About three weeks ago, Mike Smith spotted some unexpected visitors living in the oak tree in his front yard.

Smith, who lives at 380 N. Myers Ave. in Sharon with his wife Iva, and their children, Michael and Kendra, was cutting his grass and noticed unusually large bird droppings under the tree. He looked up to find that a family of hawks had built a nest on a branch about 30 feet from the ground.

The hawk family consists of a male and female and four chicks. The fledglings, covered with recently emerged soft feathers in shades of brown and cream, are just starting to flap their wings, Smith said. He thinks the young birds' heightened activity is a sign that the hawks will be leaving soon.