Yesterday Patience Fisher and I went birding in Clarion County. On the way back I said, “Let’s go look at peregrines.”

Promising a view of peregrine falcons can ruin one’s credibility but I was hoping to see them at the Rt 422 Graff Bridge near Kittanning.  I thought they’d be there but their nesting status hadn’t been confirmed yet.  So why not try?

As soon as we got out of our cars in Manorville I heard and saw a begging juvenile calling from the power tower.  Before I could get him in the scope he left the tower, pursuing another peregrine.

We walked the Armstrong Trail in the direction the two birds flew.  Finding the adult pictured above was easy.  She was perched on the bridge catwalk, looking down into the trees below, and kakking.  Elsewhere under the bridge — not nearby — we heard another begging juvenile.

Success!  I borrowed Patience’s cellphone to digiscope the adult.

We certainly saw one adult and one juvenile. I think the distant begging sound was a second juvenile.  Here’s how I reached that conclusion:

Guess #1:  The first juvenile pursued the adult to that area of the bridge but he landed below in a place she considered unsafe, so she was kakking to tell him to move.  I’ve seen this kind of interaction at Pitt.  Kakking means “I see danger.”  Kakking without dive-bombing means the danger is not a predator to be driven away — so the danger is something else.

Guess #2: I think there are two juveniles.  The other begging call was far away from the original action and its tone sounded like a juvenile who thought it couldn’t/wouldn’t fly to pursue the adult.

Guess #3:  The adult was female.  This is the shakiest guess of all.  Could have been the male.

If you’d like to see these birds for yourself, visit the viewing area soon.  Click here for directions.

(photo by Kate St. John; thanks to Patience Fisher for loaning her cellphone)