audubon society
One weekday I was walking home down an alley near my house. Puttering and wandering, I glanced up to a telephone pole. Up at the top, against a clear blue sky was a strange bird. At first I thought it wasn’t a local bird but since I’m not an ornithologist so I subdued my excitement and thought it more likely that my sighting was actually some California species I wasn’t familiar with. (Species I am familar with include seagulls, pelicans, pigeons and those little birds that raid crumbs at mall food courts and coffee shops.)
It had the strangest markings and seemed to resemble a falcon or a hawk of some sort, though it seemed rather small. I really wish I’d had my camera because it was the coolest site to see this noble little bird perched at the tip of this power pole with all sorts of wires and lines jutting out at odd angles.
Earlier this week I was skating home through a parking lot at an abandoned bank building and I noticed this strange younger guy with a small straw hat on talking to or rather at me. He seemed to mumble alot but I made out that he was muttering something about a falcon. “Hey. Check out the falcon up there, bud.” But he said it in such a nonchalant fashion that it made no sense at all. It was more like some random stranger on the street saying something like, ”...Hey fella, look at the magic unicorn in my pocket.” You’d pretty much just dismiss it and keep walking. But he said “falcon.” I look up and on top of this tall white wall of an old abandoned movie theater buiding next to the bank there was my bird friend from the power pole. I couldn’t believe it. I chatted very briefly to this guy and he asked me if my deck was a Powell, which it was, and if he could try it out. He did some crazy ollie type of action and mumbled some other stuff I couldn’t quite make out. The whole time our falcon friend just stared stoically out upon his domain.
I will eventually capture this elusive beast on film but I want to know how it got here and why it likes living in my neighborhood. I’m thinking the little guy is pretty close to the top of the food chain. Maybe there are some falconry enthusiasts in the area, but something tells me this creature is out on his or her own. ...oh… did a little research. My best guess after 5 minutes of in-depth research makes me think it is a Kestrel based on the relative size, face markings, general color scheme and some listed behaviors. But he was a big ‘un. Maybe it was a Prarie Falcon. Maybe my friend Kristin and I can do some bird watching. I can put my Christmas mini-binoculars from Mom and Dad to good use.
25 January 2003, 21:47 ::
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— Shar-un 2003-01-26 00:41 #
— linhchi 2003-01-27 12:43 #