http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090808/LIFE/908080342/-1/NEWSMAPBy E. VERNON LAUX
August 08, 2009
On Aug. 8, 2004, a red-footed falcon was discovered at the Katama Air Park in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard.
This small falcon, which winters in sub-Saharan Africa and breeds from Hungary east across Russia, had never before been seen in North America.
The small and charismatic falcon is still the rarest bird to occur on the continent this century.
The red-footed falcon's presence created a media frenzy. The bird's photo appeared on the front page of the New York Times, made Time and Newsweek magazines, graced the front page of this paper numerous times and was featured heavily in local and national television news programs. The bird was a star.
One Boston station sent a helicopter to Katama and the news chopper almost wiped out the wayward falcon, much to the horror of a throng of birders. Birders came from all 50 states and all the Canadian provinces to see this first for the continent.
Vernon photographed Quest, I believe,
Donna