Most of the local farm ponds were frozen over on Sunday, leaving the majority of the water fowl on the reservoirs. There was nothing unusual to report on the ducks but we had a farm pond that had at least 200 Rock Dove walking about on the ice. Thirsty? An additional 100 plus were in the corn stubble adjacent to the pond. My backyard birds have been hounded by a Cooper's Hawk to the point that the feed level was hardly changed for 2 days. The immature accipiter is either not very good at catching food or very hungry. I caught him eyeing the chickens one day but I can't imagine he would tackle something that big even if he could get to them. The formative years of my life were spent on a farm with lots of chickens and the only ones that I ever knew to be killed by birds of prey were killed by either Red-tailed Hawks or Great Horned Owls, even though it was the Cooper's that my dad called the "chicken hawk". Everyone should get to see a Red-tail Hawk slam into a Buff Orpington at least once. Scott Lexington, KY