Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 17:23:30 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Meghan Tice Subject: Re: falcons in DC MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello all, Usually do see Kestrels on phone wires, though did see a female perched o= n the top of a tall parking lot light pole where she remained for quite s= ome time on Saturday afternoon (October 25). Once, she flew out and caug= ht what I guessed might be a migrating dragonfly and proceeded to pick at= it on the pole; was quite high up... The bird was seen in Virginia. Thanks, Meghan Tice Glenn Dale, Prince George's County, MD cecropia13@msn.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Floyd Parks Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 11:06 PM To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] falcons in DC It has been my experience that a Merlin will perch on the top of a telephone pole, while a Kestral will tend to be on the wire. It's a good idea to check closely any "Kestral" that is on the top of a pole. Rick Sussman Sent by: Maryland Birds & Birding 10/27/2003 07:42 AM Please respond to Maryland Birds & Birding To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM cc: Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] falcons in DC In a message dated 10/26/2003 5:24:35 PM Eastern Standard Time, cheep@EROLS.COM writes: Don't know if they prefer these bare trees over those that are still leafed out, or if there are more sitting in the leafy trees that I'm just not seeing (ie, I'm only seeing the ones that happen to perch in the bare trees, which is not the same as saying that they always perch in the bare trees, if that makes sense). Hi Paul, Nice report! Re; merlins perching on dead trees; For a number of years in the mid-late 90's I had the opportunity to watch a Merlin which wintered in Silver Spring very close to my shop. It roosted in a fir tree of some sort, well within the heavy foliage. Before it went to roost for the night, it almost invariably perched on a small dead snag on a large tulip tree, which had full foliage below the snag. This was its typical hunting posture. From there it could view the surrounding area for potential meals. I can't ever remember seeing it perched anywhere but in the open, even after the county came and trimmed the dead snag (it found another one lower down). There were many evenings whe= n I saw the bird fly out in near darkness to capture a House Sparrow before i= t went to roost for the night. Interesting birds... Rick Sussman Ashton,MD warblerick@aol.com =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 =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 =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 =========================================================================