Peregrine In Phippsburg

Two days ago, I was "Weeding For Dollars" at Alliquippa here in The Burg when this Peregrine falcon zipped over my head. As I was bent over pullling dandelions and the like, looking like a Bend-Over-Betty lawn ornamnet, it was a miracle that I saw it. I think I must have birding eyes in the back of my head. Formerly, they were Mom eyes used to catch my children at something they should not have been doing at any given moment. Now, I've cross referenced my skill set to birding. It was even more of a miracle that I got off some shots of it, photographically speaking. I used to be a sniper for the Presidential  Secret Service. Now, I only aim to kill with a camera. Ya. Okay. Maybe I should stand up more often so that the blood rushes back to my limbs and a little oxygen gets to my brain.

PEREGRINE IN PROSPECT

On Friday, I went to the Penobscot Narrows Observation Tower with my pal, Shirley. The tower is in the top of the bridge that crosses the Penobscot River from Prospect to the island of Verona. There is a parking lot under the old bridge and the new bridge. It's impressive to look upward to the bottoms of those two incredible structures. I was just thinking, "Geez, this looks like perfect nesting places for Peregrine falcons," when I heard a hawk-like vocalization in the trees. It wasn't a hawk sound I recognized. The source was this fantastic Peregrine falcon, the first I had ever seen. It was tearing at a bird kill which can be seen in one of the photographs with the feather in it's beak. Handily, the bird was over the cinderblock restroom building as I was nearly peeing my pants to see this incredible bird and to have the camera around my neck! I got more great shots than any one person deserves, but I'll keep them ALL! As if I wasn't high enough from that, then I got 470 feet high in the observation tower! I'll post photos of that after I've caught my breath.