[SBB] Prairie Falcon at Ed Levin CP on 11/1/06

Hi all!

Fall migration is truly here! Yesterday, while birding at Ed Levin CP, I observed a falcon perched atop a tall tree. From a great distance across a football-field sized lawn, I took it for an American Kestrel (the most likely choice), because of its’ not-exactly-white-colored front. Nearby, a Red-tailed Hawk was perched. When the Red-tailed Hawk saw me coming, it took off for another tree. However, the falcon took off in pursuit, chasing it into the skies. Initially, I saw lots of barring on the tail and underwings, and I thought Merlin. But then I noticed there wasn’t much of a size difference between the two, and also got a slight glimpse of a mustache - and I thought perhaps Peregrine. As I took off across the lawn to capture the action, which had moved around a hill, I kept thinking that it sure was light underneath for a Peregrine. Well, I was in luck! The Red-tailed circled back towards the park while the falcon persisted in dive-bombing and attacking its’ upper hind-quarters (which annoyed, but didn’t seem to injure the Red-tailed). This action continued, coming back to a near enough position where I could see that not only was this falcon truly light underneath (needing to rule out possible play-of-the 2pm glare), but it had darker wing pits (ok - axillaries), which seemed to radiate from the body somewhat (underwing coverts). Eventually, the Red-tailed came to rest in a nearby out-of-sight tree while the falcon took off for the hills. The exhilaration of the bird chase accompanied by my thudding heart-rate (from shuffling quickly across the pitted lawn) and the racing brain-cells reminded me of why I bird - it’s my kind of fun! Happy birding!

Jean Myers

P.S. Tip for new birders - Don’t stop trying to ID those cryptic birds. You never know when the brain cells will catch up to the eyeballs!