November 27 2012. Burlington ON. Not very long ago, certainly within my easy-recall memory, Peregrine Falcons were very rare and seeing one was a gold medal sightings. But with the resurgence of their population aided by conservationists’ encouragement, there are now many places in the urbanized world where peregrines are well established, even routine; my home city is one of them.
About a mile from home are three side by side large bridges that vault road traffic over a busy shipping canal, two have long yawning spans while the third is a lift bridge of more modest reach but vastly more complex structure. The lift bridge has two tall blocky towers housing the enormous lifting gear which serves to haul up the canal-width road deck, the weight of which is counterbalanced by massive weights. Peregrine Falcons first appeared and set up home on one of the bridge towers five or six years ago, and other than a disaster that first year the nest site has been successful. From the peregrine’s point of view the location has a lot going for it: a high commanding site inaccessible to most predators, and an inexhaustible supply of Rock Pigeons, Long-tailed Ducks and Ring-billed Gulls.
Anytime from March through June you can almost count on seeing at least one of ‘our’ Peregrine Falcon on or near the bridge. As for the rest of the year, well they’re around, but seeing one is a hit and miss affair. In this spring photo of the female she was perched on a cable strung above the bridge deck, while her mate careened around screaming and proclaiming his fealty.
Today we set out in quest of flooring and plumbing parts to complete some bathroom improvements. In the midst of one of life’s most mundane activities, driving up an on-ramp to join a highway, a Peregrine Falcon swept low over us heading in the opposite direction. I knew it immediately, Peregrines are a hefty, purposeful and strong winged falcon, graceful and almost gull-like in outline but in no way ballerina-esque. I enjoyed the moment and knew it would be hard to beat as Bird of the Day. But then heading home and this time closer to the lift bridge we had the same encounter, a Peregrine Falcon passing low overhead its wing beats strong yet somehow seeming to be little more than casual wrist-flicks. Twice in a one day affirms the Peregrine Falcon as Bird of the Day.
Here in Harrisburg Pa, we have had a falcons (various pairs) almost every year. They nest a top the Rachel Carson Building in downtown Harrisburg. The DCNR has a web cam on the nest sight live each year. You can learn a lot about these birds of prey via a live web cam. I for one, thought they ate mice etc, but they catch mostly songbirds to feed to their young.