Hi all,

It's been a good two days, raptor-wise. Yesterday, driving home in late afternoon from Redmond to Snoqualmie on 202, I saw FIVE Red Tailed Hawks (RTHA) perch hunting just between Redmond and Fall City. This morning, at the dead top of a tall fir across the way from our backyard I saw a raptor I initially thought was a RTHA from the size. To my delight when I put the binocs and then the scope on it, it was a Peregrine Falcon, a first for the yard.

After running some errands, when I got back, there was another raptor in the same tree. This time, the scope revealed an immature Cooper's Hawk. The bird had a blue band with white markings on its right leg. Unfortunately, with the distance and the wind blowing him around a bit, I could not make out the inscription on the band - but perhaps the color of the band is of at least some help to someone reading this post.

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com