August 14- Orcas Island Golf Course. KB and I were hawking at the golf
course. For over an hour we were observing T.V.s, Bald Eagles, and Ravens
in flight and going to perch. We were on Sunderland Rd. Of the golf course,
down in the swale area, of the driving range observing 5 vultures, high
over the wooded hillside. A Peregrine went into attack mode. Now there were
7 vultures, and another Peregrine went into the attack. The vultures went
to 9 and then 13 in number and were in a general area of 25 degrees of sky
at about 200 feet altitude. And the whole group hung together by moving to
an adjacent area. All the while both Peregrines were diving upon them or
attacking from the rear. We observed 15 minutes relentless attacks by the
falcons!
Nearly all the observations were naked eye. The optics we shared were 10 by
25 and were not of good quality. But that had no effect on the show we were
observing. One of the falcons had a reddish upper tail with the under tail
appearing grey. As an aside - I have observed the goshawk on Orcas Island
and a mature, female NG over The Paul Allen Estate, Lopez Island. My
advice - stay away from the top of Mount Constitution - for hawk watching,
it is not worth the time. Nelson Briefer - Anacortes.
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