1 A peregrine Falcon is born.

She poked her head for the first time through an eggshell, and took her first breath of air. A brand new peregrine falcon was born. Her instincts told her to get a snip of prey to start her digestive track from her parents, but what mother? What father? With a soft whumph, her mother landed beside her newborn chick. "Pseeee. Pseee." The baby cried pitifully. Her mother made soft sounds, and gave her a bit of liver. Then, her mother fluffed up her feathers, and bent her knees to warm her chick. After several hours of brooding, the Eyas called Duchess; after Duchess's down feathers were dry she started screaming for food. Her mother walked over to the plucking perch and prepared the duck. Her mother fed Duchess until she was quiet. With a whoosh, her mother took off, and her father came to take his turn brooding. Hours later, her father, too, took off. She was left alone for only about ten seconds before her mother returned with a rat. It was then that Duchess noticed a metal ring attached to her mothers foot. Her mother, had been raised by a human, banded, and set free. Duchess saw how shiny it was, and pecked it. She pecked it again. She was a curious one.

As she continued to grow, she became more, and more curious. The birds exited her most though. When she saw one flying through the air, she would call in adult language, "Creee. Creee." And lift her wings to fly, but folded them back. She never got bored, and had lots of peregrine games to play. Now, it was night, and every time her parents got back with food, instincts coursed through her like a shock and she shot towards her parents and attacked them. She slept, and woke early morning. Restless, she pulled a feather from her breast and watched it float away. She plucked another and before it blew away in a breeze, snagged it in her talons. A strong wind gusted, and she lifted her wings to steady herself and was lifted up into the air for a few seconds before making a strange landing on her feet. She knew that something wonderful had happened, and she knew that there was actually space between her, and the aerie. Early afternoon, she watched her mother drop a wood rat towards her. She caught it in a talon, dropped it, tore open and ate. Then, a strange instinct told her to flap, and not stop! She flapped hard and was instantly lifted into to air. In confusion, she flapped more, and more. Realizing how high up she was, she dropped down back to the cliff. She liked that feeling and soared upwards again. That night, she found a large tree with lots of pigeons on it. She focused on one in particular, tensed, and dove. Proudly, she took her first pigeon to the aerie and was chased away by her father! She was out of the nest, catching her own food, and couldn't come back to the nest. After eating, she flew away, never to return.

Learning to survive.

Duchess woke with a start. She had been living alone for about a week
now, and looked just like her mother. Only small patches of down told how
old she was. She was awoken by a large honking noise. A smell burned her
nose and eyes. What was that?! Well, she was curious, so, she flew to see
what was making that horrible smell and noise! She came to a clearing in
a forest she was roosting in, and, being about 100 feet in the air, she
saw something horrifying. It looked like a large gray snake! With
flashing colors! This was too weird!! She flew away in fear to put space
between her, and that human thing.
"Creee Creee Creee." Duchess recognized her mother's voice and answered
first in baby talk, "Pseee Pseee." Then in adult, "Cree Cree." She flew
towards her mother and made soft sounds of recognition. They flew
together on their migration path for several hours before catching food.
After a good feed, they flew until nightfall and roosted together. They
continued their route together before they departed. That was the last
time Duchess saw her mother for a long, long time.

3 Disaster with a "snake"

Duchess hunted vigorously for the next week. She needed the extra layer
of fat in order to survive during migration. But, tonight was different.
It started normal. She caught a duck, ate, preened and oile

d her flight feathers, and rested. Then, she saw a pigeon, and gave
chase. The small pigeon was fast, but not as fast as the fastest species
of bird in the world. Duchess chased the pigeon and the pigeon dodged
with twists and turns and, Duchess wasn't aware of this, but the pigeon
let her to the large gray snake. Duchess was aware of the rancid smell,
the big human machines zooming past but didn't pay enough attention to
one, she came too close, a wham, and all went black.
4
New enemies turn into friends.

