I admit I'm an idiot when it comes to IDing birds; but this one is even bad
for me.

I wrote a post about a small Sharp Shinned hawk the other day and yesterday
read some discussion by Don Baccus. He mentioned the way Merlins sit and
preen after being banded. This piqued my memory so I got out the home video
of the "small Sharp Shinned" and examined it last night. I now think it was
a Merlin. As to the misidentification...Who expects to find a Merlin to be
hopping around your front porch?

John Shelton
Portland, Oregon