I have no way of knowing if anyone bothered to look at my beauties, since I got no replies in what I viewed as an urgent situation. I made the decision after some thought, that I was going to leave the cats alone. After all, I told myself, that I was planning on finding some host plants for cats, and so now I have. I know they're moths and not butterflies, but after more looking around, have found that they most likely will not kill the plant. Sue, who would like to know if anyone has read this

I don't know why, but the last 2 times in as many days that I've tried to respond on this thread, my comment has just disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle or something. Today, from inside my house, I heard the same screaming. Stepping out on my front walk, I could tell it was up in my pine tree. Look as I might, I could not see the hawk, but there was a ton of noise and commotion up there. I think I saw some grackles and some bluejays hoppping around, and I still wasn't positive there was even a hawk up there, despite the screams (not being a bird expert, I don't know the calls for certain). I thought maybe it was the blue jays screaming. This time I had the camera. i took a step onto the grass under the trees to aim for a better vantage point, but before I could do anything else, a HUGE (wide wingspan) bird flapped out of the tree, away from me and my house, and flew off into the distance. With him flew at least two smaller birds (same as last time). He didn't seem to be chased by them. They seemed to be companions? wingmen? LOL I dont' know. Anyway, I stupidly was trying to turn on my camera although it was already on and I didn't get a picture. I'm marvelling at the fact that this large bird can hide itself in the trees so well. This is the second time I was certain of it's location in a particular tree but still could not see it. Anyway, I think it's pretty cool!

Always a treat to hear about your 'babies', Caroline. We're on round three of Cardinals -- if the young ones a-courtin' now lay eggs. We have mature arbor vitae around two sides of our lot -- and some privit that they seem to favor. I was drawn to the creek last week by calling between a pair of (I think?) Flickers and their four 'kids'. (Whistling cries; spotted breasts; red 'gorgets' on their necks.) They were searching for insects on tree trunks -- and probably finding plenty of emerald ash borers. We have some big tree removal bills coming up!

I can't say I totally agree with the above. Sure, I have many hawks at my house, but there are a few ways you can deter them slightly. First, keep your feeders right by a shelter (an evergreen bush, shrub, etc. is fine) or put large nesting boxes out to hide from predators when needed. Another thing I would do is keep feeders that give hawks a hard time at reaching- ie, caged feeders, or in your case, covered ground feeders. One idea is to feed the birds on/off every week or two so that the hawk doesn't see the yard as a steady feeding area. Also, keep in mind, hawks and owls don't generally eat birds that often, it is falcons and kites you should really worry about... But then again, winter really pushes the boundaries a bit. Of course there are things you can do, but none are foolproof. Embothrium, of you're reading, as long as the areas are cleaned and sanitized each season, bird feeding is great for the birds as it is a healthy source of food. Winter is especially hard, and there will be less disease in winter.... Lazy_Gardens, as I mentioned, agreed, but it doesn't have to be predictable. Rockybird, if the hawk nests very close to you, you may have a bigger problem, but if it's farther away you should be okay if you take into consideration the above (with hopefully less casualties:), and do you know what type of hawk you are dealing with? I only have experience with red tailed hawks. Good luck :).