Sue was right, the falcon came back. I didn’t really think it would, and I am very happy that it did.
This time, I had just come back into the house from working in the garden and was walking through the great-room. From the corner of my eye I thought I saw something on the big branch of the cherry tree, and was anticipating it would be a Flicker because Perry just added two more suet feeders out there for them. But it was larger than a Flicker so I grabbed the binocks–and saw that the Peregrine Falcon was back.
It sat there for awhile and I just watched. It turned its head sloooowly and in profile that hawk-like beak was almost spooky. Then it swooped to the ground, over in a spot below the cedar where the sparrows like to roost … and it walked around on the ground for awhile, its feather-covered legs reminding me of a chicken.
I sure did not expect to see it leisurely walking about on the ground! When it turned I could see its striped tail and then it disappeared into the bushes.
This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 5:53 PM and filed in in nature. Bookmark this entry. Follow the comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback.
This is not a peregrine falcon. It is actually a young Cooper’s Hawk. It is a common mistake to make to confuse these two birds. Both of their diets consist of other birds. However, it is highly unusual to see a peregrine falcon in your backyard. Cooper’s Hawks like to hang around places where birds congregate. In this case the spot where the sparrows roost. It’s an easy meal. You can also tell this is a Cooper’s Hawk because of the light sreak marks on the breast and the pale yellow eye.
Posted on 23-Jan-08 at 6:59 am | PermalinkYes. A neighbor, whose bird knowledge is huge, came by and corrected our enthusiasm–I thought it was odd that there’d be a peregrine falcon so low to the ground for so long …
Thanks for speaking up.
–Leila
Posted on 06-Apr-08 at 6:14 am | Permalink