Palisades Interstate Park, NJ, Peregrine Falcons

Myself and two friends hiked in the the Palisades Interstate Park, NJ in the spring of 2020. I had hiked here before in the early 2010s. We met in the Alpine Boat Marina parking lot and hiked up to the cliff top. After hiking for about an hour the trail veered very close to the cliff edge and we dangerously peered down to the river below. A moment later we were swooped at by a peregrine falcon. The falcon bent in their wings to slow down as their approached, dropped their yellow legs, and pointed their talons at us. We flinched. The falcon disappeared as a harsh “kaking” sound trailed off with it. It’s likely there were falcon eggs incubating on a ledge below. I returned to these cliffs in the fall and was able to take nice portraits of the male and female pair perched above the precipitous drop to the river edge below. 









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