"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?" Job 39:26

Sharp-shinned Hawk-(Accipiter striatus)

I was recently eating cereal when I heard an unfamiliar shrieking noise coming from our backyard. When I heard it again, I had to see what it was. I thought the Northern Flicker that was here the day before had returned, but the noise was not that of a woodpecker.

Upon looking out, I didn't see anything and all was quiet. Our yard is usually filled with backyard birds, so I was unsettled as I continued to finish my cereal. I was still bothered by what I heard, so I decided to go look through my bird blind (my upstairs window in our laundry room, now covered with dark material) When I looked out, there was a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk (aka sharpie) finishing its own meal. Upon seeing this, I realized that what I heard was the kill. The small bird it was finishing up, was one of my very own backyard birds. Though it saddened me, I know its just "nature's way" to quote Steve Irwin.

I took some images from upstairs and then when it flew down to the fence from up on my trellis, I took more of it on the fence as it proceeded to clean his beak by rubbing it on the fence. A behavior I realized I hadn't seen before.

There are probably more images in this sequence than most people care to look at, but I know there are those that will appreciate the sequence. I hope you enjoy looking at the images, whether you view 1 or all of them.


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Categories & Keywords
Category:Animals
Subcategory:Birds
Subcategory Detail:
Keywords:Accipiter striatus, animals, art, avian, birding, birds, fine, hawk, hawks, images, nature, raptors, sharp-shinned hawk, sharpie, wildlife

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