She awoke on hard ground, not knowing where she was or what happened.
Pain sang through her whole body as she struggled to get up. After much
effort, she clumsily got to her feet. Hoping to take flight, one of her
wings screamed with pain. She attempted to hobble away from the zooming
colors of the human machine, but fell. She lay, for hours, shaking
occasionally. Then, a human came, a female, hair tied back, warm blue
eyes staring at her. This human, Amy, was a Falconer, and a
rehabilitator. She came towards a terrified Duchess. Duchess looked up
at Amy, scared, but to weak to do anything about it. Amy scooped her up,
and, Duchess had enough strength to nip her hand, but it was tough, like
dark, dark animal hide. Duchess didn't remember much after that, just a
low rumbling, and bumps occasionally.

1. Struggling to survive.

Duchess woke up in a big plastic container with mesh in front of it. She
felt refreshed a bit, and stood. At the first sign of movement, Amy came
rushing to Duchess.
"Oh, I'm SO glad you woke!!" Amy exclaimed with glee. Duchess was taken
out of her cage, and her wing was bandaged to the side of her body to
keep her from injuring it. Duchess was fed duck in small pieces. Then
water was presented to her. She drank gratefully, and was put back into
her cage. Weakened from her accident, she lay on her breast. A goshawk
squawked in the next cage, and a bald eagle shrieked beside her. Several
feedings later, she was taken out of her cage again, and was laid onto a
table, a bright light flashed, and humans examined a paper with whitish
lines on it, resembling the structure of her bones. Later on, she was
laid on another table, and a big cup was put over her beak, and all went
black.

1. On the way to recovery.

She woke in the hands of the human called Amy, walking to a small mew.
Amy placed her gently onto the ground, looked at her for a moment, and
walked out of the mew. Duchess, got up feebly to her feet, and called a
single note. Nobody answered, and she attempted to fly to a perch high in
the mew. Her wing was still bandaged to her, so all she could do for now
was climb on the meshed walls. She perched on a branch, and, ravenously
hungry, she looked for prey. Nothing.
"Creee. Creee." A peregrine falcon called from outside her mew and she
recognized her father. She answered pitifully, hoping for food.
"Pseee. Pseee." Her father simply flew out of site as Amy approached her.

"Hello you lovely lady." She said. Then, Duchess was fed with care of
Amy. More duck and water was presented, and Amy left the mews. After
Duchess was refreshed, she climbed to a high perch, and observed where
she was. She didn't recognize where she was, or how to get back home.
Home. The word tugged on her heart. Days later, her wing bandage was
removed, and she could fly, wobbly in flight, but good enough.

1. School.

Over the next few weeks, Duchess began to recover greatly. Amy, Duchess
now considered a mother. She fed Duchess, talked to her, and even played
some games like, she would release a rat in the mew, and Duchess would
have to catch it. If she did, she got lunch. If she didn't, she would
have to wait to eat. During her recovery, Amy came by, and chased Duchess
around the mew for a while, finally getting her in her arms.
"Okay little one, were going to school today." She said calmly. Amy held
her feet firmly, and stuck a falconer's hood over her eyes. A perch was
presented in front of her feet, and she stepped onto it. A while later,
another low rumbling came, and she was moving.
After about 10 minutes of rumbling, Amy took her out of her rumble
machine and instantly heard shrieks of joy from small humans. Still blind
from her hood, she was frightened and flapped off Amy's hand, but was
stopped by her jesses. She hung upside down, terrified, as she pulled
herself up with her razor sharp beak.
"Now look!" Amy scolded the children.
"Quiet down!" Amy flipped off her hood, and Duchess could see!
Amy took her into a large building and then into a large room with lots
of children watching her. After about ten minutes, Amy started telling
the children about Duchess's accident, and how important birds of prey
were to the world around us. She put Duchess in a covered, cage. She took
out several other birds, and two hours later, was brought home.
She went to many more of these strange places called "school" in the next
few weeks. But as Duchess grew more and more at ease with humans, she
sensed sadness in Amy the next visit in the mew.
"Well girl. I'm going miss you a lot!" And with that, Amy picked up
Duchess's feet, and supported her body with the other hand and took her
into a room with a bunch of other humans. A small metal ring was clamped
loosely around her right leg, resembling her mothers.
By now, Duchess was very frightened. Why was she being handled so much?
And why was everybody so sad and happy at the same time?

