Those of us living in the Princeton Junction/Berrien City area of West Windsor have some new neighbors to deal with, and I’m not crazy about them — hawks. This year, as the weather started warming up, we have noticed a number of brown hawks taking up residence in the trees in our and our neighbors’ yards. While they are beautiful birds, these new residents come at a price — they have scared off all the smaller birds (bluejays, cardinals, robins, etc.) that used to frequent neighborhood bird feeders.
Even the squirrel population seems to have diminished, and it probably won’t be long before someone’s poor cat or small dog is snatched up by these birds of prey. At first, I wondered, why now? Why, after living here for a few years, are we only now having hawks in our backyard? Then it hit me.
When developers prepared to construct the “luxury apartment” monstrosity now being built on Clarksville between Meadow and Quakerbridge, a sad number of old, tall trees were ripped from the formerly verdant groves that we drive by every day. (Too many, I’m guessing.)
Is it possible that the hawks used to live among these green giants, have been displaced by those cookie-cutter boxes, and the tall trees in our area were the next best thing? Whatever the cause, it is worth investigation. We’d like our songbird visitors back, and I’m sure the hawks would like to return to their old homes.
Brian R. Fitzgerald
