[Birdtalk] RUFF eaten by Prairie Falcon???

[bcurrie100 at comcast.net]

I can report definitely not true, if the report in question occurred more or less at about 3:30-ish (give or take 15 minutes.  I had the same alarm but stayed around until I relocated the Ruff.  A number of the photos I shot on my other post were after the falcon had made its kill.

I'm fairly sure the falcon in question is an immature Peregrine.  See this rather poor photo (http://www.pbase.com/image/107767305/original).  The barring under the wings looks much too heavy to be a Prairie Falcon.  I was in this area a lot photographing.  (It was moments after Deedee and Sylvia left.)  The birds flew and I looked around to see what it was.  The Peregrine made the kill.  It was the same area that the Ruff had been in.  I, too, was greatly alarmed that it may have been the Ruff.  I did see a flash of the wing of the kill as the falcon wrestled it and it appeared to be a Killdeer, but I was not 100% sure as it only lasted about a nano second.  I spent the next half hour looking for the Ruff before I found it, right back near where the kill had been made.

Brian
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: tanager at timaverybirding.com 

> I received a Voicemail this evening indicating that at least one person viewed a 
> Prairie Falcon apparently taking the RUFF at the causeway today and then eating 
> it on the ice while they watched! Has anyone else heard about this? 
> 
> Brings back memories of a Peregrine Falcon almost taking a jaeger at Willard Bay 
> in 2005. Also reminds me of a story a friend from Indiana told me about going to 
> look for a Purple Sandpiper on Lake Michigan only to find a Peregrine stopped on 
> a bird and the only thing visible were a pair of vibrant orange legs, presumably 
> of the bird they had hoped to see! 
> 
> Cheers 
> 
> Tim 
> 
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 
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