Subject: Sharp Shin hunting moves
Date: Nov 12 16:41:00 1997
From: "John Shelton - ext. 4051" - johns at ohsu.EDU



Interesting behavior from one of our resident SharpShins this morning. The
Sharp Shin had a couple of House Sparrows trapped in a boxwood and was
trying to flush them by stomping around on top of the bush. Finding little
success with the stomping he plunged into one side of the bush and exploded
out the other side in a spray of debris. The sparrows were having none of
it and stayed inside the bush. The Sharp Shin then flew to the ground and
walked all around the bush, poking his head inside apparently trying to spot
his prey. At this point I had to leave or be late for work. I expected the
hawk would leave when we walked out the door and headed for the car but
surprisingly it flew to a fence about 10 feet from the bush and kept a vigil
while we exited the driveway. As we were driving away I could see him
stomping on top of the bush again. One of the benefits of having feeders on
your front porch is the occasional opportunity for close up viewing. All
this activity took place no more than 4-5 feet from a large livingroom
window. Our front porch list now includes Sharp Shin, Cooper and a Merlin
all on videotape. How neat.

John Shelton
Portland, Oregon