Last winter, I wrote a column about a famous Peregrine Falcon named the Beast. She ruled the skies over the State Line Lookout in Alpine for many years and attracted nature photographers from far and wide.

  I thought of her as the queen of the Hudson River Palisades, an indestructible force of nature –  until she abruptly disappeared. 

   Much has happened at State Line since then, and it’s time for an update. The peregrine nest site experienced a dramatic changing of the guard.

  I had always considered the male Peregrine an afterthought. The males are a third smaller than females, and this guy seemed to live in the Beast’s shadow. One of the other hawk-watchers nicknamed him the Dude, because he spent so much time preening his feathers.

   Enter 2024, and I finally understood all that fussing. The Dude really was a dude. Not one, not two, but three female peregrines vied to replace the Beast. 

  One falcon had no leg bands. Another had one leg band, and the third had two. The one with one leg band soon got the moniker “Una,” because of her single leg band. 

   When the dust settled, Una won out, even if the nickname didn’t stick.

    Soon after, the Dude turned into a minor celebrity in his own right. 

    I came across a delightful new book called ”Feather Trails” by Sophie Osborn, a wildlife biologist who wrote about her work with peregrines and other endangered birds. 

    On the front cover was a striking photo of a peregrine as it took off from its snow-capped perch. Since I love peregrines so much, I took a closer look. Could it be the Dude? 

   Inside on the publisher's page was a lengthy photo credit. “Peregrine, on Your Mark captured by Morris Finkelstein at State Line Lookout Park in New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson River." 

    A few local nature photographers who could identify local peregrines by their plumage concurred. The Dude was a cover boy.

  Falcon lovers still travel from as far away as the Midwest to see the peregrines of State Line Lookout, even if most local photographers refer to the Dude as “the male peregrine.”  I still call him the Dude, seeing as how we’ve been on a first-name basis.

   The latest news is that the resident male and new female are raising a family of their own. Three noisy youngsters fledged from their cliffside ledge earlier this summer and can now be seen honing their flying skills along the Palisades. That’s as happy an ending as one could hope for.

  State Line’s annual fall migratory hawk count starts next month, with thousands of raptors flying past the overlook. Don’t be surprised if the local falcons steal the show.

      The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday. Jim’s latest book, "The Screech Owl Companion,"  was published by Timber Press. Email Jim at [email protected].