ID help please. Sharp-shinned hawk?

[Randy]

Sorry about the poor quality. The lighting was terrible and I was pretty far away. Obviously I had to crop like crazy.

This was taken at Derby Reach Regional Park in North Langley. This is the first time I have been here and it's actually quite a nice place. It got fairly busy later on in the morning with people and dog traffic but was otherwise great.

Highlights were a few pacific wrens, lots of GC Kinglets, a Bewick's wren, and a red-tailed hawk. Nothing overly exciting but a great morning nonetheless!

Thanks in advance for the ID help!

Randy - Langley

Attachments:

[Gord]

Randy, you did well to capture an identifiable image. That is a young Merlin. The thinner light bands on a dark tail was a good clue and the face pattern can just be made out too. Otherwise, these and Sharp-shins are fairly similar in size. The two species do tend to perch differently and even at a distance one can get a good idea if it's a hawk or falcon with experience.

[Randy]

Thanks Gord. Now that you say that it seems really obvious! For some reason I couldn't get sharp-shinned hawk out of my head!

Randy