Sherri, I think your hawk is every bit as pretty (but I might be a bit of an indiscriminate hawk lover)

Becky, I devised a new suet contraption (so far so good). We are having a blizzard at the moment and single digit temps in the forecast so I figured the birds need some.

Could have been a racoon I suppose, but we don't get much in the way of varmints in the dog yard on account of the dogs. The bird feeders are in the dog yard to keep the cats from hunting the birds, and fortunately, the dogs don't bother the birds. Anyway, I've seen the one dog hypothesizing, madly, how to get at the suet from the window (climbing on top of the tarped bikes, pondering the jump...and hopefully the crash) so I'm really thinking it was her. If I find the mangled remains in one of her many craters next spring, then I'll know

Kestrel--not on a wire for a change!
as usual, missed the focus on take-off, but you can see the cool underside patterns

retreated to a denser, branchier tree for a grooming session

dove

Not sure what's with the jesses on that hawk. He acted pretty wild. Was strange to see.


And a heron.

Drizzle and fog here today, so great day for bird watching. Here's a few pictures.

Red-bellied woodpecker and Eastern Bluebirds


Female house finch and Male Northern Cardinal


Male Downey Woodpecker and Yellow-rumped Warbler


Female Northern Cardinal and Pine Warbler

I just love those eastern blue birds

Happy New Year!
I started a new thread for the new year here
The thread "Bird Photos and Chat 2019" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

left off the monthly designator because it seems as though that is the preferred trend these days...if anyone wants to change it though, feel free!

evermorelawnless said:Not sure what's with the jesses on that hawk. He acted pretty wild. Was strange to see.


And a heron.

That is strange to see jesses, and the hawk acting strange.