8 Free

After many hours in a car thing, Duchess was taken from a carrier in the
back of one. A falconers hood was quickly put on her head and jesses were
clipped on to her legs. She heard many human voices, excited for some
reason. She sensed that Amy was nervous, maybe even happy or sad.
Duchess shifted her wings. She was nervous.
Human footsteps shook her body. She was moving somewhere and the noise
followed them. After about ten minutes, her jesses were unclipped, her
hood flipped off, and with a smile and a sob, Amy yelled, "Live a good
life and be free!!!"
When she yelled "free" she thrust her arm upwards, and Duchess took
flight. She soared to a nearby tree and roosted on a branch about fifty
feet in the air. She looked down, and the human people were flashing
things at her, and there was much cheering. She saw Amy among them, and
called out a single note. Amy beamed. Duchess then took her attention to
her surroundings. She was in a very large marsh with many cliffs and
trees in the distance. She did not see anything familiar about her early
aerie, but didn't remember it anyway. She took off like a bullet to get
her bearings.
It didn't take long her long to realize that she was in a Peregrine
paradise. She didn't spot any other Peregrines, but she explored over 40
miles of her new territory.
That night there was dove and gave chase to the duck. Her new life was
beginning.

a terrible and she was forced to roost on a weak tree by the large marsh.
Creaking and bending, the tree was groaning with the effort of standing
still in such a storm.
In the morning, after the storm had passed, Duchess awoke painfully
hungry. She had not eaten since the last time she had a feeding at the
wildlife hospital miles away. She lit from the tree and soared gracefully
to the marsh and waited until a duck came into view. She locked her eyes
onto her prey and dived.
9 Little ones?

Duchess had been free for over a week now and was starting to feel a bit
strange. Her ears seemed sharper than normal and she heard every beetle
buzz, and duck fly. After she had eaten her fill of the rat she had
caught earlier, she took off from the cliff that she had been roosting
on. She soared towards the clouds and swooped around her territory just
for the pure joy of flying. Her wings were elegantly shaped in a curve
and her body was sleek and aerodynamic and that made her the fastest
species of animal the world.
She then began a slow decent towards a one hundred foot high tree.
But, before she got there, she heard another of her species call her.
"Chup chup chup!" She recognized the Peregrine love call. Breeding season
had begun and this male knew it. Duchess felt herself responding to him.
"Chep! Chep!" She called. She stopped heading for the tree, and spun
around in midair. She looked at the male as he sped under her and flipped
upside down and held her talons in his.
"Chup!"
The tiercel landed on a tree and Duchess followed. He held a tasty piece
of meat in his mouth. He presented it to her and she accepted. Without
warning he bulleted out of the tree and made an awe-inspiring loop in the
air and Duchess copied it. They did several more air-dances until Duchess
flew to a spot on a cliff, perfect for an aerie.

This stunning male called Falcon landed beside her and bowed to Duchess in different size. Being only 2/3 her size that is. Duchess stood tall and fluffed her feathers to look ever larger and therefore even more beautiful to the tiercel. This feather talk told Falcon that she was bonding with him.
Day after day Duchess and Falcon danced in the sky and bonded with
each other more and more. Falcon had gone hunting and Duchess was
restless. She took off and sped east towards the place where so many
people cared about her. She didn't realize it, but she was headed to the
wildlife rehabilitation center.
She flew for only twenty minutes until she saw the mews and that
unforgettable building where she was once cared for. She remembered the
tasty duck they had there, and she remembered Amy too. She called out a
single note and landed softly in a tree. She heard human voices from
inside the familiar building.
"Hey, that sounded like a Peregrine! I'm gonna go check it out!" Duchess
recognized Amy as she walked outside and looked around wildly. Duchess
made soft sounds of recognition. She didn't quite know what to think of
Amy right then, she had taken care of her and fed her that duck, but she
also was a human. Duchess bobbed her head. Just as Amy was walking back
in to the hospital, Duchess cried, "Creee! Cree! Creee!"
Amy spun around and saw Duchess in the tree.
"Well I'll be! She came back! I'd recognize that black head anywhere!"
Amy seemed calm and cautious as she approached the tree. "Oh NO!" She
said in a loud whisper. "Have you imprinted on us here? I hope not! You
need to be free again. I don't think that you are though; I just liked to
see you. You probably just came for a quick visit, on an accident of
course!" She smiled and went back in the building.
Duchess caught a pigeon in midair and ate quietly on the roof of a building. After her crop was full, she took off and headed for home.
She found Falcon asleep on the cliff chosen to be the nesting site, and landed beside him. She too, fell asleep.

