About 8:30 this morning I was standing in the parking lot at Puckett's Pond, at Harrington Beach, Oz. Co. I had a very brief look at a very large accipter flying low over the field to the north, moving in the direction of the woods on the other side of Sauk Trail Rd. It was a first year bird, brownish-gray above, streaked below, with a distinct white supercilium, and very large. This would be a lifer for me, and given the brevity of my observation, I'm not going to call it, but it does seem probable. I headed into the woods, hoping to get another look. I didn't find the hawk, but I did find a Purple Finch giving its "vireo song". This is a vocalization I had read about but never encountered personally, so I was quite happy with that, and I managed to get a short audio recording of it. Back at home, doing a little research, I found that Lang Elliot has an interesting theory about this particular vocalization. He believes it is an aerial predator alarm call. So it seems possible that the finch was reacting to the accipiter, that was probably still lurking about in the area. Here's a link to my recording: http://www.wisconsinbirdsounds.com/audio/purple_finch/purple_finch_vireo_song.mp3 And here's a link to the Lang Elliot piece, with a much better recording of the same vocalization. http://www.musicofnature.org/home/purple_finch_vireo_song/ Todd Wilson Glendale, WI http://www.wisconsinbirdsounds.com/ #################### You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn