Hello Tweetians,

Think I'll succumb and get in on this thread. I was just a casual backyard,
feeder lister for years. But back in oh, what was it, '93?...in the wake of
some pretty thick mid-life tumult, I found myself taking a birding class
with Dick McNeely up here in Bellingham. He took us out on the Samish Flats
early one morning in late winter, early spring. There was a frosty ground
mist wafting around, with the sun slicing through. We were slowly caravaning
along the Edison/Samish Island Rd., just west of the mouth of the Samish
River (east of the east 90) and I was driving right behind Dick. Suddenly
his left arm flew out the window pointing at two incredibly swift and
quickly ascending birds just off the road. I glanced up and saw one bird
drop something small from its talons while the other, flying right behind
the first, caught it in midair and made haste across the open field with
that signature falcon acceleration. Meanwhile, Dick had pulled over and I
quickly followed suit. I jumped out of the car to hear him exclaiming with
arms waving, "Peregrine Falcons! Midair food exchange! Courtship display!"
To me, in those moments, he appeared certifiably bonkers. I had only the
most vague notion what he was talking about, but boy oh boy, was I hooked!
As he explained the serendipitous, wild interaction we had just witnessed,
some small fire was lit in me. That experience awakened some kind of lost,
yet dormant connection within me, a sense of my own neglected inner
wilderness. The next winter I took Bud Anderson's raptor class and well,
folks...I was goners from there on out...and alas, now I've got it bad, and
it's really good.

Most recent evidence...just returned from a week in Florida, and I want to
thank all who offered suggestions. One high point was watching a
Red-shouldered Hawk take a snake on the trail right in front of us. I'll
post a report when time permits, but briefly, we had 114 species, 49 of
which were life birds for me.

Eyes to the sky,
Joe Mackie
jmackie at cc.wwu.edu
Bellingham