Part Three: Wow & Wow & Wow! (1 Viewer)

With apologies to David Smith.

As I was writing Part Two in the garden (well I'm not going to go in today am I?) I realize everything has gone silent. Not quiet. Silent. Even the Magpies have stopped their chatter. This is very different; no raptor warrants silence here; not normally.
Above me - & I mean right above me - a female Peregrine circles maybe 25 metres overhead. I can see her huge feet, I can see her eye she's that close!
Drifting with the lazy air & always rising she continues south. A Kestrel follows her, much lower.
Below the farmer is turning the hay. If that Partridge flushes now...
Higher & higher & more distant she climbs, then suddenly, she turns. All laziness shakes off her. She begins a shallow stoop, whipping her wings to accelerate. My eyes & my heart follow suit.
Then I see her prey.
Its another Kestrel! Possibly the sibling of the other, lower bird. For weeks they have been aerially jousting with each other. I wonder if the practice will have been enough.
This Kestrel has strayed too high. There is nowhere to hide in the wide & empty air. The Peregrine streaks towards it.
Again & again the larger predator attacks, each time the Kestrel manages to jink out of reach; the Peregrine is really going for it, this is no mock-fight, she is going for the kill.
Climbing higher each time to renew the attack the two birds are often so close that the end seems foretold; yet the Kestrel manages to keep just out of reach.
This goes on. My arms are screaming with the effort of holding on to them, my heart pounding with the spectacle.
At last they go out of sight, the Kestrel still intact.
Once again I'm aware of birdsong, the world returns. Two Blackcaps tick tack over a Chiffchaff's song.
I'm going in before something else happens. No-one will believe any more!

H

Nice Story everything lives

Great sighting. Thanks for posting.

Jeez ... I was on the edge of my seat there Halftwo!!!

A Perry hunting Kes? I've never heard of them taking Kestrel prey (or trying to), what a moment!

(Bout time you had your own B.D thread )

Great experience, beautifully expressed.

Thanks H.

Wow, that must have been astonishing to see!

Wow, really exciting, couldn't read fast enough to read the outcome.....never heard of a peregrine going for a kestrel!

Just been reading BWPi : makes no mention of other raptors as prey: but am sure have read (maybe on BF) that they do attack raptors - even those larger than themselves.
It maybe that this reckless young Kestrel just did not have the experience to stay away & at first did not realise the danger it was in.
But it did not approach the Peregrine, when the first stoop started it was so far away that it took c.10 seconds for the Peregrine to reach it - and it was shifting!
Thanks for the kind comments folks. As you could probably tell it took my breath away. I've seen them go for various prey before (including some spectacular stoops at Storm petrels) - but never another raptor!
You might have read my account of Hobby mobbing Peregrine earlier this year - though the Peregrine came fairly close then I didn't get the sense of impending doom that I got today. Part of me wanted to see the prey caught & part wanted it to escape.
If both the two young Kestrels are still around tomorrow I'll let you know!!
H

PS Edit: Just googled prey of peregrines & a website mentions Sharp-shinned hawk & American kestrel!

Wonderful read, Halftwo, and interesting observation!

halftwo said:

Just been reading BWPi : makes no mention of other raptors as prey: but am sure have read (maybe on BF) that they do attack raptors - even those larger than themselves.
It maybe that this reckless young Kestrel just did not have the experience to stay away & at first did not realise the danger it was in.
But it did not approach the Peregrine, when the first stoop started it was so far away that it took c.10 seconds for the Peregrine to reach it - and it was shifting!
Thanks for the kind comments folks. As you could probably tell it took my breath away. I've seen them go for various prey before (including some spectacular stoops at Storm petrels) - but never another raptor!
You might have read my account of Hobby mobbing Peregrine earlier this year - though the Peregrine came fairly close then I didn't get the sense of impending doom that I got today. Part of me wanted to see the prey caught & part wanted it to escape.
If both the two young Kestrels are still around tomorrow I'll let you know!!
H

PS Edit: Just googled prey of peregrines & a website mentions Sharp-shinned hawk & American kestrel!

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Gibraltar Peregrines have a habit of knocking down other raptors crossing the Straits into the drink. Some quite large ones: I believe Bonelli's Eagle is among the victims.

John

I've actually seen a peregrine clutching a screaming kestrel over the summit of Crinkle Crags in the Lake District.

Rob

halftwo said:

With apologies to David Smith. H

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Dont apologise-just put me up for the week ! I'm easy to look after, I'll even pour my own beer if you leave it in the fridge.

Being up t' north end of cheshire we're not as fortunate but our garden is very lively at the moment. Not Hi-jacking your very nice thread which I enjoyed reading (even though slightly green) but just to mention the regulars:-
Bullfinches....m & f every day
Goldfinches.....as many as 10 or 12, sometimes for 20 minutes
Greenfinches
Lots of Blue, Coal & Great Tits-occassional flock of Long Tail
Plus all the normal Starlings & Blackbirds etc.

Look forward to your next installment.

Farnborough J - I had a feeling they were pugnacious blighters!
Rob - proof indeed!
David - next installment on the way - a bit quieter today.

Another superbly written raptor account, halftwo. In the Wicklow hills not far from where I live, about four weeks ago, I saw a Peregrine pursue a Merlin. I didn´t see a "stoop", but the chase was intent enough to suggest that the Perry had dinner in mind rather than merely a bit of "territorial". The Merlin made it out of sight over the crest of a hill, by which stage the Perry had lost the advantage. I´m assuming (and hoping) that the Merlin survived.

Wow, great stuff Sancho; I would think the agility of a Merlin would be too much for a Peregrine.
H