The Diving Falcon

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

Polly alifikiria kuhusu shomoro kwa siku mbili. Alitaka kuhisi umbo la mbizi yake.

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.

Asubuhi ya tatu, kabla ya wageni kujaza maeneo ya maegesho, alikwenda El Capitan. Alipata shomoro juu ya mwamba wa juu. Alikuwa dume, mdogo kuliko yule jike aliyemwona na Tomas. Mgongo wa kijivu, kifua chenye mistari myeupe. Alikuwa anakula kitu.

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

Alikaa kwenye tawi la manzanita umbali wa mita hamsini na kusubiri.

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

Shomoro alimaliza chakula chake. Alifuta mdomo wake kwenye mwamba na kumtazama. Kisha alijitupa kutoka kwenye mwamba.

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.

Hakupiga mabawa. Alikunja mabawa yake dhidi ya mwili wake, kama jani lililovutwa kwenye shina, na akaanguka. Aliongeza kasi. Alipita katikati ya uso wa mwamba kwa sekunde mbili. Kisha alikunja mabawa yake nje, akapinda, na akatoweka nyuma ya mwamba.

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.

Shomoro anayepiga mbizi anaweza kufikia kilomita 380 kwa saa. Hiyo ndiyo mwendo wa kasi zaidi wa mnyama yeyote duniani. Ili kupiga mbizi kwa kasi hiyo bila kuumia, shomoro wana kope ya tatu inayofunika jicho ili kuzuia upepo. Wana koni ndogo kwenye pua zao zinazopunguza hewa inayoingia kwenye mapafu.

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

Polly hakuwa ameumbwa kwa ajili ya mbizi hiyo. Alijua hili. Lakini udadisi ulikuwa mkubwa kuliko kujua.

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.

Alipaa hadi kwenye mwamba na kutazama chini. Anguko lilikuwa karibu wima. Alikunja mabawa yake dhidi ya mwili wake wa kijani. Aliegemea mbele. Akaanguka.

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.

Haikuwa mbizi ya shomoro. Ilikuwa kasuku aliye na haraka sana. Alitetemeka. Upepo uliingia chini ya bawa moja. Alirekebisha, akapoteza mstari, akarekebisha tena. Mita ishirini ndani, alifungua mabawa yake na kutoka kwa upinde wa aibu.

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.

Alijaribu tena, ndogo zaidi, kutoka kwenye tawi la chini. Kisha tena, chini zaidi. Kufikia mchana, alikuwa amefanya mbizi fupi nane. Hakuna iliyokuwa mbizi ya shomoro. Zote zilikuwa bora kidogo kuliko ya mwisho.