Rocky, I love your story. If you don't mind I'd like to use it in my e-mag. You put a big old grin on my face with that. Isn't nature just wonderful? Yes, it was a tad hard the first time I saw a hawk hunting my feeders but I came to a great appreciation for the hunting skill of the bird after awhile.
Last Feb I had a Krider's Red Tail, which is about three times the size of the Sharp shinned and twice the size of a Cooper's, capture and eat one of my squirrels. He came back three days in a row before finishing with the carcass. I have some great photos of it. I know I will get hate mail over this, but after I watched the splendour of that bird right outside my windows I was enamoured by hawks. I can't bring myself to kill a fly, but I found myself 'seeding' the open area of my lot with shelled corn to coax the squirrels out into the open and thus easier prey for the Krider's. To my knowledge the Krider's didn't get another squirrel and it wasn't too many days after that we had a major spring thaw
Once the snow cover melted the hawk retreated back into the open fields. I am hoping he will come again this winter. I have a much more powerful camera and lens this year so I am drooling at the thought of the pics I could get. thanks so much for your story. It's things like that that make it all worthwhile for me. Elaine
