local birds did get done in, hopefully birds from neighboring towns will move in. I miss having them, I enjoyed seeing them at my feeders.