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
