There are three things I worry about with cats (all of which may be at least partially unfounded). One is that the cat would kill a lot of birds. I hear people talking about this a lot, but am unsure exactly how much of a problem it would be. Another is that the cat might not really do the job. I've heard that some cats are good at getting rid of rodents and others just have no interest. I'd hate to have one make friends with my voles. The last is that the cat would damage things itself. I know other gardens have cats that don't seem to do much damage, but I've seen cats dig up plants, heard about cats killing grass and plants with urine, and seen them leave poop surprises in my flower beds. It's not a good feeling when you realize the dirt clod you just broke up was a little more than dirt.

Okay, I may have been way off with my thinking that this was a sharp-shinned hawk. I have had adults in my yard before and I assumed that this was a juvenile. However, this could be a common nighthawk which we have around here. I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and the whip-poor-will is not common in my area. My book says they are more common in southwestern Sask. and I am east central Sask. Can anyone identify this bird for sue?

Thanks elly! My nephew has one those huge telephone nikon lens so he wasn't close at all. The female hunted our property every week this winter and got so she'd hide until I started calling in the Stellar Jays to get the peanuts. She'd then know about 10 to 20 stellars would be coming in. She got several til I checked her favorite trees before calling. I call her Lady and she posed for me quite often. I could get as close as just below her tree. She'd wait til I did my morning feeds for the birds and follow me around quietly and always manage to get a jay, junco or starling. I'd often see her sneeking in to hide as I got out my supplies. Here is a link that might be useful: sharp-shinned hawk cropped 2

It looks from here to be a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, as already stated. The tail on Accipiters is long with wide bands, and this bird has that. As for the differences between Accipiters, juvenile Cooper's Hawks have fine brown chest streaks that usually come short of the belly, and this bird has that. So, good call.