Crozet, VA 10/13/17

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Today's weather was just like yesterday's - cool, cloudy, and misty, and the mountains were once again covered with fog. As I did yesterday, I decided to hike here in Old Trail, and Friday the 13th turned out to be a very lucky birding day for me. I changed my route and started out in the marshy areas behind the lodge, where I saw 15 avian species.

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Swamp Sparrow

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Carolina Wren

I then parked on Golf Drive, and started out on the trail along the pond. An Osprey was in the same tree where I saw one two days ago; probably the same bird. There were a few other birds there, and a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk flew in and perched on the other side of the pond.

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Osprey

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Red-shouldered Hawk

I continued past the pond and up the trail along the golf course. I was photographing some Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers when another raptor flew in and perched in a tree not far from where I was standing. I brought my camera up to my eye for a better look. It was a Peregrine Falcon! (My Old Trail species # 120). I watched it for a few minutes and saw that it was starting to eat a meal that it had just caught.

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

The falcon didn't seem to mind my being there, so I hiked around to get a closer view, and one without a lot of sky behind it.

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

At this point, three American Crows flew in to harass the falcon, but it wouldn't budge from its meal. At one point, a Turkey Vulture flew in to see what all the commotion was about, and quickly left as soon as it saw the Peregrine Falcon.

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

The crows finally left, and the Peregrine Falcon continued with its meal.

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

When the falcon finished eating, it spent several minutes licking its bill and cleaning its bill on the tree branch.

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

At this point, the Peregrine Falcon was very content just to sit on its perch and let me take lots of photos of it. It occasionally scratched an itch!

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

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Peregrine Falcon

The crows returned for a second attempt to drive the falcon away, but it was just too content to be bothered.

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Peregrine Falcon

I kept waiting for it to fly away for some more photos, but the falcon wasn't going anywhere. I had been watching and photographing it for 40 minutes, and decided to head back to my car. I met up with David Shoch at the pond, and he showed me photos of a Marsh Wren he had taken there a few minutes earlier. I told him about the Peregrine Falcon, and we both hiked back to that spot for more photos.

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Peregrine Falcon

We then went back to near the pond to try to re-locate the Marsh Wren, I saw it fly a couple of times (my Old Trail species # 121), but didn't get any photos. But I wasn't complaining about that!


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