A Falcon Nesting In A Tree!

[JEBar]

Nature is truly breath-taking! For my older friends. The younger ones probably have never seen a falcon, and wouldn't recognize it.

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[BlioKart]

Nature is truly breath-taking! For my older friends. The younger ones probably have never seen a falcon, and wouldn't recognize it.

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I think i have ran across one. One trip i took a bird almost crashed into my windshield @ 50mph. At first i thought i hit it. Well this bird did a dive about 3 more times on my car. Not sure why but I think it was attracted to my cars antenna? It did hit the antenna once. I was going slow on purpose watching it do it.

 

[NSTG8R]

We've got a Red-Tailed Hawk nested somewhere near us. Last year we used to sit on the back patio and watch him/her soar around getting attacked by Starlings. I came out on the front porch one morning to drink my coffee, and he/she swooped right past me and landed in my front yard about 15' from me. Truly impressive bird. I'd say about 2' tall standing there. Actually made me wonder how safe our little pug dog was romping around outside.o_O

 

[NSTG8R]

It is! Spring is springing here.

Last year I was given a bird nesting box by my son, with a remote camera in it. The camera has a hard wired connection to a small television in our spare bedroom. A male wren built a nest in it but no female ever used it. Over the winter we were very pleased to see up to four wrens using it to roost (they do this to share body warmth in cold spells). We noticed they were no longer in there so I took it down for a spring clean and put it back. While it was down I decided to copy the design and make another, now placed on the garage wall. Three days ago I noticed a blue tit had begun visiting it, hopefully to nest.

A few years ago I built a pond in the corner of our garden; we keep a few assorted carp in it. I deliberately built it with a shallow end, separated by rocks, hoping that wildlife could make use of it. Yesterday I sat and watched the frogs spawning in there. There are dozens of them this year! They've been at it for about a week now, still more to come. The shallow end is one mass of spawn. Hopefully many will hatch; I like frogs because they are good for removing garden pests.

I'm glad to get close to nature, it makes me know that despite all of our personal troubles, life just goes on regardless elsewhere.

A co-worker had built a nice big Koi pond in his backyard, complete with Bull Frogs. He started noticing that there was something eating his fish and frogs, so he sat up a game camera to see what was going on. Turned out there was a Raccoon strolling into his backyard at night enjoying an easy snack. The pond's still there, but he gave up on stocking it with fish.

 

[goofyone]

A co-worker had built a nice big Koi pond in his backyard, complete with Bull Frogs. He started noticing that there was something eating his fish and frogs, so he sat up a game camera to see what was going on. Turned out there was a Raccoon strolling into his backyard at night enjoying an easy snack. The pond's still there, but he gave up on stocking it with fish.

We have three small ponds on our property with Koi in them. There are also bull frogs, who must have hopped over from a nearby stream fed by Lake Lanier which is a huge lake about a 1/4 mile away, and we have a group of small tortoises that hang out in the area munching on greens and drinking from the ponds. I am guessing the cats and dogs running around all the time must keep the predatory wildlife at bay thus creating a nice little sanctuary for these creatures.

 

[Elio Amazed]

One of my memorable moments was about 8 years ago in rural Mercer County, Western Pa.
We're used to close encounters with a variety of hawks, but this was truely THE sh*t.

I was visiting my parents and stepped outside for some air.
There was a unusually large bird on the ground across the road.
I got in line with the large pine at the end of the front yard and snuck closer.
About 50 feet away from me was a enourmous bald eagle eating a small critter!
The bird fully extended it's wings several times while it leasurely finished it's meal.
At one point, it jumped from the field onto the mowed grass at the edge of the road.
It acted like it wanted me to know that it could have cared less if I were there or not.

It eventually took off, joined three others at a fairly high altitude, and slowly circled away.

I later found out that they'd established a nesting area nearby.

I'd been in 46 of the 48 continental states and had never seen a bald eagle.
I'd always wanted to see this majestic animal at close quarters in the wild.
I never in my craziest dreams imagined that I'd do exactly that in my old front yard.
I was able to sneak back into and out of the house while the bird was still on the ground.
My parents caught a glimpse of it through the picture window.

There actually are a few moments in my life that I consider to be true blessings.

 

[NSTG8R]

One of my memorable moments was about 8 years ago in rural Mercer County, Western Pa.
We're used to close encounters with a variety of hawks, but this was truely THE sh*t.

