No one wants to begin a day, a week like this. As the first shards of dawn broke the cloud-covered full moon's waning hold over Fresh Pond, the male Peregrine was alert on his perch looking south and west. The first bird of the day to move that I saw.

Buzz and Ruby were not out. No pigeons, and certainly no gulls were moving. All was quiet. By the time I parked the car and got out, Ruby had flown into one of her favorite perches, where she and Buzz often sit together, overlooking their territory. The tiercel to the north. The female Redtail to the south. All was calm. A typical winter's morning.

The pigeon tribes from Concord Lane usually send out a few scouts, who head straight for the beloved , presumably warm, CVS sign. Fully exposed to weather and predators, this large, standalone sign gives them ample time to view the latter, while they too can see most if not all of their domain.

In early dawn Ruby launched from her tree, heading low for the scouts presumably about to land on the CVS sign. This was a hunting move, suggesting the increasing importance of pigeons as a source of nutrition. They had not been pursuing these pigeons like this for months. They had made only two dawn passes that I had seen in the past six months. Last winter and spring, the dawn attacks had been the daily routine.

I ran around the building and saw Ruby strike and miss, as pigeons leapt off the sign as though on the Titanic, jumping off and down, rather than lifting up and away. She missed them all. She continued in direct flight. In the darkness I first heard the Peregrine, fiercely kek-kek-kekking, and then saw him dive-bombing Ruby repeatedly. She rolled her body about 90 degrees from side to side, attempting to avoid his passes, and she swerved in the direction of the Hotel Tria. She stopped flapping once and raised her wings, to drop a few feet beneath the Peregrine's pass. Suddenly, I saw motion on my right. Buzz, flying like Meatloaf's proverbial "Bat Out of Hell." He had probably been perched in Fresh Pond Woods, but he must have seen and certainly heard the attack. The Peregrine was between Ruby and me, strafing her as she wobbled towards the Tria. Buzz headed straight at the Peregrine, coming up his rear. I think his approach took the falcon by surprise, as it swerved up and left, and wheeled to come back down at Buzz. Ruby used the distraction to make the northwest corner of 545 Fresh Pond Reservoir Place, where she sat up on the west wall. The Peregrine saw this, refocused, and hastened to 545 where he started dive bombing Ruby on the roof. Buzz made a beeline for 545 and landed on the northwest corner of the wall, inserting himself between the Peregrine and Ruby. Buzz ducked to avoid the falcon's next sally and fell backwards off the roof edge. He jumped back up up between the attacker and his mate. Then Buzz hop/flew to the northwestern most antenna, where he was sitting higher, more prominently. More defiantly. He and Ruby remained on the roof edge enduring several more runs by the Peregrine. They would not leave. The Peregrine either realized this or was tiring of this effort and circled west and headed north back up the Whole Foods parking lot. Peace at last.

I was emotionally drained, and thought the Redtails had to be even more so. Wrong. Buzz shortly took off from 545 and aimed straight for the pigeons that had returned to the CVS sign. They could see him approach against the backlighting of a somewhat lighter dawn, and all escaped unscathed. Buzz wheeled south and disappeared from my view, likely back towards Fresh Pond Woods. (Being that no bars where strong drink would be available were open at this hour.) As he disappeared behind bricks and neon, I saw Ruby heading straight for the CVS sign as pigeons had begun to return to it. She missed them all, but landed on the sign, just like the old days. I then spotted the male Peregrine flying north up the Fresh Pond Mall parking lot, past TJ Maxx, though I did not see him return to Rindge Towers.

The pigeons, who are either nearsighted, dumber than posts, or both, kept circling the CVS sign, at times coming within a foot of Ruby, ready to land on the warm sign, only to recognize at the very last moment that death was sitting there waiting for them. The pigeons circled the sign and occasionally essayed into Fresh Pond mall for roughly ten minutes before they alighted on lamps in the comparative safety of the mall.

At 6:54, Buzz landed on the CVS sign, coming from Fresh Pond Reservation to join his mate of more than three years. Now it was like last winter, and the year before that; the two Red-taileds perched out in the open, overlooking their pastures of pigeons and rodents. Ruby took off, heading toward the old nest on 185. On Saturday and Sunday, Buzz and Ruby had both landed on 185, and Saturday morning about 8:30, both were in the old nest, Buzz observing while Ruby moved a few sticks about. They had not worked on this nest all winter long that I am aware of. Recently, all the attention had been on the nest used last year, on Fawcett. But there were clear signs that the best known Buteos in Cambridge were considering whether to return to the old stomping grounds. Concerns about all the construction at Fawcett, the large crane looming over their nest tree, and the mushrooming superstructures impeding their approach to and view from the nest, apparently had them contemplating the alternatives, and 185 seemed the likeliest.

