[Birdtalk] Two Falcons, a hawk and blush

[John Morgan]

Went Falcon hunting today after work. Given the recent sightings near Gardner Village, I thought I might luck out and see the bird again. Yup, only this time the sun was at my back and the birds had good lighting (instead of the usual backlighting)....and I had the binoculars. I say birds because on the line of power poles that cross the superfund tailings area west of Butterfield Lumber/east of Jordan River, a large Kestrel was on the pole closest to the river and a Prairie Falcon occupied the next pole to the east. Admission of guilt: I'm fully aware that my recent Peregrine Falcon sightings were probably this same Prairie Falcon (blush). Dark armpits and a belly too white for a Peregrine. Oh well, live and learn. The bird from two Sundays ago really did look like a Peregrine, but admittedly there was a backlighting problem from my vantage point. This past Sunday I had no binocs, so I can't really be held accountable, can I? :)

Funny thing was, this evening's Kestrel would get up off his pole and go buzz the Prairie Falcon a few times, then return to his hunting spot on the first pole. Not long after that, the Prairie Falcon left it's roost to go barnstorm a Red-Tailed Hawk that landed two poles to the east-evidence of nature's heckling pecking order. Pretty funny stuff*. the Red-Tail reacted by trying to swipe at the Falcon with raised wings, but other than that appeared unfluttered. Er, well, a raised wing is kind of a flutter I suppose. Time of sighting was 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sun had set by 5:00 p.m.

I watched for half an hour and finally got bored. The Kestrel made a few attacks into the wild wheat field below and came up with something small enough to be a beetle of some sort. The Prairie Falcon only buzzed the hawk, but was otherwise too lazy to keep my attention.

Anyone want to watch a Prairie Falcon? It seems to be a temporary resident in that area. Take binocs and check out all the power poles on both sides of the river 1/4 mile N of Gardner Village. You'll probably find it.
John

*Funny in that it seems odd to see a large Falcon reduced to being a heckler of a larger bird. I guess size matters more than flying ability.
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