I was with my 22 y.o. nephew yesterday driving out Samish Island Road about
1 P.M. (DeLorme 109) when a Merlin flashed across the road in front of us.
It went behind a house, pursued by a Peregrine Falcon. For a minute or so,
the two played hide and seek, with the Merlin trying desperately to keep the
house between it and the Peregrine. I could see that the Merlin clutched
something small and white in its talons.

After perching in a small tree in the front yard for 10-15 seconds, the
Merlin was spotted again and took off again in the direction it had come
from, across the flats. It was impressive to watch the Peregrine chase it,
easily catching up with powerful wing beats. The Merlin veered sharply up,
dropping its prize. The Peregrine slammed on the brakes, dropped gently to
the ground, and began to dine.

Its meal was small and and appeared almost entirely white in color. We think
it was a bird, because it appeared feathers were floating away as the
Peregrine tore into it. What could it have been?

Michael B. Brown
Puyallup, Washington
H-253-841-4281
W-253-841-8733
C-253-208-9588
borealis at borealis.seanet.com
Nature Trail- http://www.puyallup.k12.wa.us/USR/firgrove/brown/trail.htm
Home Page- http://www.seanet.com/~borealis/Resume.htm

"...I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned
one, but having caged myself near them."

-Thoreau
_ _
(o!o)
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