grebeman
Old Codgers Group
- Name
- Barrie
Hi Bart, yes, it certainly looks in trouble, the dishevelled plumage suggests that it's not been looking after itself. It looks to me as though it has a ring on its leg. I saw my first ever at this time of the year way back in 1962 when this shape suddenly plunged down vertically out of the sky onto a group or waders I was watching on a beach. It did it twice without success before flying off, a never to be forgotten sight, I was 15 years old at the time. They were uncommon at that time due to pesticide problems, thankfully more around now and an occasional flyover at my present cottage.Not nearly the usual quality, as it's just a crop of a phone snapshot. This peregrine falcon - I was obsessed with them as a child and had seen their nests and their victims before but never the bird itself - was sitting by the side of the road in my city, looking helpless. Someone was calling animal rescue already, but I fear it was suffering from avian flue - it's hitting very hard this year, and raptors are particularly vulnerable to this year's strain. Not how I imagined my first peregrine sighting...