Some info to help you search .. .. mostly, just what Ned and Rich told us:
1) It tends to perch for many minutes at a time; then one short flight, and
another perch. It is fairly still while perched, and easily overlooked. Its
last (of 3) perches while we were there lasted a good half hour.
2) Two of the perches during our hour were high on the twin cylindrical towers
on the S side of the plant, and one was high on the building itself. In all
three cases, the perch was *BELOW* the highest point. On the towers, it was on
the rim or "collar" about 2 feet below the top rim. On the building it was on
a metal ledge just underneath a ramp or gangway of some kind. I.e. a good
perch to stay out of the rain, but a hard location to spot the bird.
3) Each flight we saw was down, then back up to another high perch. The first
flight was a classic power glide, very Peregrine-esque, almost straight towards
us. It banked left and headed back up to perch on a tower, the whole thing
seeming almost effortless including the climb back up.
-Steve
On Mar 25, 2017, at 8:23 PM, Stephen Johnson wrote:
Bird was still present, on the S side of the power plant, from 5:15 to 6:15
PM tonight Saturday. Much thanks to Ned Brinkley and Rich Rieger for
pointing it out to Lynn and me.
I'm guessing it's an adult, based on the small dark spots, not long streaks,
among the white flanks. Anyone else voting on that?
I think Elton's directions for parking, near N. 3rd Street or Bashford Lane,
are probably best. If that doesn't work for some reason, we parked on
Slater's Lane, on the N side of the power plant, and walked around to the S.
That works OK, but Slater's is sub-optimal because you can only walk CCW
around the plant from there. No access to go directly E toward the river.
Steve Johnson
Fairfax, Virginia
On Mar 25, 2017, at 5:48 PM, Donald Sweig wrote:
If anyone goes to look for, and sees or does not see the Prairie falcon
early Sunday morning, a posting as to the status would be much appreciated.
Donald Sweig
Sent from my iPad
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