JennetteFulda

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • Archives
    • Travel and Adventure
    • Weight-Loss Blog Title Generator
  • Books
    • Books
    • Half-Assed: A Weight-loss Memoir
    • Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away
  • Timeline
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Advertising

October 11, 2012 2 Comments

Love is for the birds. Peregrine falcons, to be specific.

KathyQ

Of all the things I achieved at my last job, I am most proud of setting up the falcons on Facebook. I am not talking about a sports team. I’m talking about two actual Peregrine falcons, Kinney and KathyQ, who made their love nest in a box at the top of a skyscraper in Indianapolis for many, many years. Unbeknownst to them (presumably) they starred in their own reality show for many years, documented in 20 second intervals via the Indy Star FalconCam, which always got a huge boost in pageviews during egg laying season. Those birdies really helped us meet our traffic goals, and they didn’t have to burn down an apartment complex or commit a horrific murder to do it!

No one asked me to, but I decided the falcons needed a Facebook presence so I set up pages for Kinney and KathyQ. Then I handed the passwords over to the Falcon blogger, Laura, who did all the real work. That this was my greatest achievement in 1.5 years at my old job probably speaks volumes as to why I left. One needs more meaningful accomplishments in life than setting up Facebook pages for falcons. That job is for the birds. (Har, har!)

Regardless, I grew rather attached to these birdies, and not just because they helped pay my salary. That’s why I was devastated to learn that Kinney died last July, most likely after colliding with a building. My mom clipped out the article from the paper and mailed it to me, as if this were an old friend from school who had passed on. Many animal experts discourage you from anthropomorphizing animals since we will never really know what they think and feel or what motivates their actions. But it was hard not to feel sad for KathyQ losing her love bird, the papa to all the babies they had hatched over the years.

However, it appears that three months is a reasonable period of mourning for Peregrine falcons. That’s right, a new bird has been spotted shaking his tail feathers around town, but KathyQ and this unnamed bird are still in the process of introducing themselves to each other. I’m very excited to see if it works out between them, as if I am watching an episode of The Bachelorette: Peregrine Falcons Edition. And I don’t even like The Bachelorette!

I find myself surprised by the amount of emotion I have invested in these birds. I don’t know if it’s any different from the amount of investment I’ve had in TV relationships, like Mulder and Scully on The X-Files, except that these birds are actual creatures and not fictional creations, which might make my attachment more valid. I haven’t been this into a bird’s love life since I learned about the gay penguins at the Central Park Zoo, Roy and Silo. And honestly, I’m still upset that Silo left Roy for some female penguin, that jerk! ALL OF WHICH IS INSANE!! They are birds! I should be spending time working on my own relationships with actual human beings instead of fretting over the love lives of penguins and Peregrine falcons.

Strangely, these feelings also remind me of the way I’ve felt about my friends’ divorces, as I wrote about a few days ago. I wasn’t in any of those marriages, but I was happy when those couples were together, and I was sad when they parted ways. Human beings are wired to want stories, be they real or fictional or somewhere in between. I’ve liked watching the story of Kinney and KathyQ unfold, peeping in on their family over the years. I hope that KathyQ can move on and love again, if falcons even love. There I go anthropomorphizing again. But I can only view the world through the window of my own human brain, or through the lens of a webcam at the top of the skyscraper.

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • More
  • Print
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Leave a Comment (2) Read more about: birds, eggs, falconcam, falcons, hatching, indianapolis, love, peregrine falcons, relationships

Jennette Fulda is the author of:

Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn't Go Away

"Smart, unflinchingly honest, and laugh-out-loud funny."

- Lisa Genova, New York Times best-selling author of Still Alice

  • Amazon
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Powell's
  • Indiebound
You may also like:
  • Divorce and the end of all things
  • An explosion heard on Twitter
  • The fault in my location
  • The great thing about feeling angry, and how it changed my life
Post navigation
Later: The best way to watch the debates
Earlier: Orange you glad you had Orange Cappuccino and/or Orange Café while it lasted?
Home: Main blog index

Comments

  1. Dup says

    October 15, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    I’m always looking for a happily ever after. Thanks for giving me one today for Ms KathyQ, the Peregrine Falcon!

    Reply
  2. JenFul says

    October 15, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    @Dup – It’s very exciting! If you check out the Facebook page you can see video of her gentleman caller. He is banded, so they’re trying to get an opportunity to read his bands and see where he’s from. http://www.facebook.com/pages/KathyQ/57081974203

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I wrote some books

Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go AwayHalf-Assed: A weight-loss memoir

Follow Me

Jennette Fulda on Facebook

Recent Posts

  • Dooce and Julie Powell were great writers, but also innovative businesswomen
  • That billionaire brat made me feel bad that Twitter is imploding
  • No one grows old on DVD or CD-ROM
  • Losing more than 100 pounds…again: Part 3 – The Differences
  • Losing more than 100 pounds…again: Part 2 – Losing Weight
563

Travel and Adventure

Weight-Loss Blog Title Generator

Most Popular Posts

  • Two weeks of Blue Apron: Six recipes, one blogger, and not enough bowls.
  • Remind me never to go off my meds again
  • Like the back of my hand
  • The Big Move in Retrospect: Everything good and the bad about moving from Indianapolis to Chapel Hill
  • It’s hard to type when you break your arm
  • My health insurance denial letters. Past or future?
  • Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Day 1, Getting there is half the fun!
  • Not a picture I’ll be bragging about

Blog Archives

Search

Know thyself, quiz Monday

Jennette Fulda tells stories to the Internet about her life as a smartass, writer, chronic headache sufferer, (former?) weight-loss inspiration, and seemingly nice person (who is silently judging you). You can contact her if you promise to be nice.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for keyboards ruined by coffee spit-takes or forehead wrinkles caused by deep thought.

Follow Me

Blog Archives

Newsletter

One day I might actually e-mail something to my mailing list. If you want to be there for that moment, sign up below.

AS SEEN IN

  • The Washington Post
  • The Today Show
  • The New York Times
  • The Wall Street Journal
  • The Globe and Mail
  • Associated Press
  • Women's Health
  • Glamour
  • Shape Magazine
  • Runner's World
  • Health
  • The Early Show
  • MSNBC
Copyright © 2023 Jennette Fulda • All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • Site design by Makeworthy Media