From about 10 to 10:30 am this morning, while kayaking below the Coon Rapids Dam on the Mississippi River, I observed an adult peregrine falcon immediately downsteam from the Dam. It first made several low flights over the cobble bars scattering the gulls, waterfowl, and herons/egrets, then alighted in a cottonwood tree on the west shore of Dunn Island to preen. With 8X binocs my views were adequate to confirm the wide black moustache and the horizontal belly striping. The upper breast appeared clear white. I shot some rather poor photos. I did not see any leg bands, but using binocs in a kayak, even when grounded, results in far-from-ideal viewing conditions, so I easily might have missed them.
Other raptors seen during my 3-hours on the River: immature bald eagle, Cooper's hawk chasing a red-tailed hawk, and an osprey with dislocated primaries on the left wing (probably the male that has nested at the dam for several years). ---Ron Refsnider
