Hi, pigeon and starling activity.....after one or two minutes of scanning I eventually located the culprits: At around 8:30/8:45 I studied an immature Cooper's Hawk at length: it was definitely smaller than the other two Cooper's I have seen this fall. It was trying to capture birds, whether starlings or pigeons I don't know, as I locked on to the bird with my binoculars once I finally located it. At about 9:20 am or so I discovered the cause of that particular agitation: a Merlin was flying quickly to the west. Just now my gaze was attracted to the window by another agitation: I soon located a buteo far aloft and somewhat to the north. I believe it was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Some finches flew in between it and me, and after I finished watching them fly out of view I could not find the hawk. Don't worry, Phil, I believe they were not Pine Siskins....I think they were either House or Purple Finches Rob Hilton robert@csa.com Bethesda, Md