[Tweeters] The owl and the harrier

[Robert O'Brien]

Cool indeed
Decades ago, at the Nehalem Sewage ponds.over at the coast from Portland,
as I was driving out I noticed a pair of birds coming 500 yards off to my
left.  It was a Peregrine after a Rock Pigeon. Rock Pigeons can fly pretty
fast and as I slowed down, my car and the pair appeared to be on a
collision course.  Sure enough, just as I came to a stop, right in front of
my windshield, the Peregrine was overtaking the Pigeon & at that point also
turned upside down, to capture the pigeon from below.  But my car
intervened and disrupted the capture at the last second.
The peregrine then veered off and disappeared.  The Pigeon, however,
continued on, crashing at 60+mph into the large Blackberry Hedge lining the
road.  I got out and photographed the pigeon down inside the tangle.  It
wasn't coming out for anything.
Bob OBrien  Portland

On Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 2:55 PM Jack Stephens <jstephens62 at comcast.net>
wrote:


> Earlier this winter I was up at the East 90 on the Samish Flats

> photographing Short-eared Owls. As often happens, they were skirmishing

> with the Northern Harriers there that occupy a similar ecological niche.

> These two birds spared briefly before flying off in opposite directions.

> Only when I reviewed the images later did I realize that the harrier had

> flipped completely upside down in flight, to meet the attacking owl with

> her talons. I thought this was too cool to not share.

>

> https://jackstephens.zenfolio.com/p763235708/e57c27b2e

>

> Jack Stephens

> Edmonds, WA

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