Once a year and a half ago I was birding the mountains above Omak with a
Seattle Audubon field trip. As we were getting out of our cars, a golden
eagle stooped right at us and pulled up in shock when he realized we were
humans. It was an unforgettable sight (though I'm wondering why he thought
we were prey).
Rahne
"All the creeds that wind and wind
when just the art of being kind
is all the sad world needs."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
----- Original Message -----
From: <MBlanchrd at aol.com>
To: <TWEETERS at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 6:01 PM
Subject: Peregrine takes Band-Tailed Pigeon


> Hi, Tweeters,
>
> Today I had a real treat...I was in back of my house and had just
flushed
> the 40+ bandtailed pigeons from my feeders. (they're going through a lot
of
> feed in a huge hurry.....). It seems to take them forever to get
airborne,
> usually, but this time, all of sudden, they were going light speed.
Something
> went WHOOSH behind me and pigeons were everywhere. What the heck??
>
> I then saw a peregrine hit a pigeon. It did a flip and fell to the
ground,
> with the falcon right after it. Of course the rest of the birds all went
> screaming to safety. THe pigeon fell into a patch of the vast areas of
broom
> that plague this area, and the falcon went right in after it. She didn't
come
> out, either, so I"m assuming she was eating the pigeon.
>
> Later on, I went out to the patch of broom and found the remains of the
> pigeon. The falcon was gone. There were feathers everywhere, and not much
> pigeon. I also found at least six other carcasses, all in the same state
but
> lots older. So it appears that Miss Peregrine has been hunting this area
for
> some time, and this was my first time even suspecting it.
>
> I didn't get to see the stoop, but it was a thrill just seeing that fast
bird
> fly.........
>
> Michelle
> Littlerock, WA
>