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Yesterday morning I was driving north on the #2 through Alton. As I neared the
spot where I saw the goshawk a few weeks ago, I spotted two distant birds having
an altercation over a field. The smaller, darker bird made a big U-shaped dive
at a larger bird which was flying near the ground and had a light underside. I
immediately thought I was seeing a crow harassing a raptor, and pulled over to
have a look.
As soon as I brought up my binoculars, I saw that the larger bird was in fact a
Ring-billed Gull. So what was the smaller, darker bird? I got eyes on the bird
just as it folded its long, pointed wings into a teardrop shape and dropped like
a stone towards the gull, and I realized I was watching a peregrine falcon.
Suddenly very glad I hadn't taken the 102, I sat and watched the juvenile
peregrine. It dove at the gull, then swung back up into the air to a height of
about 100-200 feet, circled a little, then dove at the gull again. I'm not sure
if the falcon was serious about trying to catch it. I never saw it make contact,
and the gull didn't seem to make any particular dodging motions. It seemed like
the falcon could have caught the gull if it tried. Perhaps it was inexperienced,
or put off by the gull's size, or perhaps it was just playing. In any case, the
peregrine forced the gull right down to just above the ground with repeated
dives, then put less pressure on the gull, giving it time to get some height
between attacks, until the gull got enough height to escape the falcon's dive
radius. The gull then high-tailed it out of there, and the peregrine flew to a
tree in the middle of the field. A couple of crows flew over and perched nearby,
but didn't harass it and soon returned to the woods.
As I left the area, I noticed a large red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree quite
close to where the gull chase occurred.
It seems odd to see a peregrine so far inland this time of year, but I suppose
the farm fields provide enough open space for the falcon's hunting style. And
it's not the first time there's been a peregrine in the area - CWRC admitted an
adult peregrine from nearby Shortt's Lake a few years ago.
Kathleen MacAulay
Milford Station,
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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Yesterday morning I was driving north on the #2 through Alton. As I neared the spot where I saw the goshawk a few weeks ago, I spotted two distant birds having an altercation over a field. The smaller, darker bird made a big U-shaped dive at a larger bird which was flying near the ground and had a light underside. I immediately thought I was seeing a crow harassing a raptor, and pulled over to have a look. <br><br> As soon as I brought up my binoculars, I saw that the larger bird was in fact a Ring-billed Gull. So what was the smaller, darker bird? I got eyes on the bird just as it folded its long, pointed wings into a teardrop shape and dropped like a stone towards the gull, and I realized I was watching a peregrine falcon. <br><br>Suddenly very glad I hadn't taken the 102, I sat and watched the
juvenile peregrine. It dove at the gull, then swung back up into the air to a height of about 100-200 feet, circled a little, then dove at the gull again. I'm not sure if the falcon was serious about trying to catch it. I never saw it make contact, and the gull didn't seem to make any particular dodging motions. It seemed like the falcon could have caught the gull if it tried. Perhaps it was inexperienced, or put off by the gull's size, or perhaps it was just playing. In any case, the peregrine forced the gull right down to just above the ground with repeated dives, then put less pressure on the gull, giving it time to get some height between attacks, until the gull got enough height to escape the falcon's dive radius. The gull then high-tailed it out of there, and the peregrine flew to a tree in the middle of the field. A couple of crows flew over and perched nearby, but didn't harass it and soon returned to the woods.<br><br>As I left the area, I
noticed a large red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree quite close to where the gull chase occurred. <br><br>It seems odd to see a peregrine so far inland this time of year, but I suppose the farm fields provide enough open space for the falcon's hunting style. And it's not the first time there's been a peregrine in the area - CWRC admitted an adult peregrine from nearby Shortt's Lake a few years ago.<br><br>Kathleen MacAulay<br>Milford Station, <br></div><br></body></html>
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