dera kristen,The bird I saw in greentree (i also saw one in my yard ) was huge-Id been to our avairy once & seen a bald eagle-it wasnt that big!!but it was not a red tail hawk,or a peragrine falcon-Im familar w those from living in Pgh almost my whole life-Ive never seen a bird like this,but saw it twice when i was pregnant w my son who is now 18 months old(i bought a digital cam in case it returns too)It was two or three times the size of our falcons it could have easily taken my 15 lb (fat) cat who was outside staring at it ,as it ate a rat in a tree,it had a predator brak(looked very sharp ripping up a rat) silvery chest feathers & golden shoulders(i could only see its front)& it stood about 3 ft high-ive never seen a pic of a golden eagle,but it was definately an eagle of some sort-it was magnificent!!!-we first saw one while driving to parkway center mall(on a dead tree that sticks out of the woods on greentree rd & ridgemont),& saw one the same fall in my yard,in a tree,I was supposed to be on total bedrest w my pregnancy,but Pat helped carry me outside,so that I wouldnt miss this unbelivable bird!we even bought a camera in case we ever see it again,I checked pics of falcons in case,but as i thought ,it was much to big to have been a falcon-whatever it was,we havent had a pigeon problem since:) we used to be plauged w pigeons clogging our feeder-maybe thats what attracted it to my yard?Anyway that year our pigeon problem disappeared.I would love to know what that bird was,I really believe it was some kind of an eagle,if i ever see it again I will get pics,as this was a most unusual sighting of an unusual feathered friend!I will google for a pic of a golden eagle as im not familiar w them,maybe thats the bird? I can check for a pic & will let you know,I still look for it every weekend,when we drive my son to the yugio tournament at parkway center mall-we cant keep our camera in the car anymore(our car got stolen last year w 2 cameras in it) but I would drive home & get it if i see it again this year.PS does your monarda get powdery mildew ? mine have it so bad Ive pulled most of it up-i only had pink & purple too-maybe the hummingbirds dont like it?this year,Im planning a strategy,Im getting more salvias from TX(i missed bringing mine in & they froze!!),planted agastaches,lobelias(red & blue) planted penstemons,& am having red cypress vine seeds & red glads to go w the perennial foxgloves that i brought from moms house(SHE GOT HUMMINGBIRDS!!) ,I also planted delphenium(may have to replace if they dont make it,i planted so late)& texas red star hibiscus-& Im also adding red trumpet vine.if i dont get hummingbirds this year I will be upset,where should i place my feeders? Pat said they need shade,but if i plant them under my tree,the hummers wont see them,will they? He also said to move the feeders further from the house-mine is about 10 ft from my kitchen door,does placement matter?Im really willing to do or grow anything to get these birds-I saw some at my neighbors torch lily when i moved here,i planted torch lily-nothing!!!maybe I should visit the avairy!!!We all went once & the birds there are amazing!!I never realised the size of the bald eagles!!massive!!!A lady i knew had a job there feeding them-she said they eat on fine china?true or not? she was such an idiot that she lost that great job,so i didnt know if i should believe her or not?well thanks again for your informative response..I will check for a golden eagle pic,as that might be my mystery bird!!...jean

