My all-time favorite bird species is falling from the shoreline sky at an alarming speed. I speak of the world’s fastest creature, the peregrine falcon.

For the past decade or so, I’ve admired them, especially on the Holgate end of LBI in the fall. The latest count shows there’s nary a one to be seen.

Until now, the peregrine falcon population had shown a remarkable recovery after being DDT’ed to death. By 1964, they were deemed extirpated east of the Mississippi River.