Subject: Re: Another bird-of-prey-in-action account
Date: Feb 10 10:03:02 1995
From: Michael Smith - whimbrel at u.washington.edu


On Fri, 10 Feb 1995, Maureen Ellis wrote:

> better. This is the second experience I've had that suggested the
> hunting birds were using me an unwitting "partner."

Twice I have been 'used' in this manner by Parasitic Jaegars. Once
after I had successfully located a Pectoral Sandpiper nest, I watched a
jaegar fly over (it had been sort of skulking in a low spot, out of my
sight) minutes after I had left it, and eat all the eggs. On another
occassion, I was doing a census, and flushed some just-fledged
longspurs. Out of nowhere comes a jaegar to eat them. It followed me
around the rest of the afternoon, hoping I wouldn't notice it again, and
provide another easy meal.

____________________________
Mike Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html