Nest of owlets thwart tree removal

     Removal of a large hackberry tree at 121 1st St. NE in Hampton has temporarily come to a halt, thanks to a nest of small fluffy visitors.
     Del Hamilton, owner and operator of Hamilton Tree Service, started working on cutting down the tree at the residential property on March 31, after the city decided it needed to be removed due to safety concerns. Several big limbs had already fallen, and a hole in the middle of the trunk risked the entire tree toppling over.
     But only a short way into his work that day, Hamilton came to a screeching halt when he discovered that the hole was not only a safety concern for the tree, but home to a nest of baby owls.
     “I was just riding up and down, going after limbs, and I looked in that hole and thought, ‘Oh my, how neat,’” Hamilton said. 
     Read the full article in the May 3 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.