They are about ready to fledge. Not far from us a couple of houses are under siege. A pair of red-tailed hawks build a nest in a tree right next to the deck. Not only does the deck get pretty messy, the owners of the house cannot use it, their next door neighbor had a vegetable garden and can't tend it and if they go out the front door, they have to defend themselves with rakes or anything else long, in order to get to the mailbox. They had the problem last year, were allowed to take down the nest after the chicks had left, but they rebuilt this year. They were advised to take down the tree. The owls have left the nest, the loon in Minnesota is still sitting on her eggs and the storks in Germany lost the last baby to hatch, but four was a bit much to raise, even three are hard to feed. A couple of Blue Jays think I am their foster mother and beg every time I go out. Young squirrels were also told to stay here and since 3 days a racoon spends his days sleeping in the big oak. Not to forget the Cardinal who sits twice a day on a dogwood branch next to the backdoor and sings for his peanut. How am I supposed to get any work done?

Hey Dave- I grew up in Oakhurst and actually went to kindergarten at the Methodist Church. I was up and down Monmouth Rd. at least 6 times today and once I actually glanced up at the steeple remembering the day the put it up!! Very spooky!!! I always am amazed at the amount of birds in our area also. I now am in Shark River Hills (which kind of reminds me of Oakhurst) and I have quite the bird sanctuary in my backyard. I unfortunately do not have an awesome camera, as you do. I love raptors. I'm always driving on Rt. 18 looking at them soaring above-I have a convertible. I know...doesn't sound too safe!! There are many hawks in the area of Deal Rd.- just west of Logan. I guess with Palaia Park (Deal Test Site to me), there is plenty of room to nest. Keep posting those pics and hopefully you have some good painkillers for that tooth!!

If the hawk is hungry enough or a scavenger doesn't get it first, they all seem to balance nature out. It's not a "stupid" hawk it's simply doing what it's programed to do.

Hi Donna, it's beautiful! Great picture and I'm sure everyone on here will love it. I've been over here quite a bit. Believe it or not, raptors are what first got me interested in birding altogether. (5+ yrs ago) I'm a member and volunteer of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, which is in Kempton, PA and every year at this time I trek up there on the weekends to watch the migrating raptors and songbirds. This past Saturday I saw 17 bald eagles up there!