Part umpteenth of my ongoing posts about the peregrine falcon I’ve been observing from my office window for over a year now.
Back in January, I saw a second falcon perching very close to it. Peregrines don’t generally hang out together and stick to their own territories, so if you see two tolerating each other, odds are reasonably good that they are sizing each other up as potential mates. Females are larger than males (which is the only way you can tell them apart), and it did seem to me that one (the newcomer, I think) was larger.
Peregrines typically nest in February, so it was encouraging to see what might have been falcon flirting in January.
A raptor expert I spoke to said, “Well, they know about each other now, and if they’re tolerating each other, maybe they’ll nest.”
So I’ve been on the lookout ever since for signs of nesting behavior.
Alas, not much changed after that one day. I never saw the second falcon again, and the one I’ve been watching behaved exactly the same as always. (The consistency of behavior and territoriality are the reasons I think I’m seeing the same individual.)
The last time I saw a falcon was about 2 (or was it 3) weeks ago, soaring overhead. I don’t know if it was “mine” or a different one. It hasn’t spent hours hanging out on the building across the street (on the days I work in person at any rate) for 3-4 weeks.
This could mean a few things, some of which I don’t like and one of which I do.
- The falcon has died.
- The falcon has been driven out of its territory by a rival.
- The falcon has paired up and is busy helping to tend a nest.
This is a good excuse to spend some time walking around the neighborhood with my binoculars to see if I can spot a nest on one of the tall buildings that surround mine.
