Hafoc Catches Lunch

I had considered not going out to watch today, but I sure am glad that I did. The flying was spectacluar-- my picutres won't do it justice, since many of them were mysteriously over-exposed. Nevertheless, I had front row seats for some terrific action from the fledglings. All were positively identified today with the exception of the stealthy Grissom.

I arrived on the Pont de Rennes bridge at 07:00, but already Brad, Dan, Cathy, & Jane were there. Dan waved me over so that I could see Gahastey perched atop a snag south of the bridge. I was informed that she had just finished a breakfast of sparrow:

One of the other juveniles (I think this was Hafoc) was on the cable that stretches across the river:

Cathy informed us that Pride was perched beneath the bridge. She emerged a few minutes later, and for the next half hour, on and off, the three juveniles made sport of chasing each other around the gorge. When they weren't playing amongst themselves, they harrassed the other wildlife. Here's Pride going after a Mallard drake:

          

While Pride terrorized the local waterfowl, Hafoc landed on an old utility pipe under the west end of the bridge:

He didn't stay there long, though. The three seemed particularly playful today. Here's Hafoc chasing Pride as she takes a run at a groundhog:

And since turnabout is fair play, here's Pride turning the tables on her brother:

Hafoc eventually disappeared under the bridge. Meanwhile, Pride and Gahastey had landed on the grassy bank of the river, and were enjoying playing with some items that they found on the ground:

          

The two of them seemed did a lot of hopping and chasing on the ground. It was quite comical to watch:

During a break in the action, I took a picture of "Isaura's Tree", which lies north of the bridge, about 1/3 of the way across when entering the bridge at its western side:

Suddenly, Hafoc came out from beneath the bridge and started harrassing his sisters again:

At times all three were in the air, wheeling and diving at each other, swooping through the tree branches, flying only inches off the ground and over the water. They've all three grown to be excellent flyers.

After several minutes of the pursuit, Hafoc broke off, and headed for the east side of the gorge. We lost sight of him behind a chain-link fence near the railroad tracks. The girls landed on one of the RGE buildings south of the bridge:

Pride didn't tarry long with her sister, though. She took off to the east, and played for a time over the trees on the east side of the gorge before she settled on the railing of the observation deck. We watched her for a few minutes to see if she'd do more flying, but she appeared quite content to stay where she was, so Brad and I walked over to see if we could get a closer look. Indeed, when we arrived at the end of the path leading to the observation deck, Pride was completely unperturbed by our presence. Nevertheless, we kept our distance, and I let my zoom lens do the work:

          

New watcher Jane joined us, and took some pictures of her own as Pride proceeded to preen for long minutes. After making herself neat and presentable, she took off, passing low over the railing only a few feet in front of us. I got a beautiful look at her in my binoculars as she passed by, but alas, I was not ready with my camera. She flew out over the gorge, and landed beneath the bridge, as reported by Lisa McKeown, who had recently arrived.

I ventured out on the remains of the railroad tracks to see if I could find Hafoc, but of him there was no sign, and we assumed that he had flown away unobserved.

I was just considering leaving the observation deck, when Hafoc showed up again. He flew in from the south, and scared some pigeons off their perches on a building near the Triphammer Grill. He landed there, but took off soon, and headed our way. He made a pass near the observaton deck, and I was able to get a fantastic shot of him as he flew by:

He landed in a tree on the east gorge wall, then took off again to join his sisters in some aerial chases over the Kodak visitor parking lot. The folks on the bridge headed in for a better look, while we watched from the deck. I was surprised by the arrival of Paul Hamilton, who had flown into town for yesterday's Falcon Watch Dinner. I was unable to attend, but Paul told us that the falcons had put on a nice show last night for the diners.

We watched two of the falcons land on the Kodak Tower, and Lisa reported sighting Alkyonis, who had joined in the talon tag game, apparently coming off the tower. She landed on a window ledge on the 10th floor. Her flying looked good, as did her landing, and her reunion with the family appears to be going well. Around this time, we also saw Kaver fly in. He didn't have any food, though, and after a short spin around the RGE smokestacks, he left the area. Lisa noted a juvenile had landed on top of the center RGE stack, and that Hafoc was busy chasing goldfinches north of the bridge. Brad and I decided to head back to the Pont de Rennes, leaving Paul and Jane on the observation deck.

When we returned to the bridge, we found Hafoc circling in the sky over the eastern end of the span, gaining altitude as he soared on a thermal. We met up with Dan, Cathy and Lisa just in time to witness one of the most exciting moments I've had in my four years of falcon watching. Hafoc turned north, and fell into a shallow, rapid dive. Between the High Falls and center smokestacks he abruptly reversed course. The chase was on! In our glasses, we followed his flight as he got on the tail of a small bird, which he PLUCKED OUT OF THE AIR!!!

"Holy @%#*!" I exclaimed. We had just witnessed Hafoc's first confirmed kill! But there was even more excitement to come. Loud kakking heralded the arrival of Pride, and she immediately gave chase to Hafoc:

The pursuit took them beneath the bridge, through the dense foliage of the trees, Pride always hot on Hafoc's tail, insistent that she should get the benefit of his work! After a remarkable series of turns and banks near the river, she gave up the pursuit. They both landed low on the bridge's substructure, and we got our first good look at Hafoc's prize:

          

When he plucked the bird from the air, we were all surprised to see that it was small and completely white. Upon close examination as he ate, we came to the consensus that it was unfortunately, most likely a pet parakeet that someone had lost.

Another sobering part of the story: The bird was still alive when Hafoc brought it to the bridge. We heard it's final cries before Hafoc dispatched it. These are beautiful birds, a marvel to watch and to admire, but moments like this serve as stark reminders of the reality that these are raptors, predators of the sky, and they are merciless, efficient killers.

Hafoc enjoyed his prey, while Pride complained from beneath the bridge, out of our sight. I think that he must have left some of the bird for her, because after a while, he emerged from his perch, and landed on a lower branch of Isaura's tree. He had just a scrap of the bird left to eat:

          

I looked for the rest of the prey, but could not find it on the bridge support. Pride had stopped complaining, and this is why I believe she got some of Hafoc's meal.

Well, I was feeling inordinately proud of young Hafoc for his accomplishment! Though this prey was undoubtedly easy pickings, it does appear that the little guy has mastered the art of flight, and he's well on his way to being the deadly hunter that thousands of years of evolution have bred into him. I can only hope that one day soon we'll hear that he's taken a mate, and is busy raising young of his own. If today's exciting action is any indication, he's going to be a very successful Peregrine.