Friday, March 20, 2015

They share the town with Orioles and Ravens

I don't go to downtown Baltimore much anymore, but if I could travel like these guys do, I guess I'd be there all the time.  And when they get home, they do have quite a view of everything - the ballparks, the traffic, the other magnificent buildings, the random violence and mayhem on the streets.

But those streets are 33 floors below where this couple lives, and they have no parking problems at all, because they are peregrine falcons who have for years lived on a window ledge of what is currently called the Transamerica building on Light St way downtown.

A conservation group called the Chesapeake Conservancy makes their home for them and has set up a webcam where you can watch them doing their bird thing and sending Tweets all day long.

I don't want to tell you just what they hunt, but don't take your pigeon downtown with you. Peregrines are the fastest bird in the world, swooping down on their flying lunch at up to 200 mph.
And they are a comeback story.  They had almost been eradicated because of pesticides damaging their egg shells, but they are back and thriving in eastern North America, with homes on skyscrapers, water towers, and cliffs.  And this family has been residing on this ledge for 35 years now.

Tune in to the webcam someday soon and watch them enjoying their lives.




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