In addition to the peregrines at the American Legion bridge, there's a new bird in the area. It's a Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) hanging out at an abandoned power plant along the Potomac a few miles south of my house.
These birds are normally found several thousand miles in to the west. A local expert birder described it in a newspaper article
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/apr/06/big-deal-bird-alexandria/, "This was an unprecedented ornithological sighting, not only for the City of Alexandria, but for all of Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and much of the eastern United States."
It's about the size of a peregrine, but acts more like a really big Merlin, in that it is a pursuit and ambush predator, rather than stooping from a high altitude.
It has been a great privilege to be able to spend time with this remarkable bird.
