I met the 'speed demon'

David Sibley calls the Peregrine Falcon the “embodiment of speed and power.” It’s known to hunt medium-size birds in spectacular dives and is sometimes seen in the Southern Plains the same time the ducks migrate through. The waterfowl, especially teal, are often the falcon’s target and that’s what I was fortunate to see on a windy, cold afternoon this week. It was the first time I watched a Peregrine Falcon at a close distance and it was exciting to see it manuever over the shoreline, dive at the ducks or pester the much larger Great Blue Heron. I was making my way through a lot of mud, trying to get close enough to photograph the bird but I did take the time to watch it through the scope and learn a little about its markings. I never got close enough for a good photo but did come away with a few shots that confirm the sighting. As a result, I’ve decided to get back into digiscoping (photographing through the spotting scope). My scope is an inexpensive Nikon and lacks the brilliant optics of Swarovski but I used it in the past to digiscope with an Olympus 730. I think it would work better to have a closer match in the sizes of camera lens and scope eyepiece so I purchased a used Nikon Coolpix 995 on eBay. The camera will be here in a few days and I’m hoping for an easy learning curve… foolish notion, I’m sure! But I’m truly motivated because Friday brought a chance to see my first Western Grebe and, once again, I was too far away to get good photos. Do these special birds ever hang around long enough for “do-overs” with better equipment?! I hope to find out!