This afternoon at the Holdingford Public School pond (the Environmental Resource Area that the FFA has been developing, NE of the Elementary buildling beyond the softball fields) a docile Cattle Egret was gobbling up probably chorus frogs, sometime a peck a second. One student got some digitals of it. Also, hanging out iin the area, we are trying to scope in on a falcon, some of us are hoping it is a Prairie Falcon, but we haven't made a positive ID. It is bigger than a Merlin, the kids who have seen it page through the field guide and land on Peregrine, which I doubt, but who knows. The farm over the hill to the NE has some 50 pigeons flocking around it. So far I've missed seeing it, but am watching now as close as I can. Lastly, birded Warner Lake County Park the last two wknds, of note-many Field Sparrows, no YR-warblers (well, 1 only--strange--saw a batch at Holdingford bus pond today), no Hermit Thrushes(they must be there?), but a Broad-winged Hawk showed up rafting, and I watched a Kingfisher courtship for 45 minutes, with a 4"panfish in beak, flipping to and fro, then pounding it on a branch, female approaches, he flies to another branch and does the antic again, finally he gives it up to her. He flies off and comes rattling back ten minutes later with no other fish. He fishes the perimeter of the pond passing in front of me, 8 unsuccessful dives, the 9th dive he has another 4" panfish and goes through the whole process again with the female. mjb
