City Hawks

[Duffy]

This weekend we were excited to discover a pair of red-tailed hawks building a nest in our next door neighbor’s oak tree. Though it is his tree, the nest is on a branch that hangs over our side of the fence, and the nest happens to straddle the two properties. I am good friends with my neighbor, so no issues there. He and I and our kids were out in our back yards yesterday afternoon watching the birds, and the kids were fascinated. It should make for a fun and interesting summer, especially when the fledglings come out and the squirrel population begins to diminish. Even though my kids are always exposed to hunting, fishing, nature, outdoors, etc., I am thrilled that they have such interest in "our new neighbors".

To experience such a thing is likely more commonplace for many of the members of this forum, but it is certainly unusual for our area, especially in a residential neighborhood. We are very close to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, however, where birds of prey are becoming more prevalent.

[buckhunter]

We usually get a nest in our covered patio however not hawks. Expecting to see it soon. The GKids love it.

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I occasionally keep pigeons in a small coop in my back yard for dog training. Last year, I was sitting on the couch and looked out the window to see a hawk (either a Cooper's hawk or a sharp shinned) sitting on top of the coop, eyeballing the pigeons. Then he flew down to the garden fence and hopped along the edge, again looking at the coop/pigeons. Finally, he dropped to the lawn and looked up at the coop (it's on stilts) and looked at the pigeons.....I swear he was trying to find a way in for an easy meal. A few days later my neighbor told me the same thing......he saw the bird on top of the coop when he came back from the store.

Wish he would take some of the dang squirrels around here....had three different ones in the tree yesterday, and I know what they are gonna do to my garden once the blooms start appearing!

[Duffy]

Originally Posted by Mr. 16 gauge

Wish he would take some of the dang squirrels around here....had three different ones in the tree yesterday, and I know what they are gonna do to my garden once the blooms start appearing!

My next door neighbor has been putting a garden in every year the past few years, and he has plans to expand it this year. Needless to say, he's very happy about the "extra help" with our booming squirrel population!

[Catfish]

The summer before last I had a young Red Tail that stayed around our yard alot. When I mowed the lawn he would often sail above me. With about 5 acures of yard I had a pretty long show. He was back last year with a mate, but I don`t know where their nest was and did not see any of the young, but he did come back from time to time to say hi I guess. I did find him on a large groundhog he had kill in our bottom 1 day, I imagine it feed his young for acouple of days.