In Omaha’s skies, ruthless reality reigns as father falcon faces off against son (link added)

[Omaha Steve]

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JOEL JORGENSEN/NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS
A brutal running battle between 19K, seen here in 2010, and his son Mintaka was caught on the Woodmen falcon cam in February and March.


http://www.omaha.com/outdoors/hansen-in-omaha-s-skies-ruthless-reality-reigns-as-father/article_1993fb6e-df52-57db-968b-fa7b58a59890.html?mode=image&photo=1


POSTED: SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015 1:00 AM
By Matthew Hansen / World-Herald columnist

The Battle for Omaha began on a frigid February morning, near the top of Omaha’s second-tallest building, on a narrow ledge outside the Woodmen Tower’s 28th floor.

You probably haven’t heard of this battle, not unless you are one of several thousand people who spend a shocking amount of time watching live webcams that focus on the lives — the births, survival and Darwinian deaths — of a group of extraordinary Nebraska creatures a state wildlife official calls “nature’s fighter jets.”

On this February morning, a male peregrine falcon named 19K took off from Lincoln’s State Capitol building, where he’s lorded over a nest since Dave Heineman was a new governor.

19K flew from there to Omaha, likely reaching the top speed of a Ford Taurus along the way. He landed at the Woodmen Tower, site of the state’s only other peregrine falcon nest.

FULL story at link.

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Mintaka atop the Woodmen Tower.