Hi Tweets,

Took a fun group of Seattle Audubon members to the Skagit and Samish
Flats today with Cheryl White. By far the best sight was our first stop
at the Stanwood sewage treatment ponds where we watched an adult
PEREGRINE FALCON take what appeared to be an immature COOT. (NG3 shows
the im. Coot with dark legs while Sibley shows it with light legs, not
sure which is right but this bird had dark legs.) The Peregrine took its
struggling prey to the nearest pond divider and started to tear into it.
We watched it eat while the prey's legs continued to move. Hope that was
just reflexive.

The falcon ate for 5 or 10 minutes before slowing down. Then we noticed
two BALD EAGLES tangling with an immature PEREGRINE FALCON at the south
end of the ponds. It appeared the eagles were working together to steal
the im. falcon's meal and after several mid-air dives that forced one
eagle to turn upside down repeatedly to defend itself, the other eagle
was able to steal the dead MALLARD and fly off to the nest. The im.
falcon gave a futile chase and dove a couple more times but the eagle
just hung on and made it back to the nest with the meal.

We were so delighted with this display that we didn't notice the other
eagle as it made its approach towards our nearby Peregrine. Suddenly the
eagle was upon the adult Peregrine and its prey. This peregrine didn't
give more than a halfhearted attempt to chase the eagle as it flew away
with the coot. As the peregrine flew past us we saw why. The
peregrine's crop was completely distended with what it had already eaten!
It had the profile of a Heron as it flew by us with bulging crop.

Could have ended the field trip right then but since it was only 9:30am
we continued on to Donna Kish's house to check on the TROPICAL KINGBIRD.
She said it hadn't been seen since last weekend.

Didn't find any huge flocks of SNOW GEESE but came across a flock of 400+
mixed TUNDRA and TRUMPETER SWANS south of Young Rd. west of Bradshaw.

The first SHORT-EARED OWL didn't start flying at the West 90 until 4:20pm
on this bright afternoon.

Linda Wakeman, Seattle
L4502 at juno.com