dera kristen,The bird I saw in greentree (i also saw one in my yard ) was huge-Id been to our avairy once & seen a bald eagle-it wasnt that big!!but it was not a red tail hawk,or a peragrine falcon-Im familar w those from living in Pgh almost my whole life-Ive never seen a bird like this,but saw it twice when i was pregnant w my son who is now 18 months old(i bought a digital cam in case it returns too)It was two or three times the size of our falcons it could have easily taken my 15 lb (fat) cat who was outside staring at it ,as it ate a rat in a tree,it had a predator brak(looked very sharp ripping up a rat) silvery chest feathers & golden shoulders(i could only see its front)& it stood about 3 ft high-ive never seen a pic of a golden eagle,but it was definately an eagle of some sort-it was magnificent!!!-we first saw one while driving to parkway center mall(on a dead tree that sticks out of the woods on greentree rd & ridgemont),& saw one the same fall in my yard,in a tree,I was supposed to be on total bedrest w my pregnancy,but Pat helped carry me outside,so that I wouldnt miss this unbelivable bird!we even bought a camera in case we ever see it again,I checked pics of falcons in case,but as i thought ,it was much to big to have been a falcon-whatever it was,we havent had a pigeon problem since:) we used to be plauged w pigeons clogging our feeder-maybe thats what attracted it to my yard?Anyway that year our pigeon problem disappeared.I would love to know what that bird was,I really believe it was some kind of an eagle,if i ever see it again I will get pics,as this was a most unusual sighting of an unusual feathered friend!I will google for a pic of a golden eagle as im not familiar w them,maybe thats the bird? I can check for a pic & will let you know,I still look for it every weekend,when we drive my son to the yugio tournament at parkway center mall-we cant keep our camera in the car anymore(our car got stolen last year w 2 cameras in it) but I would drive home & get it if i see it again this year.PS does your monarda get powdery mildew ? mine have it so bad Ive pulled most of it up-i only had pink & purple too-maybe the hummingbirds dont like it?this year,Im planning a strategy,Im getting more salvias from TX(i missed bringing mine in & they froze!!),planted agastaches,lobelias(red & blue) planted penstemons,& am having red cypress vine seeds & red glads to go w the perennial foxgloves that i brought from moms house(SHE GOT HUMMINGBIRDS!!) ,I also planted delphenium(may have to replace if they dont make it,i planted so late)& texas red star hibiscus-& Im also adding red trumpet vine.if i dont get hummingbirds this year I will be upset,where should i place my feeders? Pat said they need shade,but if i plant them under my tree,the hummers wont see them,will they? He also said to move the feeders further from the house-mine is about 10 ft from my kitchen door,does placement matter?Im really willing to do or grow anything to get these birds-I saw some at my neighbors torch lily when i moved here,i planted torch lily-nothing!!!maybe I should visit the avairy!!!We all went once & the birds there are amazing!!I never realised the size of the bald eagles!!massive!!!A lady i knew had a job there feeding them-she said they eat on fine china?true or not? she was such an idiot that she lost that great job,so i didnt know if i should believe her or not?well thanks again for your informative response..I will check for a golden eagle pic,as that might be my mystery bird!!...jean

cathy: I lost out on the dees this year. The dees were happily searching out for green things to fill about an inch of their box. They would fly to the opening and dump their findings in the box. It was about 2/3 or more complete when the downy settled in for a night. Since then, the dees stayed away. The downy returned and was sent packing by the male and female HOWR. They teamed up on the downy and the male finally pecked her. Once the dee nest was abandoned, the HOWR went in and started removing the dee's nest. After a couple of days, it just put sticks on the remainder of the dee's nest. The blues should show up in June. The last nesting blues here nested in the woods about 2 or 3 years ago. Yes, about 200 feet into the woods in a 6-foot tall tree stump. The male would come out into my yard to hunt. I'd put jap. beetle grubs in a feeder as I found them and he would eat some and take others to the nest. It would be nice to get nesting blues here again. Now, I have to decide what to do with the HOWR. Currently, I'm removing sticks. I may let him nest in one box so that he and she will be busy feeding chicks if the blues show up in June. The last 2 years, the HOWRs left me alone after one nesting. The first year they built the nest before I knew it. Last year, I let the HOWR nest to distract it from the dees. However, that dee pair knew how to deal with the HOWR--fighting and guarding--and fledged their family. I haven't had more than one pair of HOWRs after 3 years of them.

Thinking it over and looking at evidence. I'm ruling out everything but Crows, Hawks, and Red Squirrels (for these 3 nests). The one nest that had been disturbed had chicken wire loosely surrounding it so a Raccoon (or other large climbing critter)would have left a bend in it. I am hearing the baby Crows begging however I have not heard any ruckuses from frantic parents. Maybe very early morning attacks? I cant do anything about the Crows but I can do something about the Squirrels (I don't want to) but if I find they are the culprits..........

I am enjoying the nest cams we have up here for our raptors. The MN DNR Eagle cam is showing three mostly grown chicks again this year. That pair starts laying eggs in January, and raised all three hatchlings to fledging last year. It looks like they will be doing that again this year. All three chicks, though not all the same size (male bald eagles only get to be about 2/3 the size of the females), look healthy. They are already close to 3/4 the size of their parents. In St Paul is a peregrine falcon nest box with another DNR camera. That pair are now sitting eggs. They start later than the bald eagles do. After that there is a nest cam out in the Arboretum for ospreys, which nest later than the other two species. Ospreys sort of finish the season about Labor Day or a little after when the nestling(s) finally fledge. The osprey cam is not one of the DNR cams, but dovetails nicely. All of these birds have made a miraculous come back from close to extinction, after DDT was banned. Minnesota now boasts more bald eagles than any other of the lower 48 states.