The Amur Falcons of Heidelberg

"Let's go and see the Amur falcons roosting in Heidelberg" said my grandmother* a few weeks back, "they'll be leaving soon and we can have afternoon tea in town first"
She had found an article in The Saturday Star describing the spectacle of watching the flock coming in to roost in Heidelberg, a little town on the N2 not far from Johannesburg.

Image credit - Andrew Keys
These brave little birds fly non-stop over the ocean for two to three days on their annual migration from Asia to Southern Africa to choose mass roosting spots for their summer holidays.
And so, armed with binoculars and enough snacks to feed a small army, we set off one Saturday afternoon to take tea at Her Majesteas Salon (highly recommended) before finding the roosting spot described in the carefully folded newspaper clipping in my grandmother's handbag.

I'm not sure this particular group has chosen terribly well; a high grove of Poplars behind the local Spar in a particularly seedy part of town, music from the sports bar below blaring out as patrons leave, shouting their drunken farewells.

We were a little late in the year to catch the full flock, with only a hundred or so birds left behind. But still, it's a remarkable experience to watch them coming in for the night, massing high above in the clouds, then swooping in, one by one, to take up their chosen resting spot.

And the clouds that evening were beyond spectacular, reflecting the colours of the setting sun across the way.

Sunset

This shot taken facing east, the light reflecting off the clouds

The two tiny black spots are falcons coming in to roost from the east

Perhaps they haven't chosen badly after all if that light show is anything to go by. Fly safely little birds.

*She's not really my grandmother, it's a (mildly rude) term of endearment for my dear friend Nan. Who is obviously MUCH older than I.