[va-bird] Re: Sharp-shinned - Photos

Roger,

Your pictures couldn't have been more timely!  On
Monday I was sitting on my porch when a
sharp-shinned hawk came out of the holly tree and
landed about twenty feet from me on the grass.  I
didn't know what it was, but we looked at each
other for perhaps half a minute, and then it flew
into the large boxwood.  I'd been seeing it
around, but not well enough to get a good look. 
I tentatively identified it from my books on
Monday, but your pictures confirmed it.  I think
mine was an adult, though--there was less
streaking on the breast.  

Now I also think that the piles of feathers I
found along my driveway a couple of weeks ago may
have been from another SS--I knew they were from
some kind of hawk, but they were too small for
either the RS or the RT that also live here. I
saved a lot of them, hoping for an
identification, and now I think I've got it.  I
had seen a small hawk being chase by a couple of
huge crows a day or two before I found the
feathers.  I never found a carcass, though.

Thanks again for the great pictures!

Grace

--- Mayhorn <mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> VA Birders,
> Early this morning My wife, Lynda, called me to
> the window to see a female Sharp-shinned
> sitting on the ground near the edge of the
> woods, here on Compton Mt. Even though I
> couldn't see anything it held, every now and
> then the hawk would look at the ground and
> change its position, as if it were holding down
> prey. After a few minutes it flew into the
> woods. It didn't appear to be carrying prey.
> The bird appeared to be a juvenile in
> transition to adult. The eyes are yellow or
> orange-yellow instead of the red of an adult.
> The cere on this bird is a bluish-green. Before
> it left I took a couple of photos. They are not
> as sharp as I would have liked because they
> were taken through the window glass, but you
> can see them at
> http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn 
> 
> Enjoy the birds,
> 
> Roger Mayhorn
> Compton Mt
> Buchanan County


Grace Cangialosi
Ruckersville, VA
Photo album: http://photos.yahoo.com/gracecan.rm 

 Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.
                  (Seen on a bumper sticker)

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