Hi All, A juvenile Peregrine Falcon has been seen at the Austin Purple Martin roost for at least the past two nights (Saturday and Sunday August 2nd and 3rd). I was down there both nights (at the Jack-in-the-Box on Highland Mall Drive) and was alerted on Saturday evening by Shelia Hargis, who told me that she and others had seen a peregrine fly through a few minutes before I arrived (at about 8:15 p.m.). Friends and I (and 200+ other people) watched the accumulating martins, and it was still an amazing show, although the numbers seemed to me to be down a bit from my last visit 2 weeks earlier - maybe more like 200,000 birds than 500,000 (or maybe it's 500k instead of 1000k, I'm not real sure). Sure enough, a peregrine did fly through again sometime after 8:30 p.m. It was pretty dark by then, and I couldn't tell for sure, but the bird looked pretty dark ventrally, suggesting it might be a juvenile. I couldn't tell if the raptor made a kill on its brief pass through. Last night, I got there just a bit after 8:15 p.m. The martin numbers seemed noticeably reduced even from the night before, now more like 75 to 100k, but still pretty special. A peregrine flew through the gathering birds about 8:20 p.m. I don't think it caught a martin then. I was able to view it through binocs, and get a few grainy flight photos, and it was indeed, a juvenile peregrine. Photos suggest to me that it is a different bird from the one I photographed in late June in north Austin, as last night's bird has a wider-appearing moustachial mark. The peregrine came through again about 8:35 p.m., but which time it was getting too dark for photos. The falcon flew in a leisurely manner into the swirling mass of martins, and plucked one from the air just as you might walk by and pluck a grape from a low-hanging vine. I watched the falcon flying off clutching its kill in its talons. Folks should be on the lookout for this falcon until the martin roost dissipates, which is likely to be in the next couple of weeks. Good birding ya'll, Byron Stone, Austin Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner