Hey all, I had a probable raptor this evening (~6:30 pm) at 
the Cherry Hill Rd end of the Paint Branch Stream Valley 
Park in College Park, PG County.  It had all the hallmarks 
of a falcon: narrow, pointed wings; long, narrow tail; rapid 
wingbeat with some swift-like flicks of the wings (in fact, 
to my eye the wings looked almost sickle-shaped like a 
swift's, but this was definitely a big bird); sharp changes 
of direction during otherwise level flight.  The bird was 
dark from below with a conspicuous light streak parallel to 
the body near the end of each wing (molt?).  I definitely 
saw both light and dark in the face, but never had a good 
steady look to see if I could make out a characteristic 
Peregrine mustache.

My guess is this was a Peregrine Falcon, which would be a 
nice bird for the area (I had one earlier in the year 
perched at the swamp next to the golf course).  Any other 
possibilities?

Thanks,

D

-- 
Derek C. Richardson, Ph.D. (CANTAB) ________
Astronomy, U Maryland, College Park MD 20742
Tel: Office 301-405-8786 Fax 301-314-9067 __
Home page: http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/ __