Yep D.I.E.D., I sure do appreciate your post. It is the bitter-sweet way of the land. We are in awe of the hawks, yet regret when they tear up another bird. (Donna-ski is a bit more sensitive about this food-chain). A large hawk (cannot recall the type) once swooped into one of our feeders and grabbed one of the dozens of Goldfinches we support. It landed in a tree 50 ft away with the finch clutched in the talons of one foot, still alive. Donna-ski jumped up, ran out of the house, and started screaming and waving her arms. The hawk took flight and bolted, but not before releasing the goldfinch who took flight like a cruise missile.
When we had the place on the Tippecanoe River, we had a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers nesting in the big ol' dead Maple tree that rose out in front of our deck. They returned and nested 2 years in a row. The home and decks were on a 20' tall bluff, so they looked into the tree branches where they nested, about 50 feet away nearly horizontal. We got to watch the entire process, right thru fledging. They are like little wood-chippers when they dig out the huge hole into the core of the tree-trunk. The ground around the tree looks like they celebrated New Year's eve early with wood confetti. It surrounds the tree for 20 or 30 feet in all directions as they toss out the confetti hunks, one at a time.
