Yesterday afternoon, I was at my boss's house on St. Leonard Creek in Calvert for a going away party for our post-doc. Her husband took a bunch of us on a boat ride down the creek then down the Patuxent, under the Solomons bridge and up into the Solomons harbor. Just as we were crossing under the bridge, I was talking about how�Peregrines used to nest there. Someone asked what that bird was that had just taken off from a support column on the Calvert side. I immediately thought of Marcia Balestri's fruitless search for a Calvert Rock Pigeon to closeout for the state. Not more than a few seconds after the Rock Pig took off then a Peregrine Falcon came out of nowhere from the Calvert side and chased the bird around before disappearing on the St. Mary's side. Less than a minute later perhaps the same pigeon came flying back toward the Calvert side of the bridge with two Peregrines in hot pursuit. I don't think it ended well for the pigeon that time but
again we couldn't see the final outcome as they disappeared up into the superstructure. Needless to say, I suspect that the Peregrines may be nesting under the bridge. I'll have to try scoping the bridge again (tried earlier in the spring).�It's been a few years since they were nesting during the second atlas so it's good to see them again!
Tyler Bell
<jtylerbell...>
California, Maryland
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