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| The view from the Chancery Lane lookout |
On the afternoon of March
29th, I made a quick stop at the Chancery Lane Swamp lookout to see
what birds were there. One of the many birds I noticed was a Juvenile Black-crowned
Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and boy was it having
a terrible afternoon, that was almost it's last.
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| Grey Kingbird vs Black-crowned Night-Heron |
When I approached the
lookout it appeared I spooked the heron, which was just below the cliff in the
mangroves. As it flew off it was escorted to the far side of the
swamp by a Grey Kingbird (Tyrannus
dominicensis). This was the first attack and one the night-heron
just ignored but he could not ignore the second attack, doing so could have
caused its life. Here is what happened. My camera battery was dying so I went to my car for a fully charged one. Before reaching the car
I heard the alarm calls of the Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa
melanoleuca). Turning around I saw a mixture of shorebirds
flying around in alarm. Straight away I knew what was happening, a raptor was
in the vicinity.
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| Black-crowned Night-Heron vs Peregrine Falcon |
I rushed to the lookout just in time to see
a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) in hot pursuit of the poor juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron which
was calling loudly while twisting and turning trying to escape the deadly
talons of the bird of prey.  |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron twisting and turning trying to escape |
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| Almost got him! |
The agility of the heron took me by surprise and
just as the falcon was about to catch it, the heron dropped to the
ground. That move saved its life. The falcon made a
few speedy dives at the juvenile but was unable to coerce it to leave
the safety of the ground.  |
| Peregrine Falcon leaving the swamp |
The peregrine finally gave up, made a few
passes at a Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) and Common
Gallinules (Gallinula galeata), before perching in a tree
at the edge of the swamp. After making another failed attempt to make the
night-heron dinner, it left the swamp. I must admit I was rooting
for the juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron all the way and was happy to see it
was still alive. I guess from the Peregrine's prospective - you win some and you loose some. Stay safe and enjoy you birding.
That is so cool, the escape move of just dropping to the ground is interesting, some moths do that to escape bats.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting. The shorebirds normally take to the sky.
ReplyDelete