JD- I would suggest leaving your feeders up until Thanksgiving. I am just north of you near Pottstown and had a Rufous hummingbird in my garden in 2009. They typically migrate late, October or November and are very rare. We get up to 12 a year in our area and I know they have been banded in West Chester and Lancaster (the bander could not catch mine). You are right in the middle of an area known for the unusual Rufous migration. If you are very lucky, you might see this very rare (for us) bird. If you spot a hummingbird in October or later, please contact a hummingbird bander. Scott is the one for our area. He has more information on the new migration pattern for Rufous hummingbirds here: http://www.scottweidensaul.com/hummingbirds/ Bellatrix Here is a link that might be useful: My Rufous Hummingbird

I had blue jays kill a cat of mine. Now I keep my cats inside - that way, they don't kill the small birds and the large birds (or foxes, coons, coyotes) don't kill them. It's a trade-off. I do have a feeder a few feet from the window so the cats can dream. They love watching. I get all kinds of birds (large avian predators included), rats, squirrels, coons and more. I let nature do what it wants outside. We keep safe inside.

ok, i have waited this long because i couldn't narrow it down. my first love at a raptor dates back to kindergarten- the bald eagle. actually it is pretty "ironic": i can remember asking my mom for a quarter to "help save the bald eagles" i don't know if it was the teacher, or if it was the school, but i remember i needed to take it to class. so, here i was 30 years later, fighting development of plum island as a preserve for their winter and nesting sight. i am proof that educating children and raising their awareness works! now, on the other extreme, i just love the kestrel. this is strange for me because i am a "bigger the better" kind of person- irish wolfhound definitely preferred over a small dg, give me a horse- make it a "heavy horse" there is just something about the spirit of the bird being bigger than its size. i really think they have taht warrior spirit despite that apparant fragility i have heard of when kept captive. although i have never had experience with them. owl are just too tough to decide between. again, the raptors seem to win me over despite size- oh, that screech owl's song! a am partial to barn owls simply because ot the endangered/threatened status. i have never seen one! the great horned does win over the barred, but that doesn't make the barred any less "endearing." i do like the turkey vulture, too. so that about sums it up (love red tails in flight calls, they are always saying something) i ahven't gone in to many species. mostly i am trying to stick to the ones of my area. but, the harpy eagle, now there is a magnificent bird! anyone see jeff corwin with the harpy on his arm? it kept pecking his head. i say pecking because with that kind of strenght it was more like a love tap!

I found this post after I had posted on the "pets" forum the following: "We have a pup, 2 1/2 months old, weighs 8 lbs. We live in the middle of woods in a very rural area. She loves being outside and is gradually exploring further and further from the front porch. We have all kinds of wildlife here, but my main concern are the owls and hawks. Are they a danger to an 8 pound pup? I can't seem to find a definite answer online about this, varying opinions everywhere. We have barred owls and great horned owls, which are pretty big. We also have red-tailed hawks. At what size do we not worry anymore about the pup? We also have seen racoons, foxes, bobcat, and have been told we have coyotes, but I've never seen one. I'm not as concerned about those because they pretty much stay away from the house. Our property is big but is fenced with field fence all around." All the answers on that were "be concerned". I'm seeing both sides to this here. So I guess to be safe I'd better keep a close watch until she gets to be around 15 pounds, which should be in about 6 more weeks.