Some days you just luck out. You pull into the shopping mall the week before Christmas and just manage to arrive at the same time someone in the space closest to the door is leaving. Or you go to get in long lines at the grocery checkout and they open a new lane and wave you into it. Other days you wait ... and wait ... and wait.

Monitoring peregrines is like that. Last week I met up with my friend, John, who along with his coworkers has been watching the Wacker birds for years. This particular eyrie is great because it has a small access door to the ledge the birds use. So we were able to open the door for a quick look and see right away it was Dory again and she had 4 eggs. Piece of cake.

John and I then walked over to watch the prison birds and to our delight, one of the adults was perched on top of a stairway of a parking garage. Sounds easy but looks can be deceiving. What we wanted to do was to try and id the bird. Anyone who has ever tried to read a bird band knows the first thing you need is patience. Lots and lots of patience. Then a good scope or binoculars. And then, most important, cooperation from the bird.

Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you patience is the last thing I have. Oh well, I do have nice binoculars, and the bird was close enough that bands could have been read, except for one thing - it wouldn't put it's foot down.

It would occasionally scratch it's head, just to tease me with a glimpse of a band, then return to just sitting there. Standing on one leg with the other tucked up underneath it's feathers. The bird let John walk right up it (or I should say under) and it still wouldn't put it's foot down. Needless to say, the bird won that round.

I'm afraid my luck this past week has rather stayed on that course. I was lucky enough when stopping by Evanston to see they had 4 eggs but I was really there to try and id one of the adults. When we looked out the window, neither of the adults was at the nest. Easy to count eggs but impossible to read bands if the bird isn't there.

Another day I was driving over the Des Plaines River in Lockport and saw a peregrine fly by. What a great surprise but as I pulled over to watch it, I saw it only for another few minutes and then it flew out of sight. My friend and I searched for quite awhile but we never did see it again.

Of course there's always tomorrow....