Just hadda share about hawks. Came to this forum to ask a bird question but this post subject intrigued me so I hadda check it out. I've had a hawk in my area for several years now, but only seen him in flight or sitting up on top of a dead tree a block away. But what happend the other day was new to me. There's a small tree across the street that all my sparrows fly to after they feed at my front yard feeders. I was out in my garden and guess I got 'lucky.' All of a sudden, I saw a big bird go flying into that tree !! At first I thought it was a pigeon since I have to deal with them, as well. But it turned out to be that hawk !! I say I got lucky, because I feel as others have said, it's nature and I've never seen a hawk THAT close to the ground!! Anyway, birds scattered, flying out of the tree all at once, making a big ruckus. Then out flew few stragglers, then even a few more after that. Seeing some of them taking so long, I was sure he'd snagged one. I took a chance and walked s-l-o-w-l-y across the street to see if he was feasting on one (not to sound morbid, but once again...it's nature). I wasn't even sure he was still in the tree but as I got about three feet away, out he flew and then just stopped and landed on a fence post, only several feet away from me. He even looked over at me as if to say, "HA HA, you can't catch me, but I'll let you SEE me." He was close enough that for the first time in my life, I could see his markings, his eyes, his magnificance. I took a another step closer and of course, he flew away...towards my house, across the neighbor's roof and then off, off and away. But it was a wonderful experience for me. I was so taken aback that I called my mom and said I wish I had a zoom camera ALWAYS hanging around my neck. My camera phone just wouldn't have done justice. I'm glad he didn't get any of my 'babies' and don't wish death on any animal, but it's survival of the fittest. It's the balance of nature. Of course -- I need to state that I DID NOT read every post in this forum so I may be expressing something that is in total opposition to another post or even the topic at hand. If so, I apologize..... But I just HADDA share. It was soooo cool. bonnie aka brit5467

I used to feed stale bread to the outside birds.My neighbors dad,who lived at the house part time after retiring to Pa,,,told me it was no good for the birds. So for the last 5 years I have bought wild bird seed,..A year or so ago my neighbor told me I needed to stop feeding them as they pooped on his 50 thousand dollar truck.I told him to F off...Months later I got a warning from town saying I can only feed them with a bird feeder,...I got one,,,,Then he told me not to feed them more than once a day.At 63,with a bad hip,I fed them if I happened to see it empty whenever that was.I got a ticket from town saying the food that falls to the ground as they eat,is illegal.,,,How can people be so mean?

Yes, I feed the birds...including those that eat on the ground, like pigeons and doves, and possums, squirrels, raccoons, and a wild pig. :)) I buy black oil sunflower seeds, but most of my other food is donated, and I feed the donated food to my dogs and cats, so it isn't much for me to buy the sunflower seeds, when I consider what it would cost to feed 2 dogs and 20+ cats. I had 25 of the Hurricane Ike orphan squirrels here but the rehabbers donated 10 lb. of pecan halves and 10 lb. of walnut halves...premium, food grade stuff...for them. I also have horses, and their feed has gone down a dollar over the past 6 weeks. Still not back to the original price, but I was surprised that anything came down. If you think feeding birds is expensive, I have 4 horses and it costs me $420 a month to feed them during the winter. It is $180 for their feed, and $240 a month for hay, but fortunately, I only have to buy hay a couple more months...have enough pasture for warm weather. But, even tho I could get by feeding them cheaper, they are old and I feel like they need a good quality grain and hay...so that's what they get. If I didn't receive the donated food, which I get thousands of pounds of per month....there is no way I could feed all the animals here, but we have some good sponsors who donate to us every week, including 4 animal shelters, Houston Food Bank, and the wildlife center. A Walmart gives us all of their ripped bags. I got a lot of thistle seed a few months ago from the Food Bank, and have been waiting for the gold finches, which are just now showing up here.

christine - I would probably lick my own fingers. My dogs views on peanut butter... "what kind of pill are you trying to get me to take this time?" :) mimipadv! I just had my first blue bird! Before I could really enjoy his presence, something scared off all the birds, darn it. From what I've read, blue birds can be hard to attract so I wasn't expecting to see one so soon. Hopefully this one will come back and bring a friend or two.