Subject: RE: Freeway's territory
Date: Oct 17 20:11:10 1998
From: Ruth Taylor - rutht at seanet.com


At 02:49 PM 10/17/98 -0700, you wrote:
>On April 3, 1994, we came home to our house on 25th NE (around 60th) to
find a peregrine falcon dismembering a rock dove on a streetlight above our
driveway (it was the feathers floating down that caught our attention). It
was my first ever sighting of a peregrine falcon, and a decidedly great
addition to our yard list. I'm wondering now, could this have been Freeway?
What's her coloring?

Hi, Teresa.
I do the Seattle peregrine hotline (654-4423) for the Falcon Research Group
and keep records of all the reports we receive from the Seattle area.
As far as any of us know, Freeway is gone by early to mid March; presumably
she returns to her breeding territory, wherever it is. She returns to
Seattle in mid to late September. In early April, the bird you saw probably
was passing through on its way north or a non-breeder wandering around.
Over the past three years, we've had 2 or 3 reports every winter season
(October - March) of possible/probable/confirmed peregrine sightings in your
area and a little further east, so you may see another one this year.
Certainly your home is well within Freeway's range. A female matching her
description has been seen not only at the UW, slightly south of you, but as
far east as the western highrise on 520 and at the high rise condos at
Madison Park. She's a large adult female, with a strong cinnamon wash (color
varies a *lot* depending on lighting conditions) on her underparts, and a
heavy malar stripe. She has a USFWS band on her right leg. It's my
impression that she is more leery of humans than some of the other
peregrines in Seattle, so I would be surprised to see her on a street light
or telephone pole in a residential neighborhood, but who knows what she
might do on any given day.
Keep in mind that there is another female in the UW area. She's an adult
with very heavily marked underparts, a full helmet, and bands (VID, USFWS)
on both legs. She's been hanging out around the Montlake Fill for the last
couple of months, so at least part of her territory overlaps Freeway's
territory and is close to your territory.
We also get reports every winter of birds that don't match Freeway's
description north of the 520 bridge and in the Laurelhurst area. Birds in
these areas could easily hunt in your neighborhood. Although we have
peregrines that establish regular winter territories (usually around those
pigeon and starling meccas - bridges), undoubtedly there are other birds who
"float" or have fluctuating territories, or hang around the fringes of
another peregrine's territory until they get chased off.
So maybe you'll see a peregrine near home this winter. It's always great to
see one, but there's something extra special when it's close to home!