Something pretty cool happened...Hawk...Falcon?

[Lakesrider]

So there I was digging some footings for my new deck I am building. I hear this whoosh noise go right over my head. Piercing whistling scream. I look just in time to see something, a Hawk, a Falcon, Small eagle? It swooped down and grabbed a squirrel that was in a tree about 20 feet away from me and off it went....It was fairly big and had brown speckled wings. Big wings. I knew it wasn't a crow. I thought at first it was an Owl. But then I saw it climb up over the trees. Squirrel limp in its talons. Pretty sure it was some type of Falcon....who knows? It was pretty cool though. Gotta Love the nature up here. Just wish I had a camera with me. Happened so fast I probably wouldn't have gotten anything anyway......

[VitaBene]

I have little bird knowledge but I had a huge chipmunk problem, undermining walk ways, etc and then a red tailed hawk showed up and the problem was solved!

[riverat]

About a week ago as we were sitting at a friends house on the Merrymeeting River a bird landed on his picnic table near his birdfeeders briefly. Was'nt there long enough to get a picture but after search the web we concluded it was or closely resembles a Peregrin Falcon.

[coltgov101]

My family and I have six exotic birds that we bring with us on vacation every summer. They reside in what we call the florida room .(an all glass porch room that they really enjoy,Iguess because of the view.)Anyway shortly after I came home one morning I heard a terrible crash and one of the windows was smashed. the room is equiped with energy saving glass and luckily only one pane was broken. Our birds where spared but an enorous owl was laying outside unconsios.By the time i went to get my camera he was gone. Amasing, huh!

[EricP]

Last night a group of us were sitting around a fire when an owl swooped in and landed in a tree about 25 feet from us maybe 12 feet up on a dead branch, easily visible as it was the lowest branch in the tree. He surveryed the area for a few minutes then took off, really cool to see.

[hilltopper]

A month or so ago I looked out my bathroom window and saw what I thought was a turkey on the ground. When it stood up and spread it's wings I realized it wasn't a turkey, but a hawk. Then I realized it was standing on something which turned out to be a crow. All of a sudden the crow's buddies started dive bombing the hawk, eventually driving the hawk off from the crow. The crow got to it's feet, staggered around for a few minutes, and flew off. Blood and feathers were found at the scene so the crow was definitely wounded. Quite a sight!

[ApS]

Originally Posted by coltgov101

"...My family and I have six exotic birds that we bring with us on vacation every summer..."

You'd like a scene at a dark blue van parked in Wolfeboro. As I approached it, I saw three Cockatoos standing on the dashboard. As I got closer, three dogs leaped up inside and started aggressively barking—at me!

I asked the owner how birds and dogs get along in the same confines of the van. She replied, "The dogs protect the birds from strangers".

Oh.

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

"...It swooped down and grabbed a squirrel that was in a tree about 20 feet away from me and off it went..."

A few years ago, a neighbor pointed out a gray squirrel sunning himself on a large oak branch directly over my head. Not 30 seconds later, a "whoosh"...a tiny squeek...and a bald eagle had carried the squirrel off!

Originally Posted by VitaBene

"...I had a huge chipmunk problem, undermining walk ways, etc..."

The evolution of chipmunks began during the Pleistocene Era in order to undermine walk ways.

Heck, I train "my" chipmunks to run towards my whistle!

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

"...Piercing whistling scream..."

If a "piercing whistling scream" was the hawk's cry, it was a Broad-Wing Hawk, which also has the pattern you describe. It's big enough to take a squirrel, too. Here's one in flight:



July 29, at the Libby Museum boat ramp, a hawk was flying overhead while being attacked by two Kingbirds. (Standard operating procedure for Kingbirds). Most likely, it was a Kingbird nestling we could see in its grasp.

I managed to get a distant shot which is enlarged below:

[ApS]

Kingbirds seem to enjoy a good pecking—even at the even-larger Redtail Hawks!

[Lakesrider]

That is a cool pic. reminded of me of this too though....

[SIKSUKR]

I have2 resident redtail hawks that live on my building.They are constantly harrassed and divebombed by the smallest of birds.Amazing to watch.

[Misty Blue]

I was driving down the Moultonborough neck road going to work around 5:15 in the morning a couple of months ago. Suddenly I had to swerve to avoid what I thought was a turkey. Thinking to myself, stupid turkey, where were you during the season? Then...Woah. That was a funny looking turkey?!

I stopped the truck and hiked back to find a peacock, yes a peacock in the middle of the road. And no, I was stone sober!

So I kind of herded the thing off of the road and into the woods. I would to think of having someone call GEICO to report that their Prius was totaled by a peacock!

There is a small kind of petting farm nearby and knocking on the door, again before 6 AM, to ask if they were possibly missing a peacock. The young lady asked me if it was a male or female? I replied that I didn't take the time to check and did it really matter? ( I was also thinking that maybe some NBC executive was on vacation and had brought the company pet with him)

She and I found the bird in the woods and corralled it in the yard, she thanked me and I was on my way telling myself not to mention this at work or I'd be on my way to the fitness for duty collection site!

Misty Blue

[Greene's Basin Girl]

Originally Posted by Misty Blue

I was driving down the Moultonborough neck road going to work around 5:15 in the morning a couple of months ago. Suddenly I had to swerve to avoid what I thought was a turkey. Thinking to myself, stupid turkey, where were you during the season? Then...Woah. That was a funny looking turkey?!

I stopped the truck and hiked back to find a peacock, yes a peacock in the middle of the road. And no, I was stone sober!

So I kind of herded the thing off of the road and into the woods. I would to think of having someone call GEICO to report that their Prius was totaled by a peacock!

There is a small kind of petting farm nearby and knocking on the door, again before 6 AM, to ask if they were possibly missing a peacock. The young lady asked me if it was a male or female? I replied that I didn't take the time to check and did it really matter? ( I was also thinking that maybe some NBC executive was on vacation and had brought the company pet with him)

She and I found the bird in the woods and corralled it in the yard, she thanked me and I was on my way telling myself not to mention this at work or I'd be on my way to the fitness for duty collection site!

Misty Blue

Where is the small petting farm?

[Misty Blue]

It's not really a petting farm. It's sort of a gentelman's farm. They have all kinds of critters and welcome visitors. They have some kind of after school kiddi thing there.

It is located on the North side of the road just down the neck from the meadows and just past where the little farm stand used to be.

Misty Blue