Blue skies and Sunshine was enough to call for a day of birding and photography. I called Bill Jalbert to see if he had any interest in trying to find some Eastern Bluebirds to photograph and what ever other goods we could turn up over by the lake. He asked how long it would take for me to get there. We headed north on the west side of route 22a, Shoreham to Bridport. Bill mentioned that two days earlier he and a friend thought that they saw a Gyrfalcon on Lake st near Middle rd in Bridport VT. So that became our target for the day, find the bird and confirm the ID . O'ya and get some photos. It was a great day to be outside, we photographed many beautiful barns but no Bluebirds or Gyrfalcon. Rough-legged Hawks,Red-tailed Hawks a large flocks of Robins and a very cooperative Northern Mockingbird was the best we could. (Mockingbird photo by Bill Jalbert)
That didn't stop us, as we keep looking we found this beautiful old farm that just begged to be photographed. It was late in the afternoon and the wind was starting to drop the temperatures as we photographed the barns misc outbuilding and old rusty farm equipment. Bill went back to the car with cold hands, I kept photographing. I could hear Bill making ode noises from the car, I turned to walk back and see what was wrong. I can see him failing about in the car, pointing. I turn and there on a phone pole not more then 30 feet away was a Peregrine Falcon killing something, feathers were flying everywhere. Start back to the car to get the long lens, Bill's out of the car and running with both cameras, thank god! Here are some images from yesterday, enjoy! 
I decided not to show the blood and guts, you get the idea. What amazed me about this encounter was that it was over in about 3 to 4 minutes.
This image below of the Peregrine Falcon cleaning up after dinner is by Bill Jalbert
The Peregrine made short work of the bird (pigeon?) and was gone.
A little fluff and a good stretch just before the Peregrine took off.
You can see the wing part that was hanging from the pole as the bird flies off.
That didn't stop us, as we keep looking we found this beautiful old farm that just begged to be photographed. It was late in the afternoon and the wind was starting to drop the temperatures as we photographed the barns misc outbuilding and old rusty farm equipment. Bill went back to the car with cold hands, I kept photographing. I could hear Bill making ode noises from the car, I turned to walk back and see what was wrong. I can see him failing about in the car, pointing. I turn and there on a phone pole not more then 30 feet away was a Peregrine Falcon killing something, feathers were flying everywhere. Start back to the car to get the long lens, Bill's out of the car and running with both cameras, thank god! Here are some images from yesterday, enjoy! I decided not to show the blood and guts, you get the idea. What amazed me about this encounter was that it was over in about 3 to 4 minutes.
This image below of the Peregrine Falcon cleaning up after dinner is by Bill JalbertThe Peregrine made short work of the bird (pigeon?) and was gone.A little fluff and a good stretch just before the Peregrine took off. You can see the wing part that was hanging from the pole as the bird flies off.
A great way to end a fun day of birding and photography !
Good Birding to all
Peter
All rigths reserved © 2009 Peter Manship