* * *

That next day, Duchess and Falcon mated. And after fifty days, Duchess laid a copper colored egg. She and Falcon marveled at it, but she did not incubate it. Without the mothers heat, the embryos could not develop. The next day, she laid another, almost identical to the first. Again, she did not incubate it. Finally, the next day, she laid the last two eggs, fluffed up her feathers, and sat down.

10 Cold turns the tables

It was night and Duchess was incubating the eggs. She had been on them for only hours, and the temperature of the eggs had just reached 70 degrees. At that magical temperature, the cells in the eggs became two, the four, then eight, and then sixteen. Life was exploding throughout the eggs. Duchess and Falcon's brooding patches had no feathers, but was just as warm. She slept until early morning, until Falcon woke her up with a duck in his talons. Duchess ate gratefully and Falcon took his turn brooding while Duchess exercised a bit.
Duchess landed with a duck in her talons and took her place brooding the eggs while Falcon ate. The dedication to the eggs was touching and incredible. Not a second went by without the warmth of the eggs parents.
By the next few weeks, the eggs were heavy, and movement could be felt during the many hours of brooding. Duchess sat in the brooding trance, hypnotized by the feel of the eggs beneath her body. Presently, Falcon returned to the aerie with a pigeon for Duchess. He called out the note that brought Duchess out of her trance. She ate and then took off the stretch and exercise her muscles. The eggs quivered.
Then next few days were extremely cold and therefore so much more dangerous for the developing eggs and to find food. Falcon had tried to find waterfowl and pigeons but he had not luck. Both parents, hungry and weak, took turns brooding and warming the eggs. Duchess was flying and stretching her wings when she spotted the place where she had spent so much of her time at-the Wildlife rehabilitation center. She didn't stay or call out.
Falcon squinted as the sleet and snow ripped at his body. He was extremely weak and had not eaten for almost two days. He was very near death. Birds of prey need constant food, considering that they fly so much during the day, and are so busy. Death comes very quickly by starvation. After several minutes, Duchess appeared to take her turn brooding. She landed and Falcon took off like a bullet, to find a duck or a bird to get his mate and himself.
Several minutes later, he came back with a squirrel, half devoured by him. Duchess ate ravenously, as her mate did too. Falcon landed in a nearby tree in sight of his nest site to guard it. Night came and snow and sleet fell.
"Creeee. Creeee. Creeee." Duchess woke to hear Falcon's voice. He was still in the tree he had roosted in the night before. Duchess recognized the kakakak call of distress. "Kakakak." Duchess could not see it, but Falcon's feet were covered in a thick layer if ice. He could not get off the tree branch.

11 On the way home

Several hours had passed since Duchess had woken to Falcon's cry, and she was getting restless. She called out over and over again for him to take his turn brooding, but he would not move. He struggled and struggled but could not get free. Duchess would not leave her eggs.
Night came. Falcon was weak and unsteady. Duchess had not moved from her eggs in almost a full day. She wanted dearly to fly and stretch and eat, but the bond between her and her eggs was strong. Finally after a full 36 hours on her eggs, she took off and caught a sparrow that was in a nearby tree. She brought it to Falcon after eating some, and went back to her eggs. She did not know it, but she had saved Falcon's life. He had been struggling for hours and was extremely weak and hungry. But if he couldn't get off the branch, he and the eggs would soon die. Without any heat from the mother or father, Duchess needed to get food and exercise often.

