Earlier this year, I had my first confirmed encounter with a peregrine falcon when I witnessed one deftly hunting northern shovelers at Gilbert's Water Ranch. It seemed appropriate to see him in flight as the raptor is renowned as the fasted animal on Earth. And just this week, I saw one for the second time. But on this occasion it was much closer to my home and was mostly earthbound, quietly perched atop a neighborhood tree.
I like to tell my friends that if you see a bird-of-prey in the wild, chances are it's a red-tailed hawk. And if it's not that common raptor, it's probably a Cooper's hawk, quite similar in appearance except for striped tail feathers instead of solid red. But which one you're seeing probably depends a lot on exactly where you are.
I've traveled many miles of Arizona's quieter highways, off the busy interstates while on the way to birding hotspots like Madera Canyon, Page Springs and Santa Cruz Flats. Along these roads, it seems that red-tail hawks are the most common bird-of-prey that you'll see as they patiently perch on utility poles. Meanwhile in my neighborhoods, whether near the Biltmore in Phoenx or close to the National Forest in Prescott, it's usually Cooper's hawks that I see peering from tall trees.
From my front door in Phoenix, I like to follow a neighborhood birding trail that takes me through a nearby golf course. Early in the morning I can usually avoid golfers because it's the seventeenth and eighteenth holes that I use as my route to pathways along one of the city's canals. Last week, I was able to traverse the greens unencumbered even late in the day as the course is closed for seeding.
The golf course is home to a wide range of native birds including mourning doves, say's phoebes, vermilion flycatchers and great-horned owls. In the winter there are even more, including dark-eyed juncos, white-crowned sparrows and American robins. And every time I undertake a mission to dodge the ground's unpredictable sprinklers, I can count on seeing a bird-of-prey. Sometimes the raptor might be soaring, but usually it's perched high in a pine tree until I approach too closely with my camera and frighten it away.
Not surprisingly and as I've just noted, it's usually a Cooper's hawk that I see in this area. But when not, it's almost always a red-tailed hawk or a much smaller American kestrel. On last week's visit, however, I discovered a peregrine falcon for the first time.
The falcon looked a lot like a Cooper's or red-tailed hawk: from its size, shape and even preferred tree, it seemed every bit one of these common birds to me as I peered from a hundred fifty feet away. But it wasn't easily scared off by my presence as I approached closer for a better view from the sunny direction it was facing. With the help of the late afternoon light, I got close enough to see the telltale dark head feathers that terminate in the appearance of sideburns.
Of course even though I was thirty feet below the peregrine falcon, my presence and snapping shutter eventually alarmed the bird and it took flight, flapping its sleek wings in the direction of the setting sun. Besides some photos, the raptor left me with a new feeling of wonder on my well-trodden but never predictable neighborhood birding trail.
I like to tell my friends that if you see a bird-of-prey in the wild, chances are it's a red-tailed hawk. And if it's not that common raptor, it's probably a Cooper's hawk, quite similar in appearance except for striped tail feathers instead of solid red. But which one you're seeing probably depends a lot on exactly where you are.
I've traveled many miles of Arizona's quieter highways, off the busy interstates while on the way to birding hotspots like Madera Canyon, Page Springs and Santa Cruz Flats. Along these roads, it seems that red-tail hawks are the most common bird-of-prey that you'll see as they patiently perch on utility poles. Meanwhile in my neighborhoods, whether near the Biltmore in Phoenx or close to the National Forest in Prescott, it's usually Cooper's hawks that I see peering from tall trees.
From my front door in Phoenix, I like to follow a neighborhood birding trail that takes me through a nearby golf course. Early in the morning I can usually avoid golfers because it's the seventeenth and eighteenth holes that I use as my route to pathways along one of the city's canals. Last week, I was able to traverse the greens unencumbered even late in the day as the course is closed for seeding.
The golf course is home to a wide range of native birds including mourning doves, say's phoebes, vermilion flycatchers and great-horned owls. In the winter there are even more, including dark-eyed juncos, white-crowned sparrows and American robins. And every time I undertake a mission to dodge the ground's unpredictable sprinklers, I can count on seeing a bird-of-prey. Sometimes the raptor might be soaring, but usually it's perched high in a pine tree until I approach too closely with my camera and frighten it away.
Not surprisingly and as I've just noted, it's usually a Cooper's hawk that I see in this area. But when not, it's almost always a red-tailed hawk or a much smaller American kestrel. On last week's visit, however, I discovered a peregrine falcon for the first time.
The falcon looked a lot like a Cooper's or red-tailed hawk: from its size, shape and even preferred tree, it seemed every bit one of these common birds to me as I peered from a hundred fifty feet away. But it wasn't easily scared off by my presence as I approached closer for a better view from the sunny direction it was facing. With the help of the late afternoon light, I got close enough to see the telltale dark head feathers that terminate in the appearance of sideburns.
Of course even though I was thirty feet below the peregrine falcon, my presence and snapping shutter eventually alarmed the bird and it took flight, flapping its sleek wings in the direction of the setting sun. Besides some photos, the raptor left me with a new feeling of wonder on my well-trodden but never predictable neighborhood birding trail.
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| Peregrine falcon perched in my Phoenix neighborhood. |
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| Peregrine falcon perched in my Phoenix neighborhood. |
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| Peregrine falcon perched in my Phoenix neighborhood. |
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| Peregrine falcon perched in my Phoenix neighborhood. |
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