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suburban Red-shouldered and other hawks



Hi C-birders,

Like Gary, my wife and I were working at home Monday. During our lunch
break, a Red-shouldered Hawk started screeching from our big Sycamore
tree; this was a regular event at my old house near the Duke Forest, but
for our place on suburban Ninth street - with scarcely a dozen trees of
any significant age within sight of the house - it was a first. Then, on
our way into Duke for an evening class, a Sharp-shinned Hawk buzzed over
the road.

That was one of three Sharpies I've seen around Durham in the past week.
THe other two, rather than skimming between trees and buildings in typical
Sharpie fashion, were spiraling above the treetops and gaining altitude.
Is it time for them to be heading northwards already?

In other hawk news, the pair-bonding of Red-tails seems to be a regionwide
trend. Brian, Matt, and I saw a pair sharing a lamp-post by I-85 near
Hillsborough on our way to the Calliope Hummer Saturday, and that evening
before the woodcock walk I saw another pair together on a tree limb across
Pickett Road from my friend Tracy Feldman's house just south of the Orange
County line.

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/