Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 10:09:18 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sam Droege Subject: Sharp-shinned Hawks Nesting at Soldier's Delight. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi Folks: This past weekend (May 4-6) I was camping on private property in the Soldier's Delight area. Almost immediately I heard a Sharpy calling from a dense Virginia Pine stand (most trees around 20 feet tall). Over the next 3 days I heard a Sharpy calling repeatedly from that stand. I sighted the male a number of times, but saw the female flash by only once. I located what I strongly suspect is the nest, but didn't climb it for fear of causing the nest to be abandoned. The nest was about 15 feet up a pine located near the trunk of the tree. From the ground it appeared to be mostly twigs and had a diameter of roughly 14 inches or so. The birds low flights always lead to this same area and it was in this same area that heard the male consistently calling. I actually never saw a bird sitting or flushed from the suspect nest, but I only checked it once. I found a Sharpy nest in southern Ohio in the past in very similar circumstances and have found a number of Cooper's nests or nest sites including one that for the past 2 years has nested in my back yard. The calls were distinctly different with the Coop's always being a deep kak-kak-kak and the Sharpy being a wimpy and soft ki-ki-ki a bit reminiscent of a Kestrel call. In consulting the Atlas it looks like there hasn't been a Sharpy nest record east of the Allegheny County in a long while, so I thought I would write this one up and sent it out. I also noted that I a Chuck calling on the night of the 4th in the same area. Comments on the status of Sharpies in Maryland would be welcome. sam Sam Droege FROG@USGS.GOV w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5784 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center 12100 Beech Forest, Laurel, Md 20708-4038 Http://www.mp1-pwrc.usgs.gov The Hawk Call down the hawk from the air; Let him be hooded or caged Till the yellow eye has grown mild, For larder and spit are bare, The old cook enraged, The scullion gone wild. I will not be clapped in a hood, Nor a cage, nor alight upon wrist, Now I have learnt to be proud Hovering over the wood In the broken mist Or tumbling cloud. What tumbling cloud did you cleave, Yellow-eyed hawk of the mind, Last evening? That I, who had sat Dumbfounded before a knave, Should give to my friend A pretence of wit. -Yeats ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================