FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Sharp-shinned gets Chipmunk

["mayhorn" <mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Area Birders,
Yesterday (3/9/05) while driving home from Grundy on Rte. 83 my wife and I saw, 
what I thought was a grouse, flying low, coming across a large, open lawn on 
the right side of the highway. It managed to get across the roadway just in 
front of the car in front of us. I could see that it was a small Sharp-shinned, 
struggling to stay in the air with its heavy load. By the time we reached the 
point where it had crossed the road, it was only about 20 feet away and only 
about 5 feet above a grassy field. I could see a chipmunk dangling from its 
talons. It flew on another 30 feet or so and finally came down on a grassy 
slope. It was proceeding to eat its meal as we drove out of sight. I was 
surprised to see that the chipmunk was such a load for it, but when you 
consider that most of its prey has feathers and hollow bones, I suppose a 
chipmunk would outweigh a bird by several ounces.
Enjoy the birds,

Roger Mayhorn
Grundy, VA
Buchanan County   
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