Subject: [Tweeters] Dilemma
Date: Apr 16 12:30:54 2006
From: Linda Bainbridge - lbainbridge at uicalumni.org


Speaking of Cooper's Hawks (Tim Brennan's posting), yesterday I noticed
that the five Band-tailed Pigeons that had been sitting at the top of my
plum tree were flying high overhead. I ran to the window to see if a
hawk had flushed them. The first thing I noticed was a Red-breasted
Nuthatch cowering and immobile on top of the suet feeder. Then I saw a
burly adult Cooper's hawk perched about 20 feet away on the pole with
the seed feeders. "Maybe he doesn't see the nuthatch," I thought.
"Should I try to scare it away?" In the next few seconds, the hawk
swooped to the suet, grabbed the nuthatch and flew to a nearby tree out
of view.

Should I have banged on the window and scared the hawk off? After all,
my feeders lured the hawk and the nuthatch. I don't begrudge the hawk
his right to hunt for birds, but I'd rather he kill off the starlings or
maybe a House Finch.

Linda Bainbridge
Whidbey Island
lbainbridge at uicalumni.org