Finally made it out to Ashtabula, too late for the black-tailed gull apparently (?), but the snowy owl was in full view in the wide open expanses of the railroad yard. The snowy made a short flight to the tracks near the coal piles where it was promptly buzzed by a peregrine that came out of nowhere. The peregrine then flew to the top of a utility pole in front of the big coal pile. The owl raised it wings to ward off the momentary harassment. A few minutes earlier, the falcon had sent a flock of ring-billed gulls off the river ice and into the air on the opposite side of the bridge. With the bridge pigeons providing ready meals, made us wonder if it left a well-fed falcon the luxury of entertaining itself. A few minutes later, with the snowy owl perched on the rail, along comes a railroad worker in his white pickup truck along the lane next to the track. It was apparent that he was slowing down to view the owl. (I'm betting the RR workers are well acquainted with their arctic guest by now.) So with the curious and/or respectful approach of the truck, the owl takes flight but only when the truck is almost next to it. Immediately upon the owl taking wing, the peregrine zips across the 500 ft of open ground to buzz the owl again. The truck's brakelights go on and I'm imagining this guy exclaiming "What the hell?!" at the sudden furious flash of wings in front of this windshield. Sure would have liked to talk to the RR guy about what he saw. Even if we didn't see the black-tailed gull, seeing a snowy owl and a peregrine, interacting no less, made our day. Wonder what it did for the RR worker's? Dan Best ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]