Earlier in the Summer, a mated pair of crows produced chicks in the trees along the stream on our Western property line. I'm not sure of exactly how many chicks, but we now have at least 8 or 9 crows routinely come to visit our backyard.

A few trees away from the crow nest, a pair of hawks also produced 5 chicks. During most of the Summer, the hawks terrorized the birds and small mammals in our yard. Lives were lost: bunnies, birds, and squirrels. Out of fear for their welfare, our dogs were also never allowed out on the deck for most of the Summer.

I couldn't see the interaction of the crow family and the hawk family until a few weeks after the hawks had fledged. However, when the crows fledglings were a little older, a balance of power changed. The crows worked as a family unit and gradually drove each individual hawk off. That doesn't mean we are totally free of all hawk danger. However based on the groundhog's relaxed behavior - and the last time (weeks ago) the murder of crows attacked the last hawk - I think the hawks have moved on for now.

Thank goodness for crows. They are extremely intelligent birds and will hold a grudge. For whatever reason, they sure didn't like that family of hawks!!! The crows still live down by the stream. At the moment, the hawks don't.