I thought a storm had come through and done damage to the beautiful yard you just posted.

Haha, Mystical Manns...no she already did that...finished up the project on Friday, and Sat at 3am I heard a crack, smash, whomp and a whole 3rd of the maple by the pond had broken off and come down. The landscapers had to bring a crane to remove it. It was huge! Hopefully we can save the rest of the tree for years to come...

Annie, I know that must have been harsh to hear and see. We, too, had to witness such an event with a baby bird and a hawk. My husband and I had been distressed watching this bird struggling in the grass. The adult robins were feeding it and watching over it, but it’s been so terribly hot. We were almost relieved when the hawk swooped in and carried it off.

My ex and I heard some screaming and looked out the window. A hawk had a blackbird on his back in the snow, pulling his feathers out. I opened the window and yelled at him to leave him alone.

We had to leave and when we came back, there were just a few feathers in the snow. Heartbreaking. It bothered me for days. But everyone has to eat.

I found my two little pinkies at the bottom of the pine tree. The woman who taught me to feed and raise them said a bird had tried to take them out of the nest and dropped them. There were two wee puncture holes in their bodies.

Sidney and Seymour

This past spring there were quite a few birds nesting in the trees and bushes around my home. There were cardinal, wren, mourning dove and robin nests that I was aware of. One day a gang (murder??) of crows came through and ate every egg and baby they could find. I know this because I witnessed a crow systematically going from nest to nest and watched it through my living room window gulping down dove eggs - later that week I checked all of the other nests and they were empty. It was early in the season so I am pretty sure all of the birds were probably able to raise another (hopefully) successful brood of eggs.

Nature can appear to be harsh and cruel but as you know, it is survival of the fittest.

We've had two Dumb Bunnies -- or possibly the same one twice -- nest in the open in our back lawn at differet times this summer. Crows, working together, get the mother off the nest and consume the babies in seconds. Not a bad thing, as we are overrun with rabbits this year. The coyotes can't eat all of them!

I've seen very few squirrels this summer -- crows again?

I'm sorry to hear that; though, I do understand.

I typically have finches nest on my porch, and it's 50/50 they'll survive to fledge. This year was a pair of robins. All three babies made it! I was excited when they were so big their parents had to hang out in the adjacent trees rather than in the nest.

My neighbor said she "had" an outdoor cat. She heard it screaming in the backyard and never saw it again. Now....THAT'S a tragedy! Cats are domesticated. We're their guardian. And....they are NOT part of the food chain!

Ugh, it's an awful sound isn't it? We heard a baby rabbit screaming very early one morning. It sounded like s baby! Heartbreaking sound. We have a mother turkey raising her babies in the woods behind our house. She brings them into the yard now a couple times a day. When she first brought them out she had 8 babies, she only has 6 now.

Last summer, I found a baby blue jay. I tried to put him on a tree branch, but he sailed down, and landed in my fenced yard where my dogs are. I say "sailed", because he couldn't fly.... he just sort of coasted.

I called a local rehabber. They weren't licensed for birds and wouldn't take him. I called several other rehabbers.... all a considerable distance away, and they were only taking local birds... due to the "bird flu".

I had no where to take him. I knew how to raise him, although I didn't want to. For one thing, they must have access to a flight cage. Birds raised in captivity can ruin their flight feathers if confined to a small cage.

I have an office in the horse barn. There is a bathroom that is only about 4 ft wide, but 12 ft long. I raised him in there. I took him outside when he was big enough, but he was more interested in following me around.

To make a long story short, he only released this summer. I was able to get him to go out into the barn, which is 108 ft long, and practice his flying. I am very relieved. I found out a blue jay can live 24 yrs in captivity.... that would make me 99 years old... trying to outlive my blue jay.

Going out to eat Saturday night I heard screaming from catbirds flying around and on the light post, there was a hawk. I hollered at him and he just looked at me and then I started clanging on the metal pole he was sitting on and he slowly flew away. I did my good deed by saving the nest, at least for now.

Nice thread, geez.

We have 2 mating hawks here. They'll sit on the top of the fence and watch the ground for mole activity. Then one will swoop down and claw into the grass yanking up a mole for lunch. This is fine with me as the moles eat up the earthworms, and moles don't scream. The hawks also hunt down squirrels, over time that saves me some fruit.

Cats may be domesticated, but they become part of the food chain when left outside. They also do their share of damage when they go after the birds at my feeder!

whistle...Cats should be INDOOR ONLY. It should be a law. I totally agree with you.

Oh how awful. We live on the edge of some woods and occasionally hear similar noises, although they are more likely rabbits or other smaller animals. We have a feral cat that has adopted us, and I worry about her quite a bit. We do have foxes and the occasional coyote pass through.

On the bright side, we rescued four naked baby cardinals who fell out of their nest 3 times (!) due to the poor location their parents chose - until we finally built them a new nest in a hanging basket and placed their old nest within it. Those babies are now flying around and doing great. :)

I used to have a tree next to my bedroom window There was always a squirrel nest in it. One night I woke up to a scream - that sounded much like a human scream to me, but not as loud as a person could be. The next day the nest was empty. I believe an owl or another nighttime predator had raided the nest.