THE TALE OF THE PEREGRINE FALCON!

THE TALE 
OF 
THE PEREGRINE FALCON!

Sometimes life takes some interesting twists and turns! My family was alone at home one fine summer day about ten years ago, when there came a loud BANG at the picture window! It was so loud that at first our son and daughter thought the window had burst. The only evidence of what might have happened was a few feathers stuck to the window frame!
 The owner of the feathers was not readily apparent, but a look around outside soon revealed evidence of what happened and the resulting problem. 

 A Very Wild Peregrine Falcon had decided on inviting a  hapless, terrified Robin for dinner! The falcon zeroed in on his prey and dive-bombed it at a high rate of speed. Normally the Robin did not have a chance in hell of surviving such an attack.  But as luck would have it, the Robin sought sanctuary in the vicinity of the porch and in the process flew close to the window. The Peregrine Falcon, who was obsessed with obtaining his meal, did not see the picture window because the glass was transparent! So he came down at an obtuse angle and bounced off the window with such force as to completely knock the bird senseless. In the process, the frightened, noisy Robin got away!

About this time the family cat became interested in the free meal so generously made available to him on the ground! He proceeded to attack the senseless Peregrine Falcon! My son immediately saved the falcon by picking it up! Now, the young man was no falconer and did not have falconers gloves, but he found a pair of rather ordinary gloves anyway which would  not provide much protection from the sharp claws of the falcon. But, it was better than nothing!

The bird slowly came back to a state of consciousness. As wild birds of prey are want to do, they become angry easily and this one was ready for combat. It did not occur to it that it was safe, only that it wanted no part of its current position in life! It also was not ready to fly and kept staggering and swaying around like a drunken sailor!

When finally it realized its predicament in close proximity of a human, it became very angry, flapping its wings and carrying on. My son was concerned about the sharp beak and the angry eyes that telegraphed hostile intentions. Finally, he gave the bird a boost with his arm, it took the hint and flew off into the sunset! We never, ever saw it again!

So ends our Tale of the Peregrine Falcon. Fortunately, we have my daughters pictures that tell the story of an unusual occurrence,  best described as a once in a lifetime event!

The stunning pictures are by Inga Hesstvedt
Story by Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst