Angry Birds on the Susquehanna River

I always have a good story to tell my wife when I come back from a training hike.

Last week was no different.

As I was crossing the Susquehanna River on the Wrightsville-Columbia Bridge I noticed a man with a camera taking photos of me. I thought it was a little strange, but I’ve been promoting my hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro to the local press so I thought someone stopped to write up something for the paper

When I got close enough to him, I pulled out my headphone to say hello and heard a bird screeching overhead.

“Did you see that Peregrine Falcon?” he asked.

And there circling overhead was a small angry bird.

“They’re nesting right around here,” the photographer added. “You must have walked really close to their nest.

Apparently he was there to photograph the birds and I unwittingly walked into the shot.

I had no idea there were nesting Peregrine Falcons on the Susquehanna, let alone the Wrightsville Bridge.

So I moved on hoping set this tiny bird at ease.

I made it about 20 feet down the bridge when I heard another screech. This time it was much louder. I could see a second falcon – a much larger falcon, flying toward me.

It flew about 6 feet off the deck of the bridge and with each pass it was getting closer.

It would fly directly toward me and veer off at the last minute letting out an unsettling screech.

Somehow, I had ticked off this family of falcons and it was time to get off the bridge.

As I hurried off the bridge, I noticed that the man kept his camera trained on me and the birds.

I had visions of internet stardom racing through my mind, I was about to be the guy getting attacked by a Peregrine Falcon on YouTube.

I’m happy to report that my 15 minutes of fame will have to come another day. But a quick YouTube search did find some footage of one of my attackers snacking on a bird near the bridge.

Take a look!