Yesterday I had the afternoon off, so I decided to take my dogs to
Discovery Park and see what was around. We had barely arrived (around
1:20) and were walking downhill from the small white church near the
south parking lot when a falcon flew from a line of trees ahead of me,
circled, and then 'floated' on the wind toward a small isolated grove of
douglas fir trees about a quarter mile distance. Nearly at the same
time, one of my dogs saw a group of rabbits ahead of us and pulled
violently on her leash. Thus when the bird was closest, I wasn't able to
see it. But what I did see has convinced me this bird was neither a
Peregrine or Merlin. I believe this bird was the Northern Hobby.

Unfortunately, the bird was backlit during the observation making color
hard to discern. I saw the upperparts best, as it banked away from me,
which were completely dark in color, without any markings including the
tail. I could also discern a white patch in the cheek area, and I could
tell the throat was white as well. Underneath the throat was pale and
there was streaking on the breast and a darkening toward the vent. The
underwings and tail appeared dark as well, with irregular lighter
markings.

The shape of the bird was what was most interesting. The bird was larger
than a Merlin with longer narrower wings, giving the bird a more
elongated feel, and a slimmer body proportionately as well. Perhaps a
better analogy would be a smaller, more elegant Peregrine. The bird
hardly used its wings in the wind which was coming fairly strong from
the west- southwest at this time. It seemed very kite-like as it moved
to the northwest. It may have been looking for aerial prey- I have seen
Merlins fly like this on occasion when feeding on dragonflies.
Eventually it landed in the top of a fir in the grove mentioned above
and I took off after it. When I got to the area where I last saw it, the
bird was gone. Two other birders (sorry- I only remember their first
names) said they had just seen a suspicious looking falcon heading from
the same group of trees toward the north bluff area of the park. They
also mentioned that Penny Rose (I believe this was her name- in the
excitement, I lost that information in my brain), a ranger at the park
had seen the Hobby with Kevin originally on the previous Saturday and
saw it again on Tuesday (she apparently did not report this officially).

I walked to the north bluff area and then back to the south bluff area,
including to the original location where the Hobby was first seen last
Saturday. I then decided that I'd do better without my dogs and returned
home to call in the sighting to the Birdbox, grab my scope and return to
the park. I was there for another two hours and did not refind the
Hobby. I saw three different Merlins: one blue-backed male at the South
Parking lot; a very dark bird along the south bluff; and a brown-backed
bird (female or immature) at the spot where I last saw the Hobby. All
where perched when seen originally, had distinctive banding on the
tail, and the short, compact body structure typical of Merlins. I also
saw one immature Peregrine along the north beach trail, heavy looking
and very purposeful in flight style. Other birds of note: one Townsend's
Solitaire near the military homes along the west portion of the loop
trail feeding in a madrone with a large mixed group of birds; one
American Pipit in the grass below the historic homes; and a Cooper's
Hawk, 2 Osprey, 4 Bald eagles, 3 Red-tailed Hawks using the winds which
eventually shifted out of the northeast around 5:00pm.

So, it appears the Hobby is still around and is probably ranging
widely. It may be better to stay in one place rather than move around a
lot in the park- I covered a lot of ground, and saw each one of the
falcons I mentioned above only once. The small picnic area near the
white church has always been a good place to watch for raptors and the
hill to the north has a commanding view as well. The surrounding
neighborhoods may also merit a drive-through.

I also saw a beautiful adult Peregrine perched on a fishing vessel when
crossing the Ballard bridge on my way home.
--
______________________________
Alan J. Knue
bluecrow at home.com
Seattle, WA

PS. I tried posting this last night, but my service provider was down
all evening- sorry it's not sooner. AJ