Guarding the nest

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Dieseldoc

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Livermore, Ca 94550
Have pair of Sharp Shinned Hawk nesting in back yard. Really cool looking 0DF709B9-7A3C-4C90-9749-9DA4DEABB982.jpeg73C9BA46-9B57-40A1-BEFD-C731E81BE20B.jpeg
Hawk
 
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Crashmph

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South Riding, VA
Keep small dogs and cats in side or under a very close eye. A friend had her chihuahua snatched up by a raptor in her neighborhood.
 

penicillin

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We had a Cooper's hawk nest in our big tree last year. We thought the fledglings were cute as they learned to fly, until they started leaving the dinner leftovers on our yard furniture. The worst was the morning we went out and the area underneath our tree looked like a college dorm room pillow fight. The photo doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea. I won't show the "big picture."

Hawk Pillow Fight Closeup.JPG
 

penicillin

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Life in the bird department is better this year. Just over a week ago, a hummingbird built a nest in a potted ficus tree next to our bedroom. One egg appeared Monday (a week ago) and the other egg appeared last Wednesday. The first two photos were taken when the hummingbird took a meal break. Sorry for the blurred third photo of the bird - it was shot through the screen. If all goes well, the eggs are due to hatch later this week or early next week.

Ficus Tree Next to Bedrooms.JPG


Eggs in Nest.JPG


Hummingbird Brooding Egg on Nest.JPG
 

penicillin

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Keep small dogs and cats in side or under a very close eye. A friend had her chihuahua snatched up by a raptor in her neighborhood.
We used to live in a house with a lot of undeveloped hills around us. They were regional parklands, brush, and forest. Large groups of coyotes would howl at night all around us. We called them "coyote parties." Before bedtime, my spouse would stand at the sliding glass door and let our small Maltese dog out into the yard to do its business. She had one of those spring-loaded leashes. The dog would go out in the yard at the end of a long string.

She called it, "Fishing for coyotes." :-(
 

goldendj

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Virginia
Shortly after we moved into our current house, my (then-pregnant) wife was enjoying the sight of a fluffy little bunny hopping around the front yard one morning ... until Mr. Hawk dropped in for breakfast ...
 

Dieseldoc

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Shortly after we moved into our current house, my (then-pregnant) wife was enjoying the sight of a fluffy little bunny hopping around the front yard one morning ... until Mr. Hawk dropped in for breakfast .


Well Hawks need to eat also!!
We like to have them around like owls which help keep the rat and mice under control.
 
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Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA.
Was standing in the doorway of my shop... a dove flew by and a hawk dropped out of the sky, grabbed the dove and took it to the ground....
he evidently didn't get a good grip, the dove got away.... you've never seen a dove fly so fast with wings just a whistling.
 

Stephanie

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Washington State
Life in the bird department is better this year. Just over a week ago, a hummingbird built a nest in a potted ficus tree next to our bedroom. One egg appeared Monday (a week ago) and the other egg appeared last Wednesday. The first two photos were taken when the hummingbird took a meal break. Sorry for the blurred third photo of the bird - it was shot through the screen. If all goes well, the eggs are due to hatch later this week or early next week.

View attachment 305112

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The nest is amazing. How fun is that!
 

pshrynk

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Lake City, Minnesota
Was standing in the doorway of my shop... a dove flew by and a hawk dropped out of the sky, grabbed the dove and took it to the ground....
he evidently didn't get a good grip, the dove got away.... you've never seen a dove fly so fast with wings just a whistling.
And you could hear the bird yelling, "Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! Oh, F*! I would imagine
 

penicillin

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Life in the bird department is better this year. Just over a week ago, a hummingbird built a nest in a potted ficus tree next to our bedroom. One egg appeared Monday (a week ago) and the other egg appeared last Wednesday. The first two photos were taken when the hummingbird took a meal break. Sorry for the blurred third photo of the bird - it was shot through the screen. If all goes well, the eggs are due to hatch later this week or early next week.

The hummingbird eggs hatched yesterday. The hatchlings are less than one day old. We have seen the mama feeding them, but most of the time she sits on the nest, keeping the babies warm. They are about the size of a coffee bean. I took the photo a few minutes ago, when the mama was away, taking a breakfast break.

Hummingbird Hatchlings.JPG
 

penicillin

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Our family has been clamoring for photos of the baby hummingbirds. They must be suffering from quarantine cabin fever. Here is a photo of the 10 day old hummingbird babies, taken yesterday (Tuesday). This is a penturning website, so I don't know if anyone cares.

Hummingbird Babies.JPG
 

Dieseldoc

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Funny you say that, we have notice a reductions of little birds around the feeder I found out the Sharps Hawk number one food is small birds. Wonder if we could see in the nest leftovers, I think so!!
 

penicillin

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You're right. It has been fun. Our babies are exactly three weeks old today since hatching. They have expanded the nest; spider webs woven into the nest give it elasticity. The babies are popping out of the top, but are not perching on the edge. They wiggle and fluff themselves, but are not flapping their wings yet. Here is a photo from yesterday morning.

P.S. My sincere apologies to @Dieseldoc for hijacking his/her thread. The coincidental timing just happened, and it started innocently enough. I didn't think I would get this carried away with it. Not much here about pens, that's for sure. :-(

Hummingbird Babies 20 Days.JPG
 

Dieseldoc

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You're right. It has been fun. Our babies are exactly three weeks old today since hatching. They have expanded the nest; spider webs woven into the nest give it elasticity. The babies are popping out of the top, but are not perching on the edge. They wiggle and fluff themselves, but are not flapping their wings yet. Here is a photo from yesterday morning.

P.S. My sincere apologies to @Dieseldoc for hijacking his/her thread. The coincidental timing just happened, and it started innocently enough. I didn't think I would get this carried away with it. Not much here about pens, that's for sure. :-(

No problem at all, enjoyed seeing the Hummer birds family grow. We have several feeders and always have new little one show up. Haven't been able to find nest yet!!
 

penicillin

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The hummingbird babies flew away from the nest Saturday morning, 22 days after hatching. We never saw any wing-flapping rehearsals. The nest remains vacant. Sometimes we see one or both of them in another potted tree nearby, closer to the big yard. They are good at hiding. We see the mama visit the same tree, so we assume they are being fed and taught the ways of hummingbirds. No photos are possible, and this will be my final report.

Disclaimer: We like nature the same as everyone, but are not "bird watchers" or anything like that, nor am I any kind of photographer. It was just happenstance that the nest appeared so close to our house. I can't explain why I decided to take photos, other than the fact that we enjoyed watching it all unfold in front of our eyes and wanted to share it with our family.

It has been a tough year for everyone, and these tiny birds venturing out into the world parallel the same freedom that many people are experiencing as they finally get vaccinated and venture out for themselves.
 

Jans husband

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Doncaster England
Again, not trying to hijack your thread Charlie, but I had something very unusual in my garden a couple of days ago.

2 white Starlings.

1 has been back for a bath todaytempImageN1w1nK.png

Mike
 
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sbwertz

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Phoenix, AZ
I heard a ruckus on the back patio one night and went out and discovered a young red-tailed hawk under the patio table with my two cats looking at it from a safe distance. He was propped back on his tail with his wings fully spread and cussing them out something fierce. I put the cats in the house and I shooed him out from under the table, but the light on the beam across the front of the patio in the dark confused him and he slammed right into it, stunning him. I put on a pair of welding gloves and held him by the feet while carrying him out to the front of the house. I released his feet and he perched on my hand for several minutes until his head cleared, then flew over to the top of a neighbor's palm tree. Quite an experience, holding a wild bird of prey in my hands!
 
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