Sunday, December 17, 2006

Psst

Here’s the scene: I’m in, Darren’s out birding around the local area. While 'scoping from an upstairs window, I spot a pale blob in the middle of the field at the back of the house. It’s a falcon, on the ground, and on a kill.

Hmmm. That’s not a Kestrel – back not red enough. And I can see the ‘moustache’ on its face. Got to be either a Merlin or a Peregrine, but there’s nothing to give a sense of scale out there in the field.

Ah – here come some Canada Geese over low – will they spook the falcon? Yes, there it goes, up into the air for a few seconds, and it’s clearly a Peregrine.

If Darren’s not back in time to see this, I’m going to be in trouble!



Well, he missed it by about ten minutes. It took off with its kill (a Woodpigeon?) and flew right by the house, before heading off south. Too bad – you go out and you miss what’s in the garden.

It turned out that he’d trumped me by seeing a Curlew whilst on his travels, and that’s too bad, too, I suppose. Hmph.

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