the most recent addition...to our yard

Last week I heard a commotion in the woods behind our house and when I took a closer look, I saw a pair of hawks making a nest about 50 feet from our back door. I haven't been able to get many good pictures of them until this morning. In the tree right off our back porch they started mating. This is the female perched after the shock of it all. I guess after all she had been through she really wasn't too bothered by me coming outside to take her picture. Now, I have been trying to ID them and not sure I have it 100% correct but I am guessing- a red shouldered hawk.

Now Boyd or Jamie... if this breeding was successful, how long should I expect until there are chicks? I am all too excited, if you can't tell.


Despite their nesting in close proximity to our house, we still manage to have a fair bit of other song birds that flit around and don't seem too bothered by it all.