Thursday, February 8, 2018

A Pair of Peregrines



On an absolutely beautiful winter morning I walked along the river; in an area of fast ice-free water a large group of male common mergansers repeatedly dove in search of fish. A quarter mile further along and there was a peregrine falcon in the tree where I’ve seen them for years and posted about them – here and here.



The bird turned to look downstream and there was another peregrine flying across the river in our direction. It made a wide circle and then came in for a landing in the same tree in which its mate was perched.
The yellow ovals make it easier to locate the birds –



With them both in the same tree it became obvious that the first bird was the female –



And the newcomer was the smaller male (in all species of hawks the females are larger than males) –


I slowly walked further along until I was directly opposite their tree which afforded closer photographs –





Suddenly the male took off more quickly than I could reactwin some, lose some –



He landed on a branch nearer the female –



There they stayed until both birds suddenly took
flight, to fly across the river –



They’ll be back in the tree, the same tree they’ve used for at least six years, and I’ll be back to see them.

5 comments:

  1. Wonderful to see them. Love seeing them around here when we get a chance to.

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  2. Six years - that's a good streak! I look forward to more shots of these striking birds.

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  3. Hello, awesome sighting of the Peregrine couple. Six years is a long time, maybe their nest is nearby. Great series of photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day and week ahead!

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