Subject: Re[2]: birds in action
Date: Feb 10 08:51:22 1995
From: juenemak at zgi.com - juenemak at zgi.com


Am loving these action stories about hunting birds, especially if there is
some unusual or not well-documented behavior. I can include some of these
accounts in my education bird presentations for our rehab center, so anytime
you have something on shrikes, harriers or merlins...

Chris Maack
Bird Treatment & Learning Center
Anchorage, AK
btlc at name1.ak.net


>Reading all these stories of falcons on the wing I couldn't resist a
>story of my own. On our back porch in the winter we spread seed out on
>the concrete. One morning I was laying with my face next to the glass at
>ground level watching the great array of finches, sparrows, juncos and
>towhees. From out of no where a Northern Shrike torpedoed in and nailed
>a pine sisken against the concrete and the base of the sliding glass
>door, not more than 6 inches from my face. The shrike finished the kill
>with a quick thrust of the beak, took one look at me and then flew off
>with its victim. All this took place in under 6 or 7 seconds but it was
>probably the closest I'll ever get to view something like this from.
>Another time I saw a Northern Shrike take a House Finch on the wing up at
>Skagit Flats. Neat birds!
>
>Michael Willison
>willmi at wwc.edu
>Walla Walla College
>College Place, Wa 99324
>509 527 2026
>
>
>

------------------------

Okay, I have a Northern Shrike story -- several weeks ago on one of those
beautiful crystal clear and cold Sundays, a friend and I went up to Reifel
Refuge. We spotted a Golden-crowned kinglet hop from the brush onto what was
frozen water -- in an instant, through the brush, zipped the shrike -- no more
kinglet. It was so fast, we had just brought the binoculars up to look at the
kinglet. Perfect timing, to see nature in action.

Karen Juenemann at SMTPGATE-ZGI