Feature article in quarterly regional lifestyle magazine:

Life in the Finger Lakes, Spring 2005

This article was somewhat a labor of love - an opportunity to break into a new regional market with a story of something that matters to me; an idea I came up with, rather than an assignment originating with the client. I got interested in Rochester's urban falcons because they hunt and perch right outside my living-room windows, and it was a real pleasure to combine that interest with my writing skills. I'm not a birdwatcher or nature writer per se, but I'm always fascinated by what I see around me, from wildlife to architecture to people and more. Being a writer means being able to do something with those observations and interests.

City-dwelling peregrine falcons
enhance urban life in the Finger Lakes

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

[One of the great joys of living not just in New York State, not just upstate New York and not just the Finger Lakes region, but in the heart of downtown Rochester is being able to see the famous Kodak peregrine falcons right from our windowsills: My husband Wayne and I live in what used to be called Olde Rochesterville, with the Genesee River as our “front yard” and stunning views of Rochester from the two sides of our fifth-floor corner apartment.

From their nestbox high up in the Kodak Office Tower on Lake Avenue, the local falcons swoop and hunt right in front of our windows, often perching or feasting in our view, on the ledges between stories of the HSBC Building (the one with the long-ago revolving restaurant, now affectionately known as the flying saucer, on top) at Main and State Streets. We have seen them dive at terrific speeds, snatch pigeons out of the air, and carry the carcasses back to window ledges for admittedly bloody dining, as if downtown was simply another national park or untouched mountainside. “Nature, red in tooth and claw,” indeed!]