AUSTIN, Texas — On April 23, Eric Klein met an unfriendly neighbor while walking to his car: a broad-winged hawk, which flew down and struck his head, setting quite a bad "first impression."
"I mean, literally think of a rock the size of your fist and getting hit in the head with it. That's what it feels like," Klein said.
Klein has noticed hawk activity in his neighborhood before. Last year, a hawk would brush or buzz by him, but he said other people got attacked.
This year, he has had to be cautious since he saw hawks nesting outside his front door.
"Since April, I literally can't walk outside without having it sweep past me or hit me," Klein said.
The hawk's presence had prevented the U.S. Postal Service from delivering the mail, which forced some residents in the Travis Heights neighborhood to pick their mail up at the post office on South Congress Avenue.
Luckily, delivery picked back up again on Wednesday. The birds in Klein's neighborhood have also flown away.
Travis Audubon Executive Director Nicole Netherton said hawks are territorial during nesting season, which can last from April to July.
"They have invested so much energy into being sure that these babies are successful, and they don't know that we're not trying to eat them. We are like anything else in their environment that could be a predator," Netherton said.
Hawks are protected by state and federal laws and can't be killed, taken from the nest or picked up. Given that July is the tail end of nesting season, Netherton is pleading for residents to not take matters into their own hands.
"I know it's frustrating to feel like you have this hawk that's really mad at you, but as soon as those babies leave the nest, they will calm down," Netherton said.
In the meantime, if there is no way to avoid a path from the nest, people are advised to carry an umbrella.
"We share this space with them. They were here before we were," Netherton said.
It's all part of doing our part to get along with wildlife and give nature the room it needs to survive, fly away and thrive.