The Diving Falcon

Polly thought about the peregrine for two days. She wanted to feel the shape of its dive.

Polly je dva dana razmišljala o sokolu. Željela je osjetiti oblik njegovog ronjenja.

On the third morning, before the visitor lots filled, she went to El Capitan. She found a peregrine on a high ledge. It was a male, smaller than the female she had seen with Tomas. Slate-grey back, white barred chest. It was eating something.

Trećeg jutra, prije nego što su se parkirališta napunila, otišla je do El Capitana. Na visokoj stijeni pronašla je sokola. Bio je to mužjak, manji od ženke koju je vidjela s Tomasom. Sivo-plava leđa, bijela prsa s prugama. Nešto je jeo.

She perched on a manzanita branch fifty metres away and waited.

Sjela je na granu manzanite pedeset metara dalje i čekala.

The peregrine finished its meal. It wiped its beak on the rock and looked at her. Then it stepped off the ledge.

Sokol je završio obrok. Obriše kljun o stijenu i pogleda je. Zatim se spusti s ruba.

It did not flap. It folded its wings against its body, like a leaf pulled into a stem, and dropped. It accelerated. It went past the middle of the cliff face in two seconds. Then it pulled its wings out, banked, and was gone behind a buttress.

Nije mahnuo krilima. Sklopio je krila uz tijelo, kao list uvučen u stabljiku, i pao. Ubrzao je. Prošao je sredinu litice u dvije sekunde. Zatim je raširio krila, zakrenuo i nestao iza izbočine.

A peregrine falcon in a dive can reach 380 kilometres an hour. That is the fastest movement of any animal on Earth. To dive that fast without injury, peregrines have a third eyelid that closes over the eye to keep the wind out. They have small cones in their nostrils that slow the air entering their lungs.

Sokol u ronjenju može doseći brzinu od 380 kilometara na sat. To je najbrže kretanje bilo koje životinje na Zemlji. Da bi ronili tako brzo bez ozljeda, sokoli imaju treći kapak koji zatvara oko kako bi zadržao vjetar vani. Imaju male čunjeve u nosnicama koji usporavaju zrak koji ulazi u pluća.

Polly was not built for that dive. She knew this. But the curiosity was bigger than the knowing.

Polly nije bila stvorena za takvo ronjenje. Znala je to. Ali znatiželja je bila veća od znanja.

She flew up to the ledge and looked down. The drop was nearly vertical. She folded her wings against her green body. She tilted forward. She fell.

Poletjela je do ruba i pogledala dolje. Pad je bio gotovo okomit. Sklopila je krila uz svoje zeleno tijelo. Nagnula se naprijed. Pala je.

It was not a peregrine dive. It was a parrot in too much hurry. She wobbled. The wind got under one wing. She corrected, lost the line, corrected again. Twenty metres in, she opened her wings and pulled out in a loose, embarrassed arc.

To nije bilo ronjenje sokola. To je bila papiga u prevelikoj žurbi. Zanjihala se. Vjetar je uhvatio jedno krilo. Ispravila je, izgubila smjer, ponovno ispravila. Dvadeset metara dolje, otvorila je krila i izvukla se u labavom, posramljenom luku.

She tried again, smaller, from a lower perch. Then again, lower still. By noon, she had made eight short dives. None were peregrine dives. All were a little better than the last.

Pokušala je ponovno, manji skok, s niže grane. Zatim opet, još niže. Do podneva je napravila osam kratkih ronjenja. Nijedno nije bilo sokolovo ronjenje. Sva su bila malo bolja od prethodnog.