>Well, a crow just joined it on its antenna, so I can tell you that it's
>slightly smaller than the crow. Wingtips nearly meet the tip of the tail.
>Brownish/greyish back. (It always seems to be back-lit, so it's hard to
>tell.) It turned its front to me earlier, so I could see that it was quite
>light and heavily striped. I imagined that I could see a slight band on
>the tail. And it has a very round head. There you have it.

>On one day, my guess was a Merlin. My guess today is a Sharpie. Any other
>ideas? Thx--EB

Sharpies have long tails in relationship to their wings, while a merlin's
wingtips will be much as you describe.

Also, I would think you'd be able to see the broad banding on the sharpie's
tail though you mention it's backlit. This doesn't seem to preclude you
from noticing the striping on the breast, though. Merlins have very
narrow lighter bands contrasting with their dark tail, but this can
be hard to see when wings obscure the tail or if you're looking from
a distance.

So, from what you've said I'd go with merlin - appropriate, given the
magic of electronic communication, don't'cha think?

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, at (NEW) http://donb.photo.net