VA Birders,
Unfortunately yesterday our small resident male Sharp-shinned was chasing a
bird and flew into our glass, dining room door, even though we have large
stickers on the glass to prevent this from happening. Fortunately he only had
the breath knocked out of him and came to rest on our back steps. While he was
recovering I sneaked a photo with a telephoto lens from the corner of the of
the house. From this photo you can get a good idea of how small a male Sharpie
really is. After he recovered and flew into the woods, I measured the step, and
from front to back it measured 9 1/2 inches. The bird appears to be about the
same length. You can see the photo at http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/new_birds
In the wild these guys don't appear to be quite that small. Next to this photo
is another I took a couple of days before of the same bird perched in a tree
(I'm pretty sure its the same bird, since it has been a regular in the yard for
sometime now. This bird has more white on its left side than its right.) I
think it looks much smaller on the step than in the tree.
Enjoy the birds,
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt (near Grundy)
Buchanan County
