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:

The Furry Gnome said...

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

Lady Fi said...

Wow - utterly amazing!

Angie said...

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

eileeninmd said...

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!

RedPat said...

That is fabulous to see!