Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Peregrine falcons at the Port of Olympia

Bees, Birds and Butterflies has a post about the peregrine falcons that nest and hunt at the Port of Olympia.
It includes this anecdote from a crane operator:

"It was during nesting season, when the Peregrine pair are especially, ferociously territorial. It was near dusk; the operator was looking out over the inlet and saw a Great Horned Owl, flying low over the water, heading east and making a fatal mistake of moving near the peregrine nest box. He watched as one of the falcon pair saw the owl and took off after it with deadly intent; he saw the falcon hit the owl at high speed, driving it into the waters of the bay. The owl was unable to get out, and drowned."

(By the way, here's a Seattle P-I story I wrote about urban peregrine falcons.)

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