Every morning I drive through downtown Brandon after dropping my son at work, and every morning I look up at the nest box on the side of the building where our resident Peregrines nest. Yesterday when I looked up, it looked a little bare.
This morning I decided to stop at the coffee shop to grab a java to take to work. I parked on the main street downtown and when I was plugging the meter I looked up at the building where the nest is and, low and behold, right in front of me on a building ledge right across the street and three or four stories up, there was a peregrine with its back to me, feeding. I couldn't tell whether it was a parent or fledgling as it was hunched over with its back to me. I stood and watched it for a bit and then went in and got my coffee.
When I came back out, of course I had to look up again to see if the feeder was still there. Much to my surprise there was a fledgling sitting about 20 feet over on the same ledge and looking down at me, then looking at the other bird. I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of the fledgling because I couldn't believe how large it looked. I watched them for a minute but then had to get to work. I got into my car and closed the door, but when I looked back up they had gone.
I'm so amazed by those quick moments in life when we get a glimpse into nature. such beautiful creatures, these Peregrines.
