H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

One bird of character is always around my backyard and it’s unavoidable, that is non other than the Cooper’s Hawk.

They appear not very often but I see them flying near by. They have nests on top of very tall pine trees about 300 yards away from my house. They usually come looking for voles or chip monks. It’s been about 3 years that don’t see those rodents in my backyard. That must be the reason that the Cooper’s Hawk is not coming as often as it used to do.

Another reason must be that I keep the grass short and the bushes far.

One thing that I’m combatting is the fire ants colonies, they seem to be more prolific with the hot weather. When I mow the grass I see mounds that I destroy and thousands of ants come out and I spread an ant bait powder on top. That does the work, but later another mound will appear some place else. This year I’ve seen more fire ants that previous years.

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Text and photographs © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101