> Still taking the bus. My favorite place to wait is still the corner of = 6th and Marquette, firstly, well, because my bus stops there, secondly, = because it affords me a chance to observe Peregrines. This morning I = witnessed my first Peregrine kill. I watched 3 birds fly in the high = winds from 7:05 to 7:25 AM this morning, launching sorties = flycatcher-like and returning to the 4 swaying antennae above the brown = building spanning Marquette between 3rd and 4th Avenues and 6th Street = in the heart of Minneapolis, several blocks east of my vantage point. = The falcons were rolling and pitching and stooping at one another. I = couldn't see if they were immature or adults but they flew together = constantly as a tight group, so I presume them to be a family. These = antennae are about 2/3 as high as the adjacent Piper-Jaffrey Hopwood = (PJH) building, the disk-topped I.M. Pei - designed building. The birds = didn't climb higher than this taller building as I watched them this = morn. Ordinarily any flight I see is at the level of the top of the City = Center, IDS or higher. An adult coursed in from behind the PJH tower to = hover kite-like 40 feet from the flat north face of this tower. It held = position for two or three seconds, then dropped in altitude abruptly by = extending its wings upward like an osprey about to hit the water. It = fell about 10 feet the first time and about five feet the second time it = did it. At first I didn't know what was going on, then I glimpsed a = small passerine bird trying to get away, striking the spandrel glass = that wraps this structure, then flying in an ellipse and right back = into the glass. The falcon dropped again a third time and grabbed the = bird in its right talon. The maneuver was a controlled stall, like a = Harrier taking a mouse in a meadow, wings set in a dihedral. It was not = the dramatic kill I had always (and still) anticipated. A moment later = the bird was atop one of the 4 antennae, enjoying its petite dejeuner. = This event leads me to wonder and ask some questions: >=20 > * Do falcons use glass buildings to gain even more strategic advantage = over disoriented birds? The falcon appeared to be in no great hurry to = dispatch the bird, almost appearing to wait on it to bounce off of the = glass.. It was as if this was a routine. >=20 > * Do falcons routinely hunt at lower levels in this method when = passerine migration is at full tilt? >=20 > * Has anyone ever seen falcons take prey in this manner? >=20 > * Is this why warblers in seeming good health are seen hopping around = downtown this time of year? Safer than flying? I have seen Ovenbirds = and Yellowthroats already in the concrete jungle this fall. >=20 > * And finally, the biggest and most important question I have, stolen = from a Youth mentorship presentation did this year with some 4th = graders, when I showed them a Cooper's Hawk nest in a scope, a future = birder exclaimed loudly. "Is this cool or what?" High fives all = around. Where are those fourth graders when I need them? >=20 > Mark Alt > Brooklyn Center, MN > [email protected] >=20 > "Birds and their songs are important to me, they add to my enjoyment = of life"=20 >=20 >=20