* * *

"kakakakak" Falcon was in a frenzy. Hungry and weak, and weakened by hunger, he still led on a raid. He started screeching and calling to Duchess. She sat still as a stone on her eggs as she listened to a strange crumbling and scuffing not far below the aerie. All of the sudden, a human face appeared where Duchess was. A look of astonishment came upon her face. She quickly looked to where the screeching was coming from. She spotted Falcon and gave a small cry. "Oh my!" She saw how he was struggling and his feet were stuck. She started to climb higher, aware that Duchess was watching her every move. She climbed down to a small ledge and got out a cell phone. She dialed the number to the wildlife rehabilitation center and reported what she saw and where.
"Creee. Creeee. Creeee." Falcon cried out to Duchess in stress as somebody cut off the branch that imprisoned his feet. He was put in a small carrying case and the woman that held it looked around at Duchess. "Why hello there! I'd recognize that black head of your anywhere!" "Cree." Duchess answered Amy from her nesting site. "Hey!" Amy called out to the person on a small ledge. "This little lady's crop is empty! She has some eggs that look like they're just about ready to hatch! She can't survive without a father for the eggs!" Duchess was very frightened and was forced to leave.
About an hour later, Duchess joined her eggs again. They were under temperature. She was about to sit back down when somebody else came and calmly looked at Duchess. Moving quickly, he grabbed hold of her feet and, despite her struggles, put her in the same kind of carrying case, as Falcon had been in earlier. Her eggs were put in a small case where there was a hot water bottle. "kakakak" Duchess was frightened but did not try to fly. A falconer's hood was over her eyes and she was a bit calmer than before. But something wasn't right. Her eggs, they were missing. Duchess started to panic and tried to flap her wings, but they just bent painfully against the side of the carrier.
After some time, her carrier jolted, and she sensed that she was outdoors. Somebody took her hood off and she could see that she was at the wildlife center. Amy held her upside down by the feet, and flipped her up onto her hand. She clipped jesses on her and took her inside where she saw Falcon on a perch in a mew. Her jesses were unclipped and she was set free in the cote with Falcon. "Creee." Falcon called out. His feet were free of their icy prison, and his crop was full. A rat was then set into the mew and before it had ran two feet Duchess was upon it. After satisfying her hunger, she flew to a perch by Falcon and observed her surroundings. A Goshawk called out from a mew nearby, and human footsteps sounded. Falcon shifted his feet. Duchess started to fly around the cote in a wild fit, trying to find a way out. Her eggs were nowhere to be seen.
The next day, both Duchess and Falcon were strong again. Falcon's feet were fine, all they had to do was keep a warm hair-dryer on the ice that surrounded his feed on low, and the branch simply melted away. The eggs were in an incubator for the time being. Later that day they would be released, and the eggs would soon be back to the aerie.

12 Baby Peregrine

Duchess soared free of humans hands once again, free. She and Falcon had both spent several nights in the wildlife center, and the eggs were so close to hatching that they had to be released so they could raise the chicks. Falcon was the first to reach the aerie. The eggs were there. Without hesitating, he pressed them against his brooding patch, an area that the feathers had fallen out and a soft jellylike fluid covered. His surrounding feathers fitted around the eggs like a tent. The eggs trembled.

Only days after there release a small peeping could be heard from two of the eggs. While Duchess was brooding, she heard peeps and she knew the eggs were heavy. These things sent her into an even deeper trance than before. Falcon landed on a tree nearby, a sparrow flew by. She did not stir.
After some time, Falcon got food for Duchess and wriggled onto the eggs. He too was quickly taken over from the eggs. And, hours later, when Falcon was turning the eggs, a small beak tip could be seen from the copper egg. He sat down lightly, as to not put much weight on the hatching egg.
Meanwhile, Duchess was coming back to Falcon to brood. She saw he was in a deep trance, and she called out the note to bring him out of the trance. It seemed that Falcon could not get off the eggs fast enough. Duchess calmly hopped over to her precious eggs and looked at the tiny beak poking through the eggshell. Her feathers lifted and she chirped. She sat down and pulled the egg with the biggest crack to her breast feathers so that part was visible. She slipped into a deep trance and started closing her eyes slowly.
About ten minutes later, a tiny sound, almost not to be heard, rang through the air. Crrrck crrrck. She looked down as the chick struggled at the great effort at breaking the shell open. But with a final push, the egg fell open to reveal a miniscule pink Eyass. Duchess beamed at the new chick and proudly nuzzled it gently with her beak. She chirped softly and pulled the remaining eggshell away from the chick's body. She started to eat the egg, to regain the calcium she lost making the eggs.
An hour and a half passed before the Eyass down feathers were dry. The white and brown fluffy feathers looked like granite. Granite started the fall asleep when she was awoken with the calling of her father.

