The other day I was riding the 26 bus in to work, in my usual
pre-work state of morning fogginess. I was reading, as I usually
do, and paying some attention to what was going on around me.

As the bus road down Second Ave in Belltown (a Seattle nighborhood
just north of downtown, which is very urban and characterized by
1-2 story retail and resteraunt businesses with occasional
apartments and condo's, and almost no green space), I noticed a
pigeon hanging on to the side of a building, with it's head
in a grove on the face of the building. I had never seen a
pigeon hang on to the side of a wall like that, and thought it
odd.

Then I realised I had never seen a pigeon with wings that looked
quite like that - and I had never seen a pigeon with a tail that
long, with stripes across it. Then I realised, that that was no
pigeon!

In my morning fog I didn't have my "birding eyes" on, so I can't
swear to it, but I am pretty sure it was a Sharpy. I know that
there are Red-Tails all over I-5 and Perigrines in the Washington
Mutual tower, but I've never seen an accipiter in that urban an
area. I can only guess it was looking for sparrow nests in the
groove on the front of a building.

Just goes to show you - always keep your eyes open.




__===========__ ___========____
---==== =========__ __========= ========____
==============
========= =====_
====== =======
=*==
John Chapman ===
Seattle, Washington /|
ragweed at igc.org / |