[mou] Black Dog falcon show

[linda whyte]

By sheer lucky timing, Rob and I got free admission to a late matinee
performance of falcon flight, at around 5:15 this afternoon. After a stop at
the marsh before the east outlet, and a quick scan of the east outlet
itself, we proceeded to the power plant to check the falcon box. One of the
birds was clearly visible, peering down from the box. I believe the other
was perched on a power line below. Suddenly, the bird on the box launched,
diving almost vertically toward the building structures beneath it. At the
last second, it curved up into a steep ascent, and at about the half-way
point, leveled off into a glide. Just then, its partner appeared, crossing
its path in an upward arc. the first bird circled around at a low elevation,
then alighted on one of the lower building structures beside the road. There
it perched for several minutes, giving us great looks. Eventually, both
birds swooped over the lot where we were parked, before disappearing over
the roof of the building that sits right on the river. They appeared to be
moving across the river, though we never saw where. The flight show was so
breath-taking, we never did look hard enough to see if the red-breasted
mergansers reported yesterday were still on that part of the river.

There were still d-c cormorants, across from the viewing platform on the
lake, and ruddy ducks near the east outlet. The river had lots of both
mergansers, plus many c. golden-eye. In the marsh to the east were also
redheads. wood ducks, and blue-winged teal. Eagles, too, were still about,
though not in winter numbers, and gulls were plentiful on the west end of
the lake.

Linda Whyte
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