Hey tweets, We should all keep an eye on the Montlake Fill if the hobby
continues to fail to turn up again at Discovery Park. A day or two before
it was reported at Discovery Park, my husband and I were at the Fill and
saw an unusual bird fly in from the east. At first I thought it was a
mourning dove because it was kind of a brownish color on top and had a long
tail and was flapping along as doves do. But then it turned in the air and
I could see that clearly it was a falcon. It began to chase a small bird
(probably a goldfinch) in the sky. The two flew around for awhile in a
desperate attack, and then the falcon gave up and flew back east, heading
toward the small willows and scrub at the north end of Union Bay, or
possibly keeping going into the tall trees just east of there, or possibly
keeping going even off to Magnuson Park. The only really reasonable look we
got at it in terms of markings came as it was first flying in, and then all
I could see was that unusual brownish color. During the chase, both birds
were spang up against the sky, so all we could see were sizes and shapes.

My husband thought it was an unusually pale merlin. I thought it was an
unusually small peregrine. Instead of chasing it down, as we should have if
we had half a brain between us, we enjoyed a mild argument about who was
right. We never settled it, except to agree that that bird was something we
hadn't seen before. Do you suppose?

At any rate, although the Eurasian kestrel stayed pretty much in the same
area when it was here last year (or was that two years ago?), there is no
reason to think that a hobby would do the same. It might behave more like
the peregrines at the Fill do: checking out the Fill periodically, but also
checking out other likely areas around town, especially Magnuson. After
all, Discovery Park, the Fill and Magnuson are three parks that have
prairie/woods/water, and as such, all three parks attract large numbers and
varieties of prey birds. What do all you tweeters out there think? -
Connie, Seattle

P.S. Please don't kick me. I'm already kicking myself plenty.

csidles at mail.isomedia.com