My Top Ten Wildlife Experiences, #17
The Peregrine Falcon
August 20, 1986
Scapegoat Wilderness
Montana
Jim and I had been riding for a couple days through the Scapegoat Wilderness, each of us pulling a pack mule. We started from the North Fork of the Blackfoot trail-head, past the North Fork Falls and camped the night at Carmichael Cabin. The next day we went up Dobroda Creek with Mount Evans on our left and Scapegoat Mountain on our right, through the pass and down into the head of Cabin Creek.
A couple times that day we had seen a peregrine falcon overhead, checking us out, she came pretty close. No doubt, it was a peregrine, or maybe a prairie falcon, but it’s my story and I was there, so - peregrine!
Our purpose was to check out a new area an outfitter wanted to put a camp. We wanted to check access (there was no trail to the area), grazing possibilities for the stock, water, and most important would a camp there disturb grizzly bear activities.
Our plan was to put up a pretty good camp in Cabin Creek, leave the pack animals and get an early start up through the trail-less head of the basin. Then ride the ridge to the proposed outfitter camp site. By the time we would get back to Cabin Creek it would be a long day.
We were saddled-up and leaving camp when there was just enough morning light to see. Our camp was in the trees, but it didn’t take long until we passed the thick timber to where trees thinned out and there was more grass than forest - gaining elevation. As we worked our way up the head of the basin toward the ridge top, alpine fir were about the only trees hardy enough to grow and they were scattered - but big.
By this time the sky was wakening - cloudless, through the color transitions, red to purple on the way to lazuli, but not there yet. Horizontal beams directly from the sun were streaming through the pass above us - the one we were heading for - and smashing into the mountain peak off to our left a couple miles.
By now we’d gained enough elevation so that we were looking down on those scattered, sharp pointed alpine fir. Small birds were doing their cheep-cheep thing and flitting from one tree to another. The horses had their “blow”, we moved on. Two more rest stops and we’d be at the little pass. For some reason, I looked up rather than ahead to where the horse was going to make his next foot-plant on this steep side hill.
There was the peregrine, high above and down sunlight, not too far away, treading air. She was hunting! Then, while I was watching, she cupped her wings and went into that fabled 200 mile-per-hour dive. Below, a tweety bird was flitting from one fir to another. He never made it. At the last instant the little bird dodged right - so did the falcon and took tweety at full speed. A poof of feathers and the falcon was quickly on the ground with her first course for the day.
And I’d seen it -- in this perfect, natural setting. What an experience!!
I have no clue how that peregrine accelerated so fast with so little evident movement or effort. Amazing!
This entire event only took a very few seconds, but those seconds were certainly a high point in my outdoor experiences. It was made more meaningful because it took days, effort and know-how to be at that perfect place at that time.
Immediately my attention had to go back to where my horse was going to step next. But I stored the peregrine event away ~~ memory is a wonderful gift.
Jerry Covault,
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