A Great Show by Cirrus
December 30, 2009 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Hello everyone and Happy New Year.
Yesterday Bill and I visited the Lift Bridge. We arrived around 12:30 pm to meet Carol and Kathy from Rochester. We found that the Parking Lot was closed, the area was fenced off and the bridge was reduced down to 2 lanes of traffic . Looks like renovations have started on the Bridge. Let’s hope that the construction will not have an effect on the Peregrines and that all the work is finished prior to mating season.
Carol and Kathy must have some magical powers because we were treated to a great show by Cirrus. Unfortunately, we had not taken the camera out of the car so were unable to capture the action. By the time Bill got back with the camera, all the action was over. Carol did have her camera and hopefully, she will be able to share some of her shots. When we arrived, Cirrus was enjoying a meal on the front face of the Hamilton Tower while Sir begged for scraps from the cables. He eventually left the cables and perched on the very top corner of the Tower. As far as we could tell, Cirrus did not share. While we were watching, we noticed a Gull feeding on the Lake side of the peer. Upon closer examination, it was a headless Pigeon, so we speculated that one of the Peregrines had dropped it. After some preening, Cirrus left the face of the tower and flew directly over our heads and began to harass the Gull. We then realized that it must have been a meal that Cirrus had dropped and was not happy that the Gull was enjoying her catch. Cirrus flew around us and over us and every time she dive bombed the Gull. After many attempts, she drove off the Gull and eventually gave up on trying to retrieve the Pigeon. When we left, both birds we visible on the Hamilton Tower and the beheaded Pigeon was floating out to sea.
Great visit with Carol and Kathy who had to travel all the way from Rochester to get their Peregrine fix.