[birding] Fw: Finley Peregrines and more

[Lisa Millbank]

Finley, 12/7

Don and I arrived at the Homer Campbell boardwalk around 8:30 this morning.  Lots of TUNDRA SWANS at Cabell Marsh.  No Trumpeters that we could detect.  We enjoyed the little birds in the ash forest: BROWN CREEPER, BEWICK'S WREN, HUTTON'S VIREO, and their furry neighbor, a Townsend's Chipmunk.
At the prairie overlook, a young NORTHERN SHRIKE perched right next to the platform.  A RING-NECKED PHEASANT made an odd, rhythmic call.  The usual WHITE-TAILED KITES were there, and a young BALD EAGLE joined the gathering of raptors.  A PEREGRINE FALCON perched and preened himself, ignoring an AMERICAN KESTREL who harassed him.  The Peregrine sat there for a long time, then took off and confronted another Peregrine.  The two falcons put on a spectacular aerobatic display as they quarreled, calling angrily and chasing at blazing speeds.  It was difficult to follow the falcons with the video camera, but Don got some shots of the action and posted it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHvR0-B4ZpI.  YouTube's processing makes the video look crummy, but you can get the idea.
At the McFadden Marsh blind parking lot, we saw our third PEREGRINE FALCON of the day sitting in the field across Bruce Rd.  I can't remember the last time I saw 3 in one day.  The huge assortment of geese, ducks, swans, coots, and herons flew up repeatedly as a couple of adult BALD EAGLES threatened them.  There were two white geese of the Chen genus, probably SNOW GEESE.
Along Bruce Rd. we saw two young BALD EAGLES pursuing one another.  It was sad to see a roadkilled Black-tailed Jackrabbit on Bruce Rd., near the Xmas tree farms.  These hares are so uncommon in the valley now, and they used to be abundant.
Much of the upland areas north and west of Bald Top are open year-round at Finley (no wintering geese there).  A Black Bear has been gobbling up apples (& acorns too, I'll bet) back there and frequently leaves huge piles of loose scat that look like applesauce with skins.  Sometimes hair is in there too.  Fresh, cracked-open deer bones suggested a Cougar, Coyote, or bear's dinner.  We found the remains of a VARIED THRUSH and a BARN OWL.
A SPOTTED TOWHEE ate snowberries, carefully discarding the skins,  We've also seen Wrentits eat snowberries.
It was getting late, and back at the prairie overlook, we could see a police car racing down Hwy. 99W with its lights and siren on.  A family of Coyotes hidden in the prairie grass began to howl along with the siren (as domestic dogs do), and even after the police car was long gone, they enjoyed singing out there under a colorful sunset.  We heard quite a few GREAT HORNED OWLS singing in the ashes along Muddy Creek.
Lisa Millbank
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com
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