Whoooosh! While watching out for falcons, you had better duck.

Having a peregrine falcon buzz by your head at very high speeds shines a completely different light on the concept of parental instincts.

The pair of peregrines screeched, swooped and dove at the group of spectators on the Ironton-Russell Bridge Tuesday as officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife banded the four-week-old baby chicks, took blood samples and determined the baby birds' sex.

"Lucy," a 6-year-old falcon that was born in Toronto, Canada, and the unofficially named male "Outlaw," have come to the bridge each summer for the past four or five years to raise their young.

When wildlife expert Dave Scott climbed over the rail into the nest between the bridge deck and a pier on the Kentucky side, he found a little surprise. Two actually.

"Lucy" gave birth to four healthy peregrine falcons, not two as was originally suspected. The proud parents have two males and two females - Carol, Kara, Bomber and Keith.

The family was not too happy to have their happy home broken up, but it was necessary to allow ODNR officials to band the birds for tracking purposes and take blood samples in case anything would ever happen to them.

As the male soared nearby, "Lucy" zipped by the group of more than a dozen on the bridge sidewalk.

"They will harass us some. We are kind of used to it and know what to expect," said Chris Smith, wildlife area supervisor for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife's Cooper Hollow area. "From my experiences, especially this year, they act aggressive but are not really that (mean)."

The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to keep the pedestrian sidewalk closed for the summer to ensure that no one is endangered by the falcons while they raise the young.

The chicks were taken from the nest, carried to the riverfront park in Russell, Ky., for the tests and then put back into the nesting box on the Ohio side of the bridge that was put up last year to help make the sidewalk safe for pedestrians.

"That box is a better place for the chicks to fledge from," Scott said. "They will learn to fly in the next three weeks."

Life-long Irontonians Bill and Vianna Keating visited the park so they could have a front-row seat for the banding for the second straight year.

"We like to watch birds," Bill said. "We watch these falcons and also watch some hawks up in Woodland Cemetery."

Husband and wife falcon enthusiasts Chad and Chris Saladin made the trip from the Cleveland area to watch the process. The Saladins monitor four nests in that area and help rehabilitate falcons that have been injured.

"We heard how nasty "Lucy" is and said we have to come down and see this," Chad Saladin said. "We have a few nasty ones in Cleveland but nothing like this."

Each year, the falcons stay for the summer while the young falcons learn to fly. By August or September, the falcons usually leave the nesting area, but it is unknown exactly where they go each year.

Peregrine falcons were declared a national endangered species in 1970 but removed from the federal list in 1999. The species is still listed as an endangered species in Ohio.

Right now, 16 falcon pairs are nesting in the state, in addition to solo birds. Falcons typically nest on rock or cliff ledges, but Ohio's lack of suitable areas mean that tall structures such as skyscrapers, bridges and smokestacks become the next best thing.

One of the fastest birds in the world, peregrine falcons can dive at speeds of more than 200 mph. Peregrines have been known to live as long as 15 years.

The females are larger than the males. Each bird has a three- to three-and-a-half-foot wing span and grow to be 15 to 21 inches in height. They primarily eat smaller birds, but weigh less than three pounds because of their body structure.