Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 17:12:14 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Shorebirds and Peregrine at John Brown Rd MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Everybody, I had a mid-morning meeting in Laurel today and on the way home I = decided to check on the Central Sod Farms on John Brown Rd in Queen = Anne's County. I reasoned that today's rain might have precipitated a = few shorebirds as well. Fortunately for me, my suspicions were not = groundless. The shorebirds were mostly in the far harvested field on the north side = of the road, so they were a bit hard to identify due to prevailing light = conditions, rain and distance. Nonetheless there were six species = present including 55 Killdeer, 3 Greater Yellowlegs, 60 Lesser = Yellowlegs, 20 Pectoral Sandpipers, 10-15 peeps - some of which were = Leasts because I heard their calls, and a Short-billed Dowitcher. There = was also a good sized mixed flock of Laughing and Ring-billed gulls. The shorebirds started acting restless, probably because of an urge to = move on, but this made me alert for predators. Suddenly I heard a gull = squawking behind me and turned to see the anchor silhouette of a = Peregrine Falcon whipping its wings intent on the gull and shorebird = flock ahead. I believe the bird was an adult female and it put on quite = a show. First she culled a juvenile Laughing Gull from the gulls and = stooped at it three times. Somehow the young gull gave her the slip but = it was unable to shake her as she climbed to stoop on it, the last time = the gull went into a power dive of its own, almost hitting the ground = with the falcon in close pursuit. The falcon finally gave up on the gull = and came tearing back toward the muddy harvested sod no more than 6 or 7 = feet off the ground. Up went the Killdeer and Pectorals and I saw an = explosion of feathers as the falcon turned over. At this point a = two-year old Bald Eagle appeared from out of the woods at the back of = the field. The falcon started to chase and harass the big fellow, = although I could see no reason why at the time. Eventually both the = Peregrine and the eagle took up perches on an irrigation rig. The falcon = flew at the eagle one more time then settled down to stare a hole in it = from a safe distance. I had a good look at the Peregrine, it had a dark = green band on its left leg and a whitish band on the right (likely the = metal USFWS band). I then turned my attention to the eagle, now sitting = on one the irrigation rig's tires. To my surprise it was eating = something small and brown. As far as I could tell the food was a small = sandpiper, which explains the Peregrine's pique with the Bald Eagle. = This much seems likely - Bald Eagle's mooch prey off other predators = than Osprey. It was a fascinating slice of natural history on a gloomy, = wet afternoon. Good Birding, Walter Ellison MD-DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. = White (in "Stuart Little") =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================