NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/736554
I t's a cloudy mid-September day in Lincoln, and Jeanne Hibbert is on a mission. Fresh off her shift at Windstream as a digital services technician, Jeanne strides toward the north side of the Nebraska Capitol building, s tops at the base of the steps and aims her Canon point-and-shoot camera lens toward the very top. She's not here for the architecture, grand as it is – she's here "for the birds," as she puts it: the family of peregrine falcons who call the Capitol home. Almost immediately she spots her target, Alley, the adult female, and begins snapping photos with the zoom cranked to the max. To the inexperienced eye, Alley is almost invisible, a faraway dot half-hidden behind a pillar. But Jeanne knows where to look. "She's in the same spot as she was this morning," she says. While Jeanne is doing this, two people stop to talk to her – a Capitol staffer and a construction worker, both of whom know her by name. They each have the same questions: What's the news today, Jeanne? Any action? The construction worker, Charlie Horner, belongs to Jeanne's Facebook group, Peregrine Falcons Lincoln Ne, which boasts more than 550 followers from across the United States and as far away as Russia, Indonesia and Egypt. Horner joined the group after talking with Jeanne, which sparked his own interest in the birds. "I've made a lot of friends doing this," Jeanne says. "I'm happy to help spread the word about the peregrines." Spring and summer 2016 were eventful for the birds. Alley laid five eggs in April. Just when it appeared any of the eggs had failed to hatch, a single eyas emerged. Nearly all peregrine eggs hatch after 33-35 days of incubation; this youngster waited until day 36. "It was our Hail Mary pass," commented Nebraska Game and Parks Nongame Bird Program Manager Joel Jorgensen. Then, in early June, the adult male, 19/K, dislocated the elbow in his left wing, which was surgically put back in place. During his nearly four-month recovery at Fontenelle Forest's Raptor Recovery, Alley fed the chick and taught it how to fly by herself. "She was a great single parent," Jeanne said. Throughout it all, Jeanne has been a passionate, dedicated observer, spending hours of her time most days monitoring the birds' whereabouts and documenting their activities for her Facebook group. She isn't a trained photographer, but she's familiar with a photographer's working habits. "I'll come home some nights with 1,500 photos, only 20 of which are any good," she says. "But that's the great thing about digital cameras; you can take as many shots as you want A Passion for Peregrines By Renae Blum Lincoln woman documents the daily lives of the Capitol peregrines for an audience of hundreds. Dinan, the latest peregrine falcon chick to hatch at the Lincoln Capitol building, was banded at three weeks of age to allow researchers to identify and track him in the future. Di h l i f l hi k h h h Li l 52 NEBRASKAland • NOVEMBER 2016 PHOTO BY MIKE FORSBERG