Juveniles Tear Up The Gorge

I try to avoid hyperbole when reporting on the activities of the falcons. I think they're amazing all on their own and I see little need for overstatement so I hope that'll give you some idea of how really incredible was the flying that took place this morning. It's no exaggeration for me to say that I've never seen better in my eight years of falcon watching.

The morning began on a decidedly boring note. When I arrived around 7:30 Carol, Jeanne and Larry told me there'd been four fledglings in the air earlier, chasing each other up and down the gorge. Now though, there was little to be seen other than a fledgling very far away on the 17^th floor ledge of the Kodak tower and another in one of the trees along the gorge wall. The weather was terrific-- sunny, breezy and cool-- a welcome counterpoint to the oppressive heat and cloudy, hazy skies of recent days. The only haze today came from the spray kicked up by the Genesee as it cascaded over the High Falls to the rocky riverbed below.

Carol pointed out where one of the falcons had landed after their earlier flying, and Jeanne spotted the juvenile on a little spit of rock to the right of the falls. After some careful searching the rest of us found her too:


I went out to the observation deck to see if I could get a better look at her, and the other one in the tree. Instead, I heard Carol's voice crackle over my radio that there was flying at the Kodak tower. I flipped my camera lens westward to catch the action:


Unfortunately the fledlgings didn't venture beyond the tower, and indeed they all disappeared after just a few moments. So there I stood on the observation deck bathed in morning sun and river spray, thinking what a perfect day it was for flying, when Quest decided to get things started with a trip out to the gorge:


When she makes an entrance, she does it with real panache. Quest flew in close enough for me to feel like I could have reached out and touched her as she passed by:
     

After she buzzed me, she locked her sights on the gulls in the river, forcing a pair of them into crash dives as she approached:


Then she returned to the east side for more back and forth:
     

She swung out over the falls and flew upriver for a moment. It was the perfect opportunity to frame a shot of the quintessential urban Peregrine:


There followed a brief break in the flying, and Carol joined me on the observation deck. Her timing was good, as a new falcon decided to get in on the fun:
          

It was Diamante! He did some flying with his sister, but they were so fast together that most of the shots I took were blurry, or too dark against the bright sky to be useful. He ended up landing on a dead tree near the bridge. Carol headed back there straightaway. I waited on the observation deck for another minute, hoping that he might fly again. When he stayed put I followed her back to the north. Just before reaching the bridge we were able to get a good look at him through a gap in the foliage:


Of course, being the sharp-eyed tiercel that he is, Diamante saw us too. After a couple of seconds he took off northward. I sprinted back to the observation deck, thinking that he might make a turn and head back toward the falls. Carol stayed near the bridge, but joined me again on the deck after a moment. Both of us scanned up and down the gorge, but he seemed to have vanished. It took us a good minute more of searching before Carol exclaimed that he'd landed on the "Portrait Tree". With a tacit "D'oh!" we were off, back to the bridge, where Diamante sat and let us take our time photographing him. Here he is with a bit of a wing stretch:


A Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) caught his attention when it began complaining:
     

For a solid half hour Carol and I stood on the bridge, aiming our cameras at Diamante, waiting for him to make a move in the otherwise quiet gorge. But Diamante had other ideas. He yawned, took a cat nap, and watched little birds and insects fly around, but he seemed content to stay right where he was:
          

Then we saw more falcons near the falls-- first one, then another, and finally three!


Still Diamante kept his perch, so I jogged back up the path to the observation deck, with Carol close behind. What we witnessed next is hard to describe, as the three falcons played and zoomed all over the gorge. They began with some mutual chasing and talon tag:
          

Quest peeled away, leaving Seneca and Zephyr to pursue their game with some of the most dazzling flying I've ever seen:
          

Quest wasn't far off though. She got our attention with a low flight right over our heads on her way back to join the fray:
     

The three of them alternated chasing and tagging, often with Zephyr jumping in to ambush his sisters while they tore after each other:
          


          

Seneca dropped by, darting in front of the observation deck, chasing after the Z-man:
     

As Zephyr raced along the shadowy gorge he popped up into the sun, resulting in this dramatic bit of serendipity:


Then he hit the deck, going low over the water, terrorizing the gulls:


Quest got on his tail again and chased Zephyr up into the air where he gave us a nice close look:
          

She chased him in front of the falls, then down past the lip of the gorge, while she skimmed just over the edge:
     

Seneca let us know she was still out there with a nice pass of her own:


After almost ten minutes of nearly uninterrupted flight, Zephyr took a rest, landing on the side of the gorge:


Seneca and Quest took a short break too, but got back in the air pretty quickly, Seneca going vertical in pursuit of her bigger sister. They were both so close that it was almost impossible to follow their game:
     

Almost, but not quite impossible!
          


          

Of course, good light and an outstanding camera helps capture those gorgeous talon tag shots!
     

After their two minute game Seneca flew to a building across the gorge and landed near some security cameras:
     

That left the gorge to Quest, and she made the most of her solo opportunity:


Zephyr though, couldn't resist giving chase one more time:
     

I love how they fan their tails and stretch their wings to brake and turn!

Star of the morning though she was, eventually even Quest decided she needed a rest. She landed on the deck of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge, a good opportunity for a close shot if I could get back there in time. It was after 9:00 and I was already late for work, so I was off again, up the path for a final couple of shots while Carol kept an eye out for more action from the observation deck:


Quest watched me with a wary eye, and after a few minutes she dropped into the gorge for more flying:
          

I checked the portrait tree, and sure enough, there was Diamante, content as ever:


What a rare, extraordinary treat! Ten minute talon tag, portraits galore, and wind-whistling fly-bys. Had I seen a tenth of the action this morning I'd have counted myself lucky. I was so excited returning to my car that I was nearly breathless. We have one more day of good weather tomorrow before it gets ugly again for the weekend. I can't dare to hope for anything as good as the flying from today, but I'll be there bright and early, camera in hand, ready to capture whatever fun the falcons have in store for me.