# Good Day



## Ron Matthews (Aug 10, 2006)

Or Bad,I Guess it's how you look at things

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj72/hawgemall/DSCN3154_zpsf92d7225.jpg


----------



## Royal Whaler (Oct 10, 2004)

Ron Matthews said:


> Good or Bad,I Guess it's how you look at things
> 
> http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj72/hawgemall/DSCN3154_zpsf92d7225.jpg


 
Typical winter scene around the bird feeders. The Cooper Hawk's favorite meal - the slow flying morning dove. Had a similar incident happen in my back yard last month. Only this time, the morning dove came crashing into our door wall. With a loud bang, I looked out to see the stunned dove sitting on the deck. He didn't look too injured so I went out with a fishing landing net to take a closer look. As I got close the dove, unable to fly, it scampered into the yard. Just then, the Cooper's Hawk swooped down for the kill but flared away when he seen me. After catching the dove, I looked it all over and couldn't find any serious wounds. It couldn't fly because the feathers on it's right wing and the tail were missing.
Just couldn't let it go for another preditor to find, so, I made him a cage to live in till his feathers grew back. I feed and water him every day and change the paper bedding once a week. It's unbelivable how fast those feathers grew back. He was flying again in 4 weeks. I can let it go right now but I'm playing it safe by letting it warm up a little. After all, he's been sheltered in my house during the last two artic blasts. Next warm up and he'll be on his way. Here's a recent picture I took after he escaped out of his cage for a brief flight  ...................


----------



## J-Lee (Jul 11, 2000)

I had a dove bite the dust yesterday, to a Cooper's hawk.


----------



## Ron Matthews (Aug 10, 2006)

I see that bird couple times a week, He's got a good kill box that he's getting pretty confident in!

If I could just get some of these owls around here on the little red devils the bird feeder would be a happier place...my wood shed is full of them!


----------



## joe c. (Dec 25, 2010)

had a dark eyed junco bite the dust sunday,I think the cooper hawk is over his limit for the year,Im calling the DNR.


----------



## Royal Whaler (Oct 10, 2004)

After surviving a Cooper's Hawk attack ...........

It's been three months since I took the mourning dove in for recouperation and today was the day it got it's freedom back. The temperature finally got into the 50's and so I took it to the back yard. Because it had to grow new feathers in a cage without much exercise, I was concerned it might have forgotten how to fly. I sat him on the bird feeder and slowly backed up to see what it would do. Without much hesitation, it took off flying and went straight to the top of a neighbor's 30 foot spruce tree. It's whistling wing beats sounded like all the other mourning doves in the neighborhood. This made my day to see how strong he was able to fly away. Had I known we were going to have such a severe winter, I would have made a larger cage, but week after week, I was ready to let it go but felt it might not withstand all that cold weather after being indoors for so long. Moral of the story - it stayed a wild creature and knew what to do when the time came.


----------

