Bird catches its prey as people watch near Terminal Park
Rebecca Connop Price, Daily News
Published: Friday, July 27, 2012
Shoppers and workers at Nanaimo's Terminal Park Shopping Centre got an up-close and personal with nature when they witnessed a peregrine falcon in action on Thursday.
The falcon, which is famous for the speeds it can reach when hunting its prey, grabbed a juvenile gull from the parking lot behind The Granary Restaurant and Zorkin Insurance Brokers.
The sight attracted a small crowd of people who looked on in amazement. Peregrine falcons were once an endangered species in North America, but because of breeding programs, their population has bounced back.
The falcon was probably circling high in the air when he spotted the juvenile gull and went in for the kill. In a dive, the bird can travel at speed of more than 300 km/h.
Diana Bertram, manager at Zorkin Insurance Brokers, said she didn't see the bird catch its prey, but witnessed it taking the gull apart.
"I thought it was awesome. I love birds anyway, and I'm always looking at birds, so this was amazing," she said.
She said the bird appeared at about 9: 30 a.m. and stayed for about two hours, only moving a little bit if someone got too close. Bertram said she thought the bird might have been unable to carry its prey away so it was forced to eat it in front of a crowd.
"It was really interesting to see a bird sitting there, young and hungry and not scared who's standing there and taking pictures," she said.
One of those people taking pictures was Elvira Theodorakakos, the owner of The Granary.
She said she was able to stand within only a few feet of the bird. Originally from Poland, Theodorakakos has been living in Nanaimo for 11 years.
She shared her photos with the Daily News.
She said this was the first time she has had such a close encounter with a bird of prey.
"Never in my life have I seen something like this. I actually don't know very much about this bird, I'm going to look it up on the internet."
Debbie Powell, who works in the kitchen at The Granary, said seeing the bird was thrilling.
"That's a very rare sighting. We never see anything like that here," she said.
Wow, it's a juvie too!
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