I was visiting my parents and stepped outside for some air.
There was a unusually large bird on the ground just across the road.
I got in line with the large pine at the end of the front yard and snuck closer.
About 50 feet away from me was a enourmous bald eagle eating a small critter!
The bird fully extended it's wings several times while it leasurely finished it's meal.
It acted like it could have cared less if I were there or not.
At one point, it jumped out of the grass and onto the edge of the road.

It eventually took off, joined three others at a fairly high altitude, and slowly circled away.

I later found out that they'd established a nesting area nearby.

I'd been in 46 of the 48 continental states and had never seen a bald eagle.
I'd always wanted to see this majestic animal at close quarters in the wild.
I never in my craziest dreams imagined that I'd do exactly that in my old front yard.
I was able to sneak back into and out of the house while the bird was still on the ground.
My parents caught a glimpse of it through the picture window.

There actually are a few moments in my life that I consider to be true blessings.

Oh yeah...truly amazing animals! We're lousy with them out here [http://www.greatriverroad.com/Eagles/eagleCover.htm]. Alton, Ill. is a town just north of St. Louis, MO, and they always attract bird watchers and nature lovers. I live about 30 miles southwest of St. Louis right near the Meramec River. We kayak down a dozen times a year and see Golden Eagles, Red-tails, Turkey Buzzards, Herons, and other river-loving birds. Only saw a Bald Eagle once in all the years we've kayaked there (last year), and hope they're deciding to populate the area.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Bald eagles are common in my area, common enough to be a pest at times. Woe to the ice fisherman who leaves his catch unattended on the ice, they are big scavengers and love fish. I've heard stories (but not seen myself) of them swooping down to grab a snack within feet of a human. Not much fear there.

 

[Folks]

Bald eagles are common in my area, common enough to be a pest at times. Woe to the ice fisherman who leaves his catch unattended on the ice, they are big scavengers and love fish. I've heard stories (but not seen myself) of them swooping down to grab a snack within feet of a human. Not much fear there.

Being an RC Glider pilot with many hours of eyes glued to the skies has exposed me to a whole world of birds and and the micro climates that normally are missed by most of us just above our heads. I recall one afternoon hunting the mighty thermals resulting in a considerable altitude as expected. As usual this resulted in a couple of buddies joining me in that rising thermal. Not making this up; but before that circle fest was over 3 buzzard, 2 redtail hawks and (believe it or not) a long legged stork had joined the fun all in the same circling thermal. As the thermal fizzled and we all went our own ways. All except the stork. he kept rising to completely out of sight. Those long skinny legs just didn't look like they could soar that way. Looked hilarious.
One of our club members claimed that when he flew in Alaska he was regularly attacked by Bald Eagles. One completely destroyed his glider in mid air.

 

[NSTG8R]

Being an RC Glider pilot with many hours of eyes glued to the skies has exposed me to a whole world of birds and and the micro climates that normally are missed by most of us just above our heads. I recall one afternoon hunting the mighty thermals resulting in a considerable altitude as expected. As usual this resulted in a couple of buddies joining me in that rising thermal. Not making this up; but before that circle fest was over 3 buzzard, 2 redtail hawks and (believe it or not) a long legged stork had joined the fun all in the same circling thermal. As the thermal fizzled and we all went our own ways. All except the stork. he kept rising to completely out of sight. Those long skinny legs just didn't look like they could soar that way. Looked hilarious.
One of our club members claimed that when he flew in Alaska he was regularly attacked by Bald Eagles. One completely destroyed his glider in mid air.

Great story, Folks! My Dad and his buddies flew RC gliders, high start mostly since we had a gigantic field right down the street from us, but occasionally, they take them down to a plateau just before you came down into Boulder, CO. The wind would come off the Flat Irons (mountains in Boulder), and roll straight up the face of the plateau. If you got too far from the face, the wind curled around, and would actually suck you down. My Dad's friend got stuck in the downdraft and couldn't recover. He made an amazing landing on the tall grass below using the shadow of the glider to judge the distance from the ground (literally looking down on his glider to land it). There was a big round of 'high fives' for his skills, but as they looked for the best route to get down to it, a cow strolled up to in and started chewing on his wing. Five grown men screaming at a cow a half mile away...hilarious!

Pretty sure the area where they flew is all condos now. What a shame, great place to fly.