And then a most curious thing happened. The hawk left a few scraps of skin and feathers. A day passed and then a ground squirrel came and picked up a scrap and did his sniffing, or whatever, that they do with their nose, mouth and forelimbs, and the the squirrel carried off the remaining scraps of the quail.

A shame about the quail, albert. I verbally encourage our hawks to please stick to the rapidly replacing mourning doves, house sparrows and finches, but sometimes they don't listen and get my favorite uncommon visitors. We had quail visit at our previous house, but they, and the cactus wrens, all left when the drought didn't let up, and they never returned. Hopefully your quail will find another mate.

I wonder if the squirrel thought the feathers would be a nice nest addition.

It's sad and hard to see, but nature uses everything and leaves very little behind. (unlike us humans). Speaking of squirrels doing things, one fairly severe winter I looked out my window and on the branch of the tree was a squirrel, eating a dead, frozen cardinal........just like it was an ear of corn! Couldn't believe it.

I used to hear bobwhites all the time. I think last year I heard one once, but other than that, they've been gone for awhile. :( But........every year I see a couple woodcocks. One even laid a nest of eggs in a brush pile in the field....but something got them. (Coons, no doubt). Every once in a while, some sort of quail flutters up out of the weeds, as I drive my golf cart through our property. It's an electric one, which is nice, 'cause I can be so quiet while watching nature. One time, while riding on one of our trails through our field, about 8 quail flew up. They surprised me so much, I didn't get a good look at them to see exactly what kind they were. Always so much to see in nature!

albert, I get bummed out too when hawks get birds. I know the hawks have to eat too, but I don't want to see it. The worst was when I saw red feathers (cardinal) and all week I told myself to get some brush/tree out in the open area, but I never did until after I saw those feathers. I felt terrible.

I have witnessed a hawk eating a bird too. I just let him finish...

I put our old Christmas tree out about 3 years ago and have used it ever since. Right now it's under my thistle feeder. I put seed on the ground nearby and enjoy seeing the juncos eat and take cover in my old tree. It isn't bullet proof though because I've seen feathers nearby, but I know it helps.

It's hard to know what to do. They say that you shouldn't have cover too close, 'cause something like a cat can hide in it.......But then you're supposed to have cover close, so the birds can hide. It's hard to figure out what to do.