Like a bird on a wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir,
I have tried, in my way,
To be free

I took this picture of a Peregrine Falcon on the power lines in our backyard in May of this year, the connection to the Leonard Cohen song didn’t hit me until just now, when the song (“Bird on a Wire”) rolled through my iTunes.

The falcon is a frequent visitor here, as we have a very popular bird feeder that must – to a falcon – look like an Old Country Buffet.

Photo via iPhone and morphed via Camera Awesome (which I like better than Instagram, but I’ve always been a rebel…)

Here’s evidence of a kill by a falcon in the winter of 2007:

The peregrine – like all raptors – is a fierce-looking bird (check out the eyes), but what’s with the Big Bird yellow feet? What evolutionary advantage does that give this, or other, falcons/eagles? Always seemed weird to me.

(Just did some look-ups: What I’ve been calling/seeing as a Peregrine Falcon might just be a Cooper’s Hawk. Hmm…I just don’t know that much about such…)

Update: Long story short: After consultation with a raptor (hawks/eagles/falcons and such) expert, this appears to be a Cooper’s Hawk. Wow, I have to relabel a bunch of pics and so on…but I applaud the veracity call! Thanks to Lindsey and her dad.