Hi all,
Today I spent the morning on Spencer Island with an Internet Birding
Friend from California and Margie Palmer and had a great time watching
Peregrines hunt and feed. We saw at least two separate individuals and
probably a third bird while birding from the cross dike. Last Friday
while I was on the island I observed Barn Swallows mobbing every raptor
including Kingfishers (I know,its not a raptor in the technical sense of
the word). Today showed me why these swallows were so intent on driving
off birds of prey since today I watched the Peregrines feeding on Barn
Swallows. One immature male carried its catch to a nearby tree and tore
it to shreads while we watched through a scope. The catch was
definitely a barn swallow. We watched on two other occasions as
Peregrines carried very small catches to a perch to eat. Once we
watched as a chase occurred with one larger Peregrine pursued a smaller
one in and among the trees in an attempt to steal its prey. A Northern
Harrier also joined in on the chase but neither bird succeeded.
The rest of our list includes:
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Horned Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Virginia Rail (Heard)
Sora
American Coot
Greater Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Franklin's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Marsh Wren
American Robin
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Last Friday I birded the same area and birds not seen today included:
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Nashville Warbler
Bewick's Wren
Black-headed Grosbeak
Merlin
Probable American Kestrel
Golden-crowned Sparrow

Also for those of you who were aware that the Everett Sewage Ponds were
closed to birders because of construction, I found out today that they
have been reopened just in time for us to start sorting through all of
those Boneparte Gulls. We saw two Franklins mixed in today but could
not locate a Little Gull that Chris Hill reported earlier.
Good Luck and Good Birding
Yvonne
ravenn at premier1.net