Hey, birders: I know a Peregrine Falcon sighting isn't all that unusual but I'm lucky to see one a year in Brown county so I thought I'd report on one I just saw at the Sleepy Eye sewage ponds. I happened to be walking east on the berm from the front entrance when I noticed a large bird of prey chasing a gull (a Ring-billed I think) out near the east pond. When I got my bins on them I could see that it was a Peregrine Falcon. The falcon pursued the gull for maybe 10 seconds with a lot of acrobatics going on from both the gull and the falcon. Fortunately for the gull, it was able to evade the falcon and flew away. The falcon made a long sorty around one of the ponds and then to my surprise flew right by me and then landed on the berm, maybe 60 yards away, allowing me several minutes to study this majestic bird in my scope. After consulting Sibley, I'm certain it was a juvenile of the Tundra subspecies. I could not see any bands on either of its legs. It was still perched on the ground when I left. Perhaps its just a coincidence, but about a week and a half ago I found the carcass of a Canada Goose out at the ponds that had been mostly eaten with feathers scattered all over and I wondered at the time if a Peregrine was what had made the kill. Other than the Peregrine sighting, nothing much else to report with the exception of 3 Red-necked Phalaropes.
Good birding, Brian Smith Sleepy Eye ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
