On Mon, 13 Nov 1995
Herb Curl wrote:

> The yard bird du jour on Friday was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk perched for
> 10 minutes a few feet from my backyard bird feeder in the U-District. It
> was unbothered by cars whizzing down the alley or my standing 12 feet away.

snip snip >This is the 3rd sharpie
> I've seen in this area in four years; always in early winter. One of them
> was dining on a pigeon and I've seen pigeon feather piles in the alley on
> other occasions.

> Herb Curl

I have had several visits by a sharpie over the past few years. The season
is spring through early winter. Two or three weeks ago the bird flew within
four feet of me as I stood inside my house next to a large window.
Most of my little friends know when I am there so I expect the sharpie did
also. A couple days ago I saw the sharpie on the ground walking between my
house and a hedge of skimia (sp?). This area is directly below two feeders
and there frequently are several birds picking at the fall out. The sharpie
was within 3 feet of me as it walked along checking out the branches of the
skimia for a meal. Again I was inside a large window but I do not know if
the sharpie saw me. A short while later it flew into a near by fir tree.

When sharpies are on the prowl do they hang out near promising locations
or do they cruise around looking for targets of opportunity? I'm just
getting into birding and might be classed as a lurker.


Douglas G. Hudson
Bremerton,WA
dhudson at linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us