Hi all,
I just had the strangest look at a falcon as I took a brief walk. THe first
thing that was odd was that it was sitting in a puddle. I thought it was one
of the local kestrels, but when it flushed it had a solid slate-grey back and
appeared to be more Cooper's Hawk sized. But the pointed wings gave away
falcon. Perching, it had a speckled chest, no real facial markings, and
underside of the tail was banded with a double wide subterminal band (with a
little pale at the tip). The bird was more chesty like a peregrine but not big
enough and had yellow feet without jesses. The bird is missing a middle tail
feather
At this point I ran to get my iPhone and my glasses. I went back out to try to
get pictures, and it flushed into a fir behind the Lowe's across the street
(still there as of when I started typing). In the fir, while a distance, looks
bigger than merlin or kestrel in comparison to those I usually see. The flight
up to the fir was direct and powerful, a little troubled at start, and then
moved quickly, but not so quickly as merlin would.
Am now going to do reference work, but wanted to get word out as it just seemed
so odd. Nothing like anything I've seen around here
Ray Korpi
Vancouver WA
