Sooo,, it started out early this Spring. A pair of kestrels decided that a large Pine tree about 30' from our house was going to be their nesting spot. They flew around, giving their Kestrel Yakyakyak sound all the time while slowly getting ready for their nesting. At first, I loved it. So cool seeing them every day was a real treat. But I started to notice a real decrease in my bird sightings at my 4 feeders. Being the only year round resident here on this section of the Lake, I pull in tons of birds. Then the killings began to really take a toll - both the renters next door and myself began to find small bird parts on our lawns. I no longer had any birds at my feeders, even my Hummingbirds were not safe. As I stood on my deck enjoying the view of a Hummingbird, I got to see it plucked from the sky 6 feet in front of me. The pair hatched out 3 young ones and the day long Yakking was annoying as they trained them to hunt and dive. We no longer had any squirrels, chipmunks, hummingbirds and small birds. Even the Starlings and Grackles moved out. They managed to kill and eat a male Cardinal from a pair that have hung around our place for 4 years. Finally, about the end of August, they moved further down the Lake to new Hunting Grounds, but swing by our place every couple days to check for prey. The question now is, are we going to become an annual breeding/rearing location? Are we destined to forever not have song birds, hummingbirds and Chipmunks because they are around. We still don't have any birds at our feeders.