"Creee. Creee. Creeee." "Chup chup chup chup chup! Chup chup chup!" Duchess called back to Falcon and hopped off her new chick. She ran over to the pigeon that Falcon just brought. She carried it over to the baby and after eating her fill she started picking off choice pieces of meat, liver and heart since these were the most nutritious parts of the bird. She placed the meat in her Granite's mouth. She didn't eat much, due to her size.
It was twilight and two of the other eggs were starting to hatch very slowly. But despite the calming atmosphere, danger was nearby. A hungry Great Horned Owl knew about the nest, and the eggs. It sat silently in a nearby tree, not daring to move being only several yards away from the well alert male. He despised this male. This one was particularly protective this point in time. But as soon as it got dark enough for relaxation among the falcons, the Owl would make its move. He wanted that little baby, no matter what the price. He spread his silent wings and flew to the nest. Duchess awoke, but did not see anything dangerous. But she was still alert. She could not see, but sensed that something was wrong.
Five minutes later Duchess was kakakakaking in fear and anger. An Owl had just swooped out of nowhere and tried to snatch her Eyas from under her. He had missed the baby, but snagged an egg, which he had taken away instead. Falcon chased the Owl as far as he could and just managed to swipe at the Owl's eyes with his talons, but missed. He stood guard over Duchess and the remaining two eggs and Eyas. They both didn't sleep the rest of the night.

13 More Peregrines

Duchess spread her wings and soared for the first time in days. Falcon was taking his turn brooding, which Duchess had been reluctant to get off of her baby, but gave in. She worked out all of the knots and twists in her muscles, and gave chase to a rabbit, though she would not catch nor eat it. She landed on a large wooden structure that she recognized as a mew from the hospital. Her eggs came to mind once again and she took off towards the aerie.
Duchess approached the cliff and called out to Falcon. He hopped off of the eggs and looked proudly at the second chick, the shell almost all the way off.
Then Granite started grunting halfheartedly for something to eat. "Pss..pss..." He tried to make noise, but Duchess just came down and nestled herself on top of her. This little dainty chick would not give up. "Pseeeeee. Pseee."

* * *

This was only an hour later the second chick, exhausted, pushed herself out of her tiny prison. Her bright yellow beak, shaded extremely lightly with blue, gleamed in the sunlight like a lunar moon. Duchess proudly called out to Falcon. Lunar's eyes closed as Falcon chirped approvingly at the newcomer. "Chup chup chup!" "Creeee. Creee Creeee!" Duchess and Falcon called to each other as yet again a new member came to the family, for the third egg broke in half and an unusually tiny chick splayed himself on the ground. His tiny stubs of wings lay out flat beside him. Freedom was born.

* * *

Over the next few days the three chicks flourished and grew. There was Granite, Lunar, and Freedom. Each had their unique personalities. Lunar, being the only female, was bigger then her two brothers, and was a bit more aggressive when it came to mealtime. However, she did love to snuggle together with her siblings when it came to those cold few minutes when their parents were eating. Granite was in the middle, but was the loudest of the three. Freedom, the youngest and smallest of the chicks was a very quiet nestling. He didn't put up much of a fight when it came to food. He liked watching the birds flit by the scrape, and the leaves blowing in the wind. Flying already interested him. Duchess and Falcon kept up their responsibilities; Duchess brooded while Falcon hunted for all four of them until the chicks could be left alone. The family was getting along famously.