Faunascrolling--what's visiting where you are?

[wtg]

Just saved a life. And deprived someone of dinner.

Went outside and heard a bird screeching. Looked over to my neighbor's front lawn and saw a Cooper's hawk on the lawn. Looked like it was holding something down with its talons. I walked towards it and it took off to the south. A now-free Northern flicker took off to the north.

Human messing with nature.

[Mik]

Good for you. A flicker’s pretty big game for a Cooper’s hawk.

[wtg]

I ran into a neighbor just now and told her about the hawk-flicker encounter. She said she saw two hawks tag-teaming a squirrel last winter.

The squirrel was not as fortunate as the flicker....

[Mik]

Yeah, I've seen hawks get squirrels in my yard too, then go into the greenspace and tear them up. It's pretty funny to watch the young hawks learn to hunt, they're quite inept and often end up chasing squirrels around on the ground.

[rustyfingers]

I wish the hawks here would go after the rats I keep seeing on the bird cam. We've stopped feeding, and the dogs aggressively chase them down. We will not be using rat poison.

[rustyfingers]

Crow in our native oak tree had a lot to say

Link to video

[wtg]

This retention pond with the grasses is next to the Aldi parking lot.

Link to video

Anyone have a clue who the noisemakers are? We thought it might be birds but there wasn't a single one to be seen. I even tossed a small stone into the grasses to see if I could flush anyone out. Nada.

[wtg]

View out of our living room window:

Both hawks took off when I went out the front door to try to get better photos. The one left its squirrel tartare on the driveway. One of the birds flew back into my neighbor's tree and has been looking at the carcass remnants for the last half hour. I wish he/she would get a hawky bag and take the leftovers home to eat.

[wtg]

I went out a little while ago and there is absolutely nothing left of the squirrel. The bird must have come back and picked up the remnants.

Only sign that someone had been there was a white bird plop....

[AndyD]

What hawk are they?

[wtg]

@andyd You know, I'm not entirely certain, but I think they are immature Cooper's hawks. All the photos I could take were of the backs of the birds (from inside the house and through the mini-blinds!), and most of the photos I see online are of the chest and face! But I did see a few online pics of youngsters, and they had those light splotches on the back.

[RealPlayer]

Red foxes here in Staten Island recently. Wild turkeys have been here for years.