Greetings, all,

I contributed to a, perhaps the, bad experience for a bufflehead this
afternoon.

Driving west on the I-90 bridge approaching Seattle, I saw a big falcon
perched on the superstructure of the eastbound lanes, the usual gull
crowd pushed nervously over to the far side. I left the freeway and
worked my way back through the neighborhoods to views of the bridge,
eventually to the parks just below it on the lake. The falcon was still
present, but without binoculars I wanted to walk closer. As I walked
along the shore, I unintentially flushed a female Bufflehead, and the
Peregrine, as I could determine as it flew closer to me, dove and struck
it in passing, about a foot off the water. The falcon hadn't had space
to build up much speed, but the duck landed, and as the falcon circled
for another go, dove. The falcon passed a few more times, then perched
on the south side of the bridge, just above road level. I never saw the
bufflehead again, but judging by its agility moments before on the
water, I suspect it swam off to surface in a less visible spot along the
shore.

Cheers,

Alan Grenon
Seattle
panmail at fastmail.fm
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pan
panmail at fastmail.fm