Nice one, Mark. Bud was an instrumental figure in the return of a magnificent species, saving it from the brink of oblivion...great story too.
-- Sincerely, James Ryan 651-308-0234 business cell -- Your life is what your thoughts make it. - Marcus Aurelius As long as you live, keep learning how to live. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca -- On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 4:04 PM, Alt, Mark <Mark.Alt at bestbuy.com> wrote: > I work at Best Buy in Richfield and today I was treated to Peregrine > Falcons holding flight school on our corporate campus. Four birds paired > up, an adult with a juvenile, and flew over and between the four mesas > Best Buy's headquarters provides. > The juveniles worked hard to stay above and immediately behind the > adults at all times, strangely like a blackbird after a Red-tail. The > adults maintained a rhythm of flight - stooping past the ledge of our > building's roof, veering right and swooping back up to soar 50-100 feet > above the building. The falcon's kids tried to emulate the maneuver, > never getting it quite right. Adults were elegant, swift and crisp with > the stoop and swoop, no wasted energy or feathers out of place. The kids > would swing their legs like rudders and fan their tails at odd moments, > and never go down as quick or rise as high as the adults. They were > being convicted by Newton's laws. > The young birds appeared to be overall quite buffy from below as they > flew, standing out clearly from their dark parents. A pair stooped past > my window, barely 40 feet away, I could see their eyes, the adults > fierce and focused, and the kids reminding me a bit of my dog when she > thinks she won't get to go for a ride. I watched the birds for over a > half hour, they never let up in their flight patterns. This must be > dangerous times for young falcons; they were clearly pushing the > envelope of control. > Sadly strange to see this and then to hear of the passing of Bud > Tordoff. He would have loved to see this event, for he loved many all > things Peregrine and many people loved him for it. I am sure he would > have known the names and lineage of each bird, I sure wish I did. > Thanks, Bud, these birds are spectacular, and we really will follow you > every time we look at them in awe and inspiration. Good Birding. > > Mark Alt > Lean Six Sigma Black Belt > Project Resources Group > Best Buy Co., Inc. > > P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail > > > > > > --- > This mailing list is sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. > Mailing list membership available on-line at > http://moumn.org/subscribe.html. > ----- > To unsubscribe send a blank email to mou-net-request at moumn.org with a > subject of unsubscribe. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20080724/e28bff80/attachment.html