At my corporate job, I sometimes feel terribly disconnected from nature. Bathed in artificial light and enclosed behind hermetically sealed windows, I can only imagine the smell of the rain outside, or the sound of the wind.

On occasion, though, my ninth-floor perch gives me a view of nature that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

Such was the case today when a peregrine falcon landed on the ledge outside my window.

It’s hard to believe that these beautiful creatures were once on the brink of extinction. It’s also ironic that skyscrapers—those icons of modern progress—became the key to their salvation.