It was still pretty dark, so the first indication that something was amiss was that I heard kek-kekk-kekking from the north, Farther away than before, but louder. Much louder. There was Ruby, wheeling over 185, trying to get away from a screaming, streaming Peregrine, harassing her. She started to flee down Terminal Road, towards Abt, with the Peregrine literally on her tail. Suddenly, I heard a loud scream behind me. Buzz was launching himself from the CVS sign, screaming the loudest, deepest scream I have ever heard from any Redtail. No keeerrrrr. No Buick ad rendition. All I could think of was that Buzz was doing his version of "Geronimo", launching himself in an attack that he could not win. And unlike before, wanting the Peregrine to know he was coming, to distract the falcon's attention from the larger Buteo.

I am increasingly hard of hearing, so I miss many of the guttural vocalizations between Buzz and Ruby, including much of the keering. Monday morning I heard both falcon and buteo louder and clearer than ever before. Buzz was rifling towards the Peregrine, who was wheeling above and stooping down on Ruby, driving her west, towards Wheeler. I raced to Terminal Road, but when I got there in seconds all was already gone. I walked down Wheeler, and made the usual rounds of Fawcett, Mooney, Smith Place, Wilson, etc., but had no sign of any raptors. Not even the slightest suggestion of the confrontations I had already witnessed.

The sun had not yet broken the horizon. It was "warm", a balmy 23 degrees, and no wind. But I was drained. At 7 am there was nothing left in my tank. I could only imagine how exhausted Buzz and Ruby must have been.

Today, Tuesday, on a dark, overcast morning, Buzz and Ruby perched in the honey locust off Wheeler, where I had often seen them perch and occasionally copulate last winter and spring. They sat together for five minutes or so, and then Ruby hop-flew up several feet to another branch, where she sat above Buzz for at least another hour. They were both facing north. Less than a quarter mile away, two Peregrine Falcons sat on the southern edge of Rindge 2, the female on the southwestern point, the male on the southeastern, both looking south over the territory in dispute.

To me, it seems clear that Buzz and Ruby are now considering nesting alternatives. It is only two weeks before the first anniversary of the confrontation with the juvenile Peregrine last February that convinced them to focus on the Fawcett nest, where construction crews began demolishing the building next door the week Ruby began incubating.

If there was any doubt in any hawk's mind, they now know that the Peregrine couple on Rindge Towers is not going to allow them to maintain territory on 185, much less nest there. The male is apparently not going to let them hunt pigeons or rodents in Fresh Pond Mall on either side of Route 2. He has his mate and future progeny to consider. The Peregrines are doing what comes naturally to them. They are doing what Peregrines are supposed to do, as this species continues its remarkable comeback from near extinction. Notably, the Peregrine harasses and screams, and impresses upon the Redtails that he is faster and much more agile than they are, and that he is not pleased with their presence in some fairly specific areas, To date, however, I have not seen him or any Peregrine attack the hawks with talons down, to strike and kill, and I hope to god that I never will. So far, all the falcon actions have been restrained. They could be much worse. The male has effectively delivered the message, however, and we can only hope that is enough.

At Yalta and Potsdam the victory-bound combatants "set the table" for the postwar map. We now need a "Cambridge Conference," where the combatants accept a workable territorial settlement. As at Yalta and Potsdam, the victors will determine what is acceptable. Buzz and Ruby now have to identify where they might attempt to build a new nest, a new site, where their young will be safe from attack and where food should be adequate. Red-tailed Hawks are incredibly successful opportunists, discovering advantages and opportunities and exploiting them. And Buzz is also one smart, very experienced Redtail.

It is easy to anthropomorphize Redtails, especially when you name them. To think of them thinking in human terms, like most of us. Instinct also plays a very powerful role for them, as it often does for humans.

It is hard, no impossible, to know exactly what these hawks are thinking. We can only extrapolate from their behavior. Whatever, Buzz is one incredibly courageous hawk. Seeing him risk life and limb to defend his mate is a deeply moving experience. The scream that he gave as he went to Ruby's defense at 185 was indescribable and unforgettable. I hope that I never hear it again.

To see the tenderness between these two hawks is also deeply moving. They like to spend time together. They touch base almost every morning. Sunday, they tee'd up on the railing at Social Security, basking in the warming rays of the sun, preening, and relaxing, perhaps thankful that they had made it through a ferocious cold streak little the worse for wear. I think the hormones really are beginning to surge. Sunday afternoon in Newburyport, I saw two juvenile Bald Eagles duetting in flight, locking talons and tumbling, and screaming in courtship flight, though they are years away from actually mating and nesting. The warmer temperatures, the more intense and longer sunlight, has many avian glands working overtime, even if only in dress rehearsal for events years away.

But for Buzz and Ruby, the Cambridge Peace Accord has to come quickly. They need to identify the best possible locations and begin building a new nest or two soon. They need to assure themselves of adequate prey to get them to the months when they would be feeding young. Time is precious, and so are these Redtails.

Paul

Paul M. Roberts
Medford, MA
phawk254@comcast.net