Oct. 17-18-19, 2004 TN-MS I have seen more Sharp-shinned Hawks in the past few days than I can remember in such a short period around here. Over the past couple of years I have noted a dramatic increase in their numbers compared to the steep decline they had been through the previous years. On Friday, in Collierville, I had 2 Cooper's and a Sharpie migrating over the buildings I'm working in, all circling high. I had a Cooper's try to take a squirrel in my yard that evening. The Cooper's scooped its victim up and landed in a nearby tree and there was quite a scuffle, with wings flapping and tails wagging and soon the squirrel dropped to the ground and made a bee line to another tree. The Coop did not pursue but soon flew off across the street and chased a Sharpie from another tree. On Saturday morning, I had an immature Sharpie and a Cooper's migrating over the river in Memphis and another Cooper's at the pits. On Sunday Q. B. Gray and I had an adult Sharpie at Arkabutla Dam. On Monday, I was driving down Walnut Bend Road in Germantown, when I saw what I thought was a dead bird in the middle of the street. The pile of feathers did not move as the car in front of me passed and I drove up and stopped to see what had been hit. Out of the feathers popped up the head of an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk with red eyes gleaming. It was mantling a small bird; I did not see what species, as the Sharp-shinned decided it would not share its hard earned fair with an Ol'Coot. The prior week I saw a good number of Cooper's Hawks hunting and migrating but no Sharp-shinned. Has anyone else noted more Sharp-shinned in the past few days or an increase in their numbers over the past few years? Good Birding!!! Jeff R. Wilson OL'COOT / TLBA Bartlett, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================