Greetings --

....just back home from a little drive through the Columbia Basin and
eastern Montana.

Two weeks ago I got to see a rare sight: Rock Dove in their native
habitat acting like wild birds.

While poking along south on the Wakefield - Cameron Lake Road on the
Omak Plateau (Okanogan Co., Wash.), where the road approaches the
basalt cliffs at Duley Lake, I drove under a dozen Rock Dove
apparently receiving some measure of attention from two Red-tailed
Hawk (1 adult, 1 juvenile). Adding to the drama were 50 to 100 Cliff
Swallow in the air at any time (I counted 150 swallow nests on the
cliffs.)

The Rock Dove were pretty much sticking together in flight in 2s or
3s or 4s, or perching under overhangs on the basalt cliffs. I never
saw either of the Red-tails seriously go after a Rock Dove in flight,
though that would have been really interesting.

After a few minutes the incident slowly ended, and the Red-tails
began flying wider circles, apparently going back to the business of
looking for small mammals.

I've occasionally seen Red-tails go after waterfowl on the water
(both adults and ducklings), but I've never seen them practice aerial
hunting. Has anyone witnessed a Red-tail taking a bird on the wing?

Doug


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Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at nisquallyestuary.org
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