Wow. Really great pictures. I'm sure Bud Anderson (and other Falcon Research
Groupers) knows who this falcon is.

The first peregrine falcon I ever recognized took a Northern Pintail out of
the air and carried it off. I was duck hunting at the mouth of John's River
on Grays Harbor. This was in about 1973. There is a freshwater marsh just
inside the treeline just above the intertidal. This is immediately west of
the mouth of Johns River. A flock of Northern Pintail had flown into this
marsh and my hunting partners and I had shot at them a number of times. As
the ducks flared and rose out of the wetland, I caught, out of the corner of
my eye, an apparent collision between two birds. As I focused on the two
birds, I saw that the pintail had gone quite limp, head and wings hanging,
and the pointed wing raptor on top of it was slowing gaining altitude,
carrying the duck away. They disappeared over the trees as the Peregrine
carried the pintail out into the harbor somewhere. So, I'm not sure how far
the peregrine carried this rather large duck but it was clearly able to
carry it off.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington
Reply to: mcallisters4 at comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wise, Cathy" <cathy.wise at cingular.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 8:23 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Photos of Peregrine Eating a Wigeon


On New Years Eve I was doing laundry in downtown Oak Harbor at the
laundromat. While my clothes washed I decided to take a drive along the
waterfront to see what kind of ducks were about and to see if any of our
resident Bald Eagles were around. To my surprise I found a peregrine at
very close range at one of the little parks along the waterfront eating
a duck. After the falcon left I inspected the carcass and the wigeon's
head made it an easy ID. All I can guess is that the wigeon flock took
off and the peregrine hit her in midair and momentum carried them to the
ground where I found them. I can't imagine a peregrine flying with prey
that size although I suppose it is possible. Does anybody know?
Anyhow, I was lucky enough to have my camera equipment with me and ready
to go. If you are interested in seeing them go to this link:
http://www.wisenaturephotos.com/A%20Lucky%20Sighting!!%20%20Peregrine%20
Falcon.htm

They are a little graphic due to the nature of the subject so if you
don't like that kind of thing considered yourself warned.

The band says 67B - if anyone has any information on this bird I would
love to know more about it! I can provide a cropped view of the band if
anyone would like that.

Cathy Wise
Oak Harbor, WA (formerly of Snohomish)
cathy.wise at cingular.com
OR
cathy at wisenaturephotos.com




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