Estalla Ward (8 years) from Wellington was out walking with her Dad when something swooped down from above… Read her story about meeting falcons in Wellington City!
I was going for a walk with Dad while Mum and Sylvie had gone to see the tulips at the Botanic Gardens. We were in the Wellington Town Belt, it was a steep climb up the hill, I moaned a little but we finally got to a flat bit.
When I was catching my breath I got a big surprise: I felt a wing beat past my head and I heard a ‘ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki ki’. “Dad watch out!” I screamed. We saw the falcon fly up, up into the pine tree. Dad told me that that was the mother falcon because it was bigger. And then the father falcon came so we dropped to the ground and waved sticks above our heads like crazy.
They swooped at and over us about 8 or 9 times. After a bit Dad said we should not stay for long as they were probably defending their nest.
It was quite freaky when they swooped down on us coming out of nowhere. I was a bit scared, but it was very exciting all the same. I said to Dad, “next time we should bring helmets”.
I’d seen a falcon before at Wingspan in Rotorua and it even landed on my arm. When I went to Wingspan I knew that the birds there were trained ones, but these ones were different because they were wild and crazy.
Estella with a New Zealand falcon at Wingspan in Rotorua.
