Birds

By a glorious upward instinct drawn

November 3, 2011 by Corey 3 Comments

For with a lark’s heart he doth tower,
By a glorious upward instinct drawn;
No bee nestles deeper in the flower
Than he in the bursting rose of dawn.

-From “The Falcon” by James Russell Lowell

If one were to combine the word “bird” with the word “superlative” the result would be the Peregrine Falcon. Though fastest is the first to mind, most fearsome, most awe-inspiring, and coolest all apply as well to Falco peregrinus.  You can imagine my pleasure, then, when I had the great pleasure of watching, with Seth, a pair of peregrines cavorting in the air together in what looked to us like pair-bonding but seemed to nothing but fun to the falcons. They were using strong northwest winds deflecting upwards off a steep slope to perform what I can only call an aerial ballet, though even that falls short of what we were watching. I tried my best to capture what we were seeing with my camera but difficult light and the amazingly fast birds made that nearly impossible, to say nothing of their jaw-dropping acrobatics causing me to occasionally forget to release the shutter.

We probably watched the birds for a few minutes but it felt like mere seconds and when the birds moved on neither Seth nor I had much to say for a bit, as our minds were busy absorbing the spectacle we had just seen. I hope my humble attempts at depicting what we witnessed are worthy of the birds and I hope that you get to enjoy such a show sometime yourself.

…

The Falcon by James Russell Lowell

I know a falcon swift and peerless
As e’er was cradled In the pine;
No bird had ever eye so fearless,
Or wing so strong as this of mine.

The winds not better love to pilot
A cloud with molten gold o’er run,
Than him, a little burning islet,
A star above the coming sun.

For with a lark’s heart he doth tower,
By a glorious upward instinct drawn;
No bee nestles deeper in the flower
Than he in the bursting rose of dawn.

No harmless dove, no bird that singeth,
Shudders to see him overhead;
The rush of his fierce swooping bringeth
To innocent hearts no thrill of dread.

Let fraud and wrong and baseness shiver,
For still between them and the sky
The falcon Truth hangs poised forever
And marks them with his vengeful eye.

…

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.