I was riding my bike home from work yesterday, through Fremont, when I
flushed what I initially thought was a pigeon, scuffling around in the dirt
right beside the sidewalk. It flew up, and I thought "that's not a pigeon!
That's a hawk!" I nearly fell off my bike, I was so surprised. This is at
the corner of Stone Way and 34th Ave N in Seattle, if you know the
neighborhood - really not close to any parks or woodland.

I threw down my bike and managed to get out my camera, which I just
happened to have with me. I also happened to have my zoom lens attached.
The bird was in a tree, so close that I had to back up, to get all of it in
the frame.

So, I'm pretty sure this is either a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.
It's got a rounded tail, like a Cooper's should. But, it was small (I
initially mistook it for a pigeon, remember), and the rounded head shape
and lack of a lighter patch on just behind the bill make me think
Sharp-Shinned (I'm looking at Peterson's for comparison. I was in the new
Sibley's last night, and it wasn't helping.)

Any ideas as to what I could look at to help narrow this down? I've got the
best pics up at flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kptrease/13249133815/

-k
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