An adult Peregrine Falcon flew over Schoolhouse Pond as I made my lunchtime walk around the pond. The bird was flying fairly low (about 50 or 60 feet over my head), fast and direct. I got good looks at the pattern of the underparts as it passed and was even able to make out the "sideburn" along one side of the face. A spectacular bird, and Number 219 for my Schoolhouse Pond list. Suffice it to say, I didn't have any gulls to count at lunch. A group of about 35 Laughing Gulls flew away as fast as their wings would carry them when the Peregrine passed over.
Other birds included several Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Bluebird, White-throated, Song and Swamp Sparrows, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, 2 Double-crested Cormorants, Mute Swan, a couple dozen Canada Geese, and Trumpeter Swan #962.
Fred Shaffer
Patuxent MOS
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