Michael, I really appreciated hearing about your observations. I too have seen harriers stand up to Peregrine Falcons that I thought would dominate them easily.

Northern Harriers can be very adept predators, not by any means limited to voles and crayfish. I have seen them catch shorebirds several times, and the shorebirds certainly are wary of them. The largest was a Black-bellied Plover.

At Jameson Lake in Douglas Co., WA, a few years ago we came upon a Golden Eagle that had apparently just caught a female harrier and was starting to eat it. Not an apex predator in that case.

Off the topic, but we had a great experience this morning. A Barred Owl flew into the yard at 8:45 am, while I just happened to be looking out the window (how much happens when I'm not?), and proceeded to perch on a branch right out in the open looking around. I opened a window to try to get some photos, and it then flew across the yard toward me and perched on a Douglas-fir limb right in front of me. I had to put the 420 mm lens aside and grab a camera with a 70-300 zoom lens to be able to photograph it. Netta and I both had fun photographing it in various poses, and it seemed entirely uncaring of our presence but very alert, watching all the "wildlife" activity in the yard.

We watched it for an hour, while a couple of crows went briefly berserk (I think they left because they couldn't attract any additional crows with their constant caws), Steller's Jays ate peanuts right below it, and a courageous and/or dumb E. Gray Squirrel advanced out on the limb toward it repeatedly, getting within about five feet. The owl clacked its bill repeatedly when the crows were above it.

At one point another squirrel was foraging in the yard 50' away, and the owl suddenly took off and dived at it. The squirrel easily eluded it, and the owl flew into a dense red cedar in the neighbor's yard. I hope it was finally able to take a nap.

Dennis


On Dec 22, 2010, at 12:04 PM, tweeters-request at mailman2.u.washington.edu wrote:

> Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:49:02 -0800
> From: Abu Anka <guylmonty at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Peregrines VS Harriers:
> To: bird wa <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Message-ID: <BAY148-w45A5480D70C0F8E6928C7BA91B0 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Michael,
>
> I have no doubt that Northren Harriers can, and do, stand up against other predators. With hunger, all things are possible. However, more often than not, I see them robbed of prey by Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, and occasionally Peregrine Falcons. Generally, they seem very quck to drop their prey and flee, rather than scrapping with other raptors. Having witnessed a Peregrine Falcon prey on a Northern Harrier, I understand why! Check the link for some photos (somewhat gruesome) of an interaction that we recorded during raptor migration surveys in the McKenzie area of northern, BC, that did not work out so well for the Harrier.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/guylmonty/244539679/in/set-72057594118625124/
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/guylmonty/244542729/in/set-72057594118625124/
>
> thanks,
>
> Guy L. Monty
> Currently in Mount Vernon, WA

-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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