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Subject:

Peregrine Falcon at Hawkbill Summit

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Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:25:05 GMT

Hello, all.
Diane and I spent a lovely Sunday, July 16th, along Skyline Drive in the Shennadoah Park.  Weather was sunny and breezy. About noon two Black Bears scurried across the road just far enough ahead to avoid our car.  Both appeared to be adults, but the second -- in hot pursuit of the first -- seemed a bit larger.  Perhaps a male with the perpetuation of the species in mind?  
We climbed the (steep) path to Hawkbill Summit in the early afternoon because we'd heard that the visa from there was special.  Along the path we saw a Canada Warbler with a green caterpiller in it's beak, flitting nervously from branch to branch.  Thinking it may be feeding young at a nearby nest, we moved on, thinking, "gee...wasn't THAT special".  
We didn't realize then that something VERY SPECIAL awaited at the summit.  A juvenile Peregrine Falcon swooped overhead, not much more that 50 feet above us.  We both did a double-take, looked at one another and whooped, "Peregrine"!!
We watched as it swooped about above and below us, then saw it dive on a Turkey Vulture, apparently just for the fun of it.
At the summit there was a nice board display about how the falcons have been released at the site for several years in hopes of repopulating the cliffs there.
What a unexpected thrill!