Suzanne you left out the part about: The brown stinky stuff in the road you just ran over is manure either from the dairy farm down the road or the neighbor's horses. Great fertilizer also but it IS messy when it's thrown from tractor tires or it falls off the truck during transport. Don't put the top down on your cute little car and don't call to complain about it either. Welcome to the country. For Eagle fans here's a link for you. Click on live Eagle cam and enjoy. Here is a link that might be useful: Eagle Cam

I fully agree. I have a pair of birds apparently nesting somewhere on my property that I frequently see mating (or snagging birds from my birdfeeder. . . .) that I can't get close enough to with my binoculars to readily identify. Although I have fairly positively identified Coopers as being around, this pair could be either species. What's interesting is that I also have mated pairs of both Red Tails & Red Shoulders on the property, & the 3 pairs are always bickering between themselves. Even the crows won't get involved when they're going at it - lol!

It's sometimes a process, rehabber46, just learning (sometimes the hard way) what to do or not do. I see it all around me, the destruction of habitat as the city encroaches on the more 'wild' part of a county. People fleeing the 'city' move into portions of the county that were basically flattened and stripped of trees and shrubs, acres of it. Makes no sense to me, to be honest. Those bare and manicured yards are often kept that way with pesticides. Heck, we don't even spray for mosquitos. We just let the bats do the job for us. Right now, my yard is covered in tons of leaves. Many people don't know this, but some 300 species of insects (butterflies, moths, native bees, etc) overwinter in leaves, many of them attached to the very things most rake, mulch, mow, and clip away. Leaving leaves on the lawn, undisturbed, means far more beautiful and beneficial insects in the coming spring, and it also means more food for the birds as well. We've planted 2 plots of garden for hummingbirds and butterflies (and bees of course), and we've also planted native shrubs (additional ones to those already out there) for birds. American Beautyberry was our most recent. We have oaks that drop an abundance of acorns, several black cherry trees, maples, pine, and tons more. Even holly is beneficial to birds. As long as it's native, it's beneficial. As they say... fresh food, water sources, and shelter (for protection against predators and nesting), and you'll be helping nature thrive. Honestly, it's a lot less yard work when the shrubs are left 'scrubby' and the leaves are left until the temps are back into the 50's consistently, when raking is less harmful to what's overwintering in those leaves. I see more and more people going for the 'cottage garden' or 'wild garden' look for both just landscape.. and even vegetable gardens. I prefer the more messy and wild gardens than the sterile landscapes of most suburbs.

I, too, would think it would have to be a hungry Coopers that would tackle a grown Grey Squirrel, but I'm sure there are Hawks just that hungry, when they haven't been successful for a day or two--particularly at this time of year, when they need sustinence to survive the cold weather. But, with luck, and just the right death-blow to the Squirrel, it can be done, as in christy's photo. Not far from where christy2828 captured that neat picture, a friend of mine owns an organic market, and while visiting with him the other day, in front of his store, I was somewhat shocked to see a Coopers Hawk fly down to the parking lot in front of his store, and try to catch a House Sparrow (which we call English Sparrows in this area) that was pecking around near a parked car. The Hawk flew next to the car, and the House Sparrow went UNDER the car, and actually got up into the undercarriage of it to escape the Hawk. I couldn't believe it when the Coopers Hawk went under the car, looking around for the Sparrow. The Hawk knew the Sparrow was there somewhere, since it went under the car, and did not fly away. The Hawk walked around under the car, looking behind the tires, etc., for quite a few minutes, before coming out the other side, walking around a bit more, then flying up to a tree. I had never seen such a thing, as a Coopers Hawk actually hunting on FOOT, not from the air. I got the idea that he had been playing this cat and mouse game with other Sparrows in the parking lot--he seemed so casual about it all, not paying a bit of attention to me and my friend, just a very short distance away. Of course, it was in a strip mall in town, so I'm sure the Hawk had no reason to fear people. My friend told me the Hawk hunts outside his store all the time, generally perching in the Sycamore trees in front of the store. He said he had seen the Hawk crash into the hedge in front of his store, to get a Sparrow, and one time, crash into his window, in an unsuccessful attempt--then, shook itself off, and flew back up to the tree. Boldest Coopers Hawk I ever saw--but I guess that's what it takes to catch Sparrows in the city--no fear!