Yellow Pages
LAKE ERIE — During a lull in the wind, Rick Machin heard a peregrine falcon call “rehk-rehk-rehk” from a hidden perch on Mount Erie, warning other raptors: Stay away.
When an immature bald eagle glided past the cliff that falcon watchers think is a likely peregrine nesting site, the falcon had the opportunity to act on its warning.
“Let’s see if we can get a reaction,” Machin said.
An avid birdwatcher who volunteers about four hours each week to watch the falcons to see where they will nest, Machin focused his binoculars on Mount Erie. The eagle’s shadow slid over the ledge most likely to house eggs once the female peregrine lays them.
From seemingly out of nowhere, a falcon zipped into a dive.
For the second year, peregrines have returned to nest on the 1,300-foot-tall mountain that rises at the south end of Anacortes. Besides the falcons and bald eagles, turkey vultures and osprey all have been seen soaring over Mount Erie.
* Read the full story in Tuesday’s Skagit Valley Herald.
