Raptor, Fresno, California, USA (1 Viewer)

[SHolt]

Image taken 09 November, 2016 at 16:09 p.m. PST. It rained all day. I took a walk without binocular, of course. When I passed this location at the start of the walk a California gull was perched on this light pole. On the return visit to this location, junction of Austin and Blythe Avenues in Fresno, California, I looked up and thought why did that gull turn black. As I approached, I knew it was not an American Crow based on the head/bill, and feather color. I think it is a Merlin, but am not sure. The California Gulls chased it from light pole to light pole until it left the area. There was one brief moment when the gull and raptor were on the same pole so I could see that it was significantly smaller than the Gull. I was able to get images as I approached closer. The lighting was terrible. The head was small and blockish shaped, The bill was yellow to the eye, not the camera. It definitely had a pale "eyebrow" and a white throat. The breast appeared to be streaked though not all the way through the abdomen. The tail had alternating thick and thin bands as it flew away they were very evident. The images have been cropped/compressed to meet file size requirements.

 

[lou salomon]

it's a young accipiter, sharp-shinned hawk by the looks of it.