Patty, I really don't think I am brave at all. I am a huge chicken and venomous snakes simply terrify me. I just do what I can to survive. I knew, realistically speaking, that we'd have venomous snakes when we moved to a rural area. Knowing it would happen, though, is not the same thing as having it happen! I just don't think I realized how many we'd see some years nor did I understand how much the close encounters would affect me. I am, truly, a big fraidy-cat. I will say that living in the country is not for sissies. Venomous snake encounters are not nearly as frightening as running into a cougar, panther, feral pig, rutting deer or rabid skunk....all of which we've encountered here. And, when you buy formerly "raw" land where local residents have hunted for decades, you WILL encounter poachers on your land and they WILL tell you that they've always hunted on this land and they aren't going to stop now just because you bought the land and put a house on it. And you'd better be armed and ready to defend yourself, and you'd better call the sherriff and report each incident and make it clear you will prosecute, which is only possible if your land is properly posted, by the way. So, not all snakes are animals..... We cleared out all the human snakes found on our property in just a couple of years, but the actual reptiles will be with us forever because we're so close to the Red River. I love, love, love living in the country and there are MANY enjoyable wildlife experiences.....bunnies, birds, fish, turtles, lizards, frogs, toads, squirrels, foxes, bats, dragonflies and damselflies, etc. I've had the great fortune to observe both bald eagles and golden eagles flying overhead or sitting on the tops of haybarns or trees. How wonderful is that? And, 99.9% of the people you encounter are wonderful, but there are a few that are scarey. So, you take the good with the bad and just try to go with the flow. Carol, I am as careful as I can be.....and, truly, I feel like God is watching over me and pray he continues to do so. Once, DS and I stepped into a "bunch" of coppperheads--a mother and 15 or 20 babies.....in the middle of the pasture. We fled from them....they fled from us, and somehow, we weren't bitten. (We were scared almost to death.) Those snakes are why we now mow 8' wide paths through all our pastures, and walk only on those paths!) Another time I was walking through my garden on a chilly fall morning and stepped right over a western diamondback rattlesnake that was coiled up in a path. I DIDN'T EVEN SEE IT! Luckily, DS was with me and said something like "Um, Mom, don't move because there's a rattlesnake right behind you." Of course, I moved.....immediately jumped forward a few feet and turned and stared at that snake, wondering all the while why it didn't strike me. DS went to the house, got a gun....and you know the rest. On yet another occasion, I was raking leaves and picking them up and putting them into a bag to carry them to my compost pile, and I suddenly realized a small pygmy rattlesnake was about 3" from my hand and was poised to strike......and, since I was crouched down low, I simultanouesly droppped the handful of leaves and the bag, and somersaulted backwards to get away. I didn't enter the woods for months after that. Those are a few examples....but there have been many snake encounters, and I honestly believe that it is only through God's grace that I haven't been bitten. For what it is worth, I don't hate all snakes, and I know that without them being here to eat all the field mice and meadow voles, we'd be overrun with rodents. We don't kill non-venomous snakes unless they are in our henhouse eating eggs, keats or chicks. I've even rescued non-venomous snakes which were being attacked by our cats, chickens, dogs or guineas. We have 14.5 acres and we pretty much leave the 10 or 11 wooded acres to the snakes during snake season. Then, in the winter months, we clear pathways and remove brush and enjoy walking through the woods (with dogs and cats tagging along behind us), but we don't kill snakes in the woods....we just avoid them during the 6 months of "snake season". In the couple of acres closest to the house, though, venomous snakes aren't tolerated. And, really, one of my biggest fears ISN'T that a venomous snakes will bite me, but rather that it will get away before we can kill it. If the venomous snakes are near the house, barn or garden, I want them dead. I'm really enjoying the cool weather too. During the cool spell a couple of weeks ago, we got down to 44 or 45 a couple of nights and I was deliriously happy in those early morning temps. I knew, though, it wasn't quite sweater weather, yet, and of course we haven't been that cool again, but it is in the 50s here this morning and that is nice. I know what you're saying about the nuts on the roof of the bunhouse! Our chicken coop and guinea coop are under a pecan tree and their roofs get showered with nuts too. Then the poultry begins squawking and carrying on because they think a predator is trying to come in through the roof. (A previous chicken coop had a fiberglass skylight to let in some light, and a large owl once crashed through that skylight in an effort to get himself some chicken, so their fear is not exactly unwarranted.) Fall is my favorite time of year except for the part about the snakes being up and about....and the knowledge that colder weather is coming. Once we've had several hard freezes and the snakes are denned up for the winter, I enjoy fall even more! I made it through a whole day Friday without running into a snake, so my nerves have calmed down a little. Well, actually, I saw the same snake Friday morning that I saw Thursday night, because we had to lift the bucket, retrieve it and get rid of it. It wasn't as scarey, though, because I KNEW it was there. To me, the most upsetting snake is the big, black, often 6-foot-long rat snakes that get in the chicken coop. I HATE even seeing them at all....even if we are a mile from the house and I see one crossing the road, it just makes me feel ill. I hope I've seen my last venomous snake of the year, but at the same time, I am sure I haven't. Dawn

Thinking it over and looking at evidence. I'm ruling out everything but Crows, Hawks, and Red Squirrels (for these 3 nests). The one nest that had been disturbed had chicken wire loosely surrounding it so a Raccoon (or other large climbing critter)would have left a bend in it. I am hearing the baby Crows begging however I have not heard any ruckuses from frantic parents. Maybe very early morning attacks? I cant do anything about the Crows but I can do something about the Squirrels (I don't want to) but if I find they are the culprits..........

The Phillies won the World Series earlier this year. The Eagles winning their first Super Bowl would be INCREDIBLE, but it would be very cool if both titles were in Pennsylvania, even if the *ugh* Steelers had to do it. :-)