Dogfighting Peregrines

I hadn't intended to get outside at lunch today, so I left my binoculars and DSLR camera at home. Hearing the great news of the first hatch of 2007 changed my mind, though.

I didn't have my super-duper camera, but I did have my trusty Kodak DX6490. I found Shaky at the corner of State Street and Morrie Silver Way watching Kaver, who was perched on the southeast corner of the launch pad, above the nest box. Carol P was standing in the plaza outside of the Kodak tower taking pictures of Kaver. She joined us about the same time that Barbara and Cathy "Zummobird" D'Angelo showed up.

For no particular reason, I decided that rather than trying to get pictures, I'd shoot some video today. I'd hoped to get a shot of Mariah or Kaver circling, or maybe one of them bringing in food for the new hatchling. So when Kaver took off, I started filming, completely unprepared for the spectacle that awaited us.

Out over the parking lot he met up with another Peregrine. As I'd just come from the Kodak Lobby where I'd seen Mariah in the nest box, I was surprised, but I figured somehow she'd flown out to meet him. Of course, we all suspected a food transfer. Imagine our amazement then, when the two falcons began a spirited aerial combat!

Shaky was the first to realize that not only was this not a food transfer, but that Kaver had found, and was agressively attacking, a sub-adult Peregrine that had wandered into the area. Carol shot some pictures while I kept filming.

(2.9MB WMV file)

Despite the jumpy footage I think you can get the idea. Over the traffic noise you can hear the angry vocalizations of the combatants. As Kaver pushed the intruder southward, Mariah shot out of the nest box and joined in the chase. The two of them continued driving the interloping falcon to the south where it disappeared. Mariah took over the chase while Kaver returned to the nest box, but she relieved him after only a couple of minutes. Kaver made another aerial patrol, then returned to the launch pad to resume his vigil. Lisa McKeown joined us after the action, and we passed the remainder of the lunch hour in relative calm.

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Sometimes the unexpected makes for the best experience.