Wanted to report a couple of raptor sightings and behaviors I observed
near or on Fir Island in Skagit Co. on Thur. Oct.8:

1. 12 noon: off the Dike Rd. (?), just east of the bridge to Fir
Island: Out over a farm field about .2mi north of the start of the
road, friend Dick and I pulled over to look at and photograph a light
Red-tailed Hawk perched on a phone pole. After watching it for some
minutes, flying from pole to pole and eventually off to the top of a
barn and then down toward the ground after something, our attention
was diverted to a female Northern Harrier who had flown in to hunt
over the fields. While following her gliding and swooping, we
suddenly noticed a smaller, fast-wingbeat, dark Merlin zip in and fly
around with the harrier for 30 seconds before it continued south. The
interaction didn't seem to be harassment or an attempt to snag prey
from the harrier, but rather fairly relaxed playfulness - no major
divebombing or chasing. I found it a bit curious as I usually see
Merlins engaged in more intense interaction with other raptors. That
reminds me of the Merlin/Kestrel chase that Marv Breece chronicled in
photos earlier this week (Sun.) near Stanwood, seemingly a focused
attempt on the Merlin's part, to force the Kestrel to leave the area,
possibly to snatch the rodent the Kestrel was carrying or maybe to
harass the Kestrel just because it can.

2. 2:30 p.m. at the end of Rawlins Road, up on the dike: We watched
a female or juvenile American Kestrel hunt, starting from atop a tall
pole sticking out of the driftwood, then doing swoops down to the
ground and getting airborne again to repeat the process until it at
last caught a rodent and took it up on a shorter pole to eat. While it
was hunting, a female Northern Harrier came over from where she had
been hunting, to chase after the Kestrel before the Kestrel picked up
its prey. It flew after the Kestrel while the Kestrel was out
hunting, not when it was perched, either pre- or post-prey capture.
This was a little different from what I'd seen the harriers doing here
with the Short-eared Owls that "share" the habitat in winter/early
spring - they try to get the owls to drop their rodent prey and then
swoop in to retrieve the lost dinner (as opposed to Last Supper) for
themselves. We saw no Short-eareds while we were there (about an
hour). Anyone seen any up there yet this fall? Do they come in in
winter?

The raptor interactions we saw may be fairly common, but I'd never
seen them before, so they were new and interesting. Maybe not as
interesting as the kingbird riding the Red-tailed Hawk as per Jos.
Higbee's post yesterday... :-))


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach, Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net