The peregrine falcon soared on an air current, a dark brown glider against an azure sky.
It suddenly dropped like a bomb, making straight for a cluster of mourning doves like a missile.
The doves scattered in a cooing cloud of gray feathers and the falcon missed lunch.
The falcon-dove drama played out at the Sauer-Prairie Kame Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove where a prairie and wetland restoration project has birders abuzz.
'It's really hot this year with sandpipers and Wilson's phalaropes,' said Kane County Audubon member Bob Andrini of St. Charles. 'A lot of birders are coming from outside the county because of the sightings.
Audubon member Jon Duerr, also of St. Charles, who will lead a birding tour there Sunday morning. Duerr said he saw the peregrine falcon dive-bombing shorebirds over the weekend.
While the bird of prey is definitely a celebrity, the bigger stars this weekend are two pairs of Wilson's ...