My wife and I stopped at Henricus this morning on our way home to North Carolina. We met a birder who reported seeing an accipiter that she had been unable to identify as a Cooper's or sharp-shinned. We saw an immature bald eagle flying over and the usual ducks including an American wigeon and a pair of wood ducks. No American bittern. On our way out my wife spotted the accipiter, so we stopped and looked. After it flew, we relocated it and looked some more, getting very good looks: adult; crown and back the same very dark gray; long, square tail with a visible white terminal fringe (all tail feathers the same length); head and beak not proportionately large; total size large for a sharpie. Best approximation was a female sharpie. Sharp-shinneds are fairly frequent during the winter here in the Fayetteville area, so I have plenty of experience with them. However, the one at Henricus this morning was my first Virginia sighting.
Bob -- Bob Perkins Historian and general outdoorsman Fayetteville, North Carolina rperkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.
