Thursday, February 28, 2008

Pigeon pursuit

There's a colony of pigeons that likes to hang out on the wires across the street to the south of my house. I took this photo of them from my dining room window in October.

Unlike then, today is sunny with a beautiful blue sky. I was on the front porch when suddenly a pigeon came hurtling over the front of it, swooped across the street to the schoolyard and slammed into the chain-link fence, recovered and flapped off again at high speed.

"What the ... ?!?" I just had time to think, before a peregrine falcon came hurtling after it in hot pursuit. The falcon turned neatly before it got to the fence, and they disappeared over some houses, the falcon only a few feet behind the pigeon.

Sorry pigeon, it looks like this will be your fate. (Don't click if you're squeamish.)


  1. The cycle around our house goes like this: I put out seed in the feeder, all the little birds flock around happily, all the little birds suddenly and mysteriously disappear, and when I look there's a big old red-tail hawk sitting patiently in one of the trees. Never let it be said the Bronx doesn't still have a bit of that old danger left...

  2. Oh and I meant to also say -- those pigeons look a bit like if you were musical you could play them...

  3. I think I've seen some cartoons based on that idea!

    I love that you have hawks in your neighborhood. Urban wildlife rocks.