A Few Raptors Draw Attention

Snowy owl perched on Ceres statue, Union Station, Washington DC, 19 Jan 2022 (photo by Angela N via Flickr Creative Commons license)

8 February 2022

Some raptors draw attention if you know where to look.

This winter a snowy owl has been hanging out at Union Station in Washington, DC often perching on the Ceres statue (above) in Louis Saint-Gaudens’ Progress of Railroading series. (Ceres is indicated by arrow below.)

Progress of Railroading statues by Louis Saint-Gaudens, Union Station, Washington, DC, Jan 2011 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Angela N has been photographing the owl since 13 January and found it in a very photogenic pose last Wednesday.

Snowy owl at Union Station, Washington, DC, 2 Feb 2022 (photo by Angela N via Flickr Creative Commons license)

Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, a peregrine falcon drew attention in late January at Duck Hollow when it harassed a bald eagle on 29 January, captured by Joe Fedor.

Peregrine falcon chasing bald eagle at Duck Hollow, 29 Jan 2022 (photo by Joe Fedor)
Peregrine falcon (top) chasing bald eagle at Duck Hollow, 29 Jan 2022 (photo by Joe Fedor)

And harassed the gulls on 30 January, captured by Stephen Bucklin.

Peregrine falcon harassing ring-billed gulls at Duck Hollow, 30 Jan 2022 (photo by Stephen Bucklin)
Peregrine falcon harassing ring-billed gulls at Duck Hollow, 30 Jan 2022 (photo by Stephen Bucklin)

In both cases we can tell it’s a peregrine because of its sickle shape and pointed wings. In the gull photos it has the same wingspan as the ring-billed gulls.

It’s nice to have photos of the birds that draw attention.

(photos by Angela N via Flickr Creative Commons license; click on the captions to see the originals, and by Joe Fedor, Jr, and Stephen Bucklin)

One thought on “A Few Raptors Draw Attention

  1. Hi Kate,

    Oliver Lindhiem, John and Sam Vassallo and I observed a Peregrine diving at a Common Raven last Saturday (2/5) at the railroad bridge that crosses the Allegheny River at Aspinwall Community Park. It was calling and at each pass the raven fluffed its feathers, flapped its wings and called loudly. After about a minute the Peregrine flew downriver. I would guess it was probably one of the birds from the Flemming Bridge.

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