In depth Falcon Research

After talking with Pooja, I realized that I was getting too caught up in the details of the story and not letting it happen naturally, so I took what she said to heart and went back to the basics; The theme of the story.

I was originally inspired to take this angle by a film from the 60's called 'Kes', which is a story about how a boy with nothing to live for uses falconry as a way to cope with his life.

The theme of falconry was something I originally wanted to explore quite deeply as a result of this, but after a lot of deliberation, I eventually decided that it wasn't falconry I wanted to focus on, but the subject of the falcon itself. Following this, I started researching falcons, their eating habits, what environments they live in and how they fly.

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It was when I was talking with Mark Parker, the head falconer at the International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP list of staff) that I learned that there are Falcons living in London atop high rise buildings. I did more research into the subject and found that they're in London for three reasons; there's an abundance of prey in London, the living conditions are very similar to their habitats in the wild and there's no contests over the abundance of food with other birds of prey. 

I also learned that there had been a population decline in the 60's due to a pesticide that had gotten into the food chain which had reduced the UK population to 360 pairs from its original number. In recent years it's shot back up to 1500 pairs, and there are currently 24 pairs nesting in London, which is the largest number that's been nesting in London in recorded history.

Falcons Captured hunting Pigeons in Bristol and London

Falcons returning to London after a population decline

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There's also a pair of falcons who've started nesting on top of the Tate Modern, again because of the abundance of food and the cliff-like living environment.

Peregrine Falcons nesting on top of the Tate Modern

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Another thing I found out is that the recent population boom in Peregrines has led people to start thinking about how to incorporate nesting sites into their buildings that are naturally designed to enable Falcons to nest in them in order to encourage the population to grow.

Peregrine Nest Box Advice

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A Peregrine Falcon's nesting site in Staffordshire was targeted by a 34 year old man from the same area for no apparent reasons other than a desire for barbarism or fear that they might attack his pets. This is a recurring problem perpetuated by a small minority of people to numerous different forms of wildlife, so it also lends itself well to being told as a story.

Peregrine Nest in Staffordshire Targetted

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A young Peregrine tried to make a premature flight out of its nest in Chorley, Lancashire, and ended up falling from the nest. It was rescued and put into rehab by a birdwatcher who saw the whole thing happen and contacted a professional to help it recover.

Peregrine Falcon save from Church Fall

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The third paragraph in this article mentions that Peregrines were killed during WW2 to prevent them killing off carrier pigeons, tying in to the pesticide ordeal, this could work well if explored in a historical context.

Encouraging Peregrine Falcons in London

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There was also a video I watched that displayed the fact that even though Falcons can fly at speeds of up to 200km/h, they don't always manage to catch the prey they're hunting

Here's some more information I dug up on Peregrine Falcons to supplement this video;

General Information on the Peregrine Falcon

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Following all this, I had a bunch of ideas that I felt might work well as stories;

• A documentary covering the lives of the Falcons living in London from the perspective of either the Falcon or from Onlookers; How do Falcons in London live? What sort of dangers do they have to deal with? 
• The story about the Peregrine Falcon that fell from its nest due to heat exhaustion lends itself well to being told as a story as it can be dramatised with very little effort.
• A story in a more bizarre reign commenting on modern attitudes towards art which focuses on the Falcon's nesting at the Tate Modern and how the gallery curator has decided to turn them into an exhibit of sorts; This film would be from the perspective of the Falcons and be intended as a commentary on attitudes towards art in the modern era.
• A story about how the pesticide affected the UK population; This might come off as a bit too preachy though, so for me this is still up in the air.
• A story focusing on the Nesting sites set far into the future which could be about how the population has boomed to the point where Falcons are just as common as the average Pigeon and about how Londoners are living with them; This would probably be more in the vein of Kes, examining the relationship between a man and a Falcon that's been nesting at his house so long that it's practically a part of his family.
• A story about a Falcon hunting for food in London focusing on the fact that even the 'perfect predator' can have off days where they don't manage to catch any food; This is probably the most generic idea of the bunch, however.
• Going of of a more 'creature comforts' vibe, the entire thing could be a documentary from the point of view of the Falcons nesting in London, humanising them to some degree and making a comment on all of the birdwatchers that actively seek them out, as well as covering the danger of their nests being sabotaged. 

Either way, I need to do more research into the setting and the characters so that I can figure out what angle I want to take in terms of mood, as well as figuring out what would work best for each story idea; should I focus on realism or stylisation? should the linework be sketchy or clean? should I just avoid linework altogether and treat it as a painting of sorts? I'll have to produce a few concepts before I can really nail this.