My Peregrine Reunion

Before starting my blog I was actively participating in the Utah birding community and sharing my birding adventures via the "birdtalk" listserv managed by the great people at utahbirds.org and a more recently established Google Group called UBIRD. I made a series of posts over several months in 2011 which chronicled my discovery of two adult and at least one juvenile Peregrines that had staked perches and hunting ground claims on several six-story buildings surrounding a roundabout in a newly developed corporate center called River Park. This complex of buildings in located at about 10800 S River Front Parkway in South Jordan, Utah. I first noticed the Peregrines when one passed by my top floor corner office with a Pigeon in tow. I had a few other random sightings as they flew by my window, but it wasn't until one day while I was saying goodbye to our FedEx sales reps after lunch that I realized the Peregrines weren't just occasionally passing through. As I was wrapping up a conversation in front of our building I heard one of the Peregrines calling from the ledge of the building on the other side of the roundabout. As I glanced up to see the bird it launched from the ledge and flew in our direction. I pointed to the sky and declared, "There's a Peregrine Falcon!" All four members of the party watched as the bird flew over our heads and onto a ledge on our building. Naturally, the other three asked, "How did you know that?" My explanation at the time was basically how one of my coworkers and others discovered that I was sort of a bird nerd. Needless to say, I started taking my camera to work. And that decision enabled a few interesting photos.

This Lovely Peregrine was just feet away from me on the
other side of a tinted top-floor office window as the sun was
rising one morning over River Park Corporate Center
in South Jordan, UT

I had some really awesome bird encounters based around my view of a hillside dotted with Russian Olives, a small creek, and an agricultural field below my office...and I'll share some of those experiences in future posts. For now, I'll share my River Park Birding link to a Google Map I created to note some of my bird sightings and encounters while I occupied my office with a "birds eye view" of awesome bird habitat.

Unfortunately, the Peregrines seemed to disappear over time and my company fell victim to some unfortunate circumstances. The Peregrines apparently moved on and I ended up on the wrong side of a layoff for the first time in my career. That same place that provided my excellent views was the scene of my loss of employment.

Adult Peregrine Falcon looking back at me just after
finishing a meal outside my South Jordan, UT office

Lunch at River Park
South Jordan, UT

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon at River Park Corporate Center
South Jordan, UT

I spent numerous months trying to start a consulting business and seeking full-time work. My efforts to restore income consumed me and my time spent observing and photographing birds waned drastically. Exactly nine months to the date (the full gestation period of a human baby), I was reborn professionally and found myself starting a brand new job just a block north of my previous job. I thought it was quite a coincidence to end up so close to where I was before. And, within the first couple of days I was doing a little happy dance inside when I caught a glimpse of an adult Peregrine flying by a window. After leaving the office that day I decided to check a few perches that I knew used to be favored by my long-lost avian friends. I was delighted to see an adult Peregrine perched right where it used to be nearly a year ago.

I took my camera to work over the next couple of days and discovered two adult Peregrines and captured a few photos to officially document and memorialize my Peregrine Reunion.

Hail to the Peregrines! It appears we've all ended up where we belonged for at least one more season together.

Adult Peregrine Falcon #1 at River Park
Corporate Center in South Jordan, UT

Adult Peregrine #2 Leaving a Ledge at River Park
Corporate Center in South Jordan, UT