Having survived wind, rain, freezing cold, searing heat and a lightning strike, the Peregrine Falcon chick at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) in Orange has come of age and is preparing for its first flight from the campus’ 50 metre-high water tower. “By all recorded accounts, Peregrine Falcons first fly between six to eight weeks old,” says Dr Cilla Kinross, Adjunct Lecturer in Environmental Management at the CSU School of Agricultural and Wine Sciences. “The chick has reached the six week mark so its first flight could happen any minute. It is likely to stay close to the nest-site for the next several weeks and with its parents for two to three months to learn to hunt before becoming independent.” The chick has been named Migii, the Aboriginal name for ‘lightning’, and was the sole survivor of two eggs hatched in October last year.