I was at Tyson's last night also. I arrived about 9:40pm, a little
before Donald and Larry left and stayed about 10 minutes longer. I also
saw the peregrine. He circled with the nighthawks for a couple of
minutes and then came in on one, hitting it so hard that the feathers
flew; caught by the lights of the roof. He wasn't able to bring the
nighthawk down, however, and left, flying northward.
-----Original Message-----
From: va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Donald Sweig
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 10:43 PM
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Va-bird] Probable Peregrine chasing nighthawks at Tysons
Soon after the lights came on at 9 tonight the sky over the tower
buildings at Tysons began to fill up with nighthawks. Though different
than last night, it was a very good show indeed. Much of the time there
were 30 or more birds flying around, some very high and some much lower
affording excellent looks. By about 9:15, I was standing in the front
lot by the buildings and Larry Meade was standing next to me .Another
birder was standing further back in the lot. I looked up and saw a
generally nighthawk size bird that had no bars on the bottom of the
wings. I asked Larry if he had seen it and he said no. About then it
came back and I said, "there it is." Larry said, "that's a hawk."
The bird came back around and flew almost directly overhead for us to
see. One of us said "it looks like a peregrine." The bird then made a
pass after a nighthawk . It missed , turned around again and flew back
over us and out of sight . Larry and I both had good look the second
time and we both thought it was peregrine falcon for sure. The size,
color and shape were just right and the pass on the nighthawk fit as
well. The other birder said he had not seen the bird. A couple of
other birders came for awhile later in the hour. The peregrine never
came back again. Perhaps it was one of the pair that has been hanging
around the nearby America Legion bridge. All-in-all, it was a very
interesting night with the nighthawks. One just never knows what one may
see.
--
Donald Sweig
Falls Church, Va.
