Whoops

Strong NW winds today which resulted in seeing a lot of birds and catching a few more than in the past few weeks. So far the total of the day is three goshawks, three shins, and one peregrine (our second of the year!). The peregrine was a hilarious catch (at least by the standards of the humor in our lives at the shack). I was holding the pigeon line while Larry and I were both staring into the sky with our binoculars, looking at a couple of red tails in the distance. All of a sudden I feel the pigeon get hit and I look down to see a peregrine sitting on it. Usually when you catch a peregrine you will see it coming and really have to work to draw it in, as they like to give tremendous stoops before committing, but this one must have come from behind and make a prompt decision about what it was looking for. The pigeon was no where near the bownet so I had to slowly drag it in (peregrine attached, of course). Amazingly the peregrine stayed on the bird for the 15 feet of dragging and when finally in the center of the bownet I pulled the trigger, but it only released half way (due to dried grass catching on the netting)... At this point the peregrine should have been LONG (very long) gone, but it stayed, giving me enough time to pull the backup net we have on the same lure, usually used for eagles, or situations exactly like this.






This was an immature female peregrine coming from the arctic, which is indicated by the significant amount of yellowish-white feathers on its head




Long eared