Red Shouldered Hawks

Saturday afternoon Emma and I were on our way to spend some time together after a baby shower when we called to check in with the rest of the fam.  Roddy said Gray had something to tell me so he put him on the phone.

"Guess what, Mom!"

"What?"

"I heard the chicken in the woods {past our backyard} and it sounded like something fell on her because she made a loud squawk and then kept squawking. So I ran to the back door {which is mostly glass} to look for her and I saw the chicken and the hawk flying toward the house.  They both hit the window and then I opened the door and the hawk flew off.  The chicken ran into the guest room and hid under the bed."

"Oh my word!"

We have been waiting for this.  We have woods behind our house that belong to the church my parents attend.  So we get lots of fun wildlife including red shouldered hawks.  During lunch one day we saw this one sitting on our swing set in the rain. (Yes, that is a toy tracker at the top of the slide!! No, they don't ride it down. Although once we had a smaller riding toy and they did ride it down. Nothing broken.)

Another day we saw these two hawks flying over the house.

Most of the time we see one of them on our friend's rooftop or in a tree at the edge of our yard. I'm thinking about borrowing my dad's BB gun.  I'd have to find out if it's legal, though.  I would love having them if they would just leave our egg-laying pet alone!

Getting Caught Up...Just the Beginning

I finally downloaded over 300 pictures from my camera and also figured out how to use our external drive on the laptop Papa gave us.  This means I can be on the computer while the kids play out back and, hopefully, I will be catching up on the things that have gone on around here the last 2 months.

First off, we received a letter in the mail from our HOA saying we couldn't have chickens...grrrr!  Emma cried at the thought of giving them away.  Luckily our friends were given our chickens' cousins and agreed to take them in.  We sent one at a time but after the first two, we decided we would see if we could keep the last one. 

We keep her in a good-sized dog cage in the garage (lights on and door up a little to let in natural light and fresh air) and let her out back several times a day depending on when we're downstairs and can keep an eye on her. I hung a Publix shopping basket that I found in someone's trash from the top of the cage and put an old towel in it for her to lay eggs in.  Before I made it, she had been using a laundry basket in the laundry room.  November 12 she laid her first egg.

Looks big in Iris' little, play-doh covered hands.

But next to our store-bought egg, you can see how small it really is.

Since then, she's laid an egg 5-6 out of 7 days a week. Yum!

Just For Fun...

Can I come in?

I keep on knockin'...

...but I can't come in!