Peregrine Falcon flying in air.

A shadowy presence regularly appears behind the blinds of Varuni Kumara and Minesh Jariwala’s downtown, high-rise apartment.

The first sighting was on an early Sunday morning when high-pitched trills from Chloe, their blue Russian rescue cat, alerted them something was amiss on their 20th-floor balcony. Kumara pulled the blinds back and froze. She was stunned to see a peregrine falcon, its talons gripping the black railing of their west-facing terrace, staring at her.

For the past three years, Kumara and her husband have become accustomed to seeing high-flying falcons, red-tailed hawks and other birds of prey perched outside at dawn and dusk.

“I was amazed and awestruck by its regal and commanding presence,” Kumara, 47, said. “I was excited like the adrenaline rush of a roller coaster.”

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Kumara was among several residents who shared sightings and photos via emails after photojournalist Marvin Pfeiffer and I reported on a pair of falcons soaring around the Drury Plaza Hotel. Readers recalled glimpses of birds on wooden fences, flying into a sliding glass door and riding wind currents above homes near SeaWorld.

Attorney John Economidy and court coordinator Lance Aldridge, both bird enthusiasts, contacted us about the birds that roosted on the Drury’s circular spiral tower. The enthusiasts helped us learn the birds were registered with falcon release programs at the Midwest Peregrine Society in Minneapolis and the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project in Edmonton, Canada.

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For the past three years, Varuni Kumara and her husband, Minesh Jariwala, have had peregrine falcons, bats and buzzards touch down on the balcony of their 20th-floor apartment downtown. The couple have been keeping an eagle-eye on the high-flying visitors and try to snap photos of their visits.

For the past three years, Varuni Kumara and her husband, Minesh Jariwala, have become accustomed to seeing high-flying falcons, red-tailed hawks and other birds of prey perched on the balcony of their high rise apartment at dawn and dusk.

For the past three years, Varuni Kumara and her husband, Minesh Jariwala, have become accustomed to seeing high-flying falcons, red-tailed hawks and other birds of prey perched on the balcony of their high rise apartment at dawn and dusk.

The falcons were identified by bands the programs placed on their legs. Radisson, the female, was from Canada; Triumph, the male, was from Minneapolis. Kumara and Jariwala said the raptors they’ve photographed don’t have bands.

Recently, photojournalist Kin Man Hui and I visited the couple, who gave us a tour of their spacious apartment with panoramic views of downtown and a birds-eye view of flocks in flight.

Married 13 years, the couple moved from the North Side to near downtown in 2014. Jariwala, 56, said the birds remind them of wildlife around their former neighborhood that included feral hogs, deer, owls and African Guinea hens.

For the past three years, Varuni Kumara and her husband, Minesh Jariwala, have had peregrine falcons, bats and buzzards touch down on the balcony of their 20th-floor apartment downtown. The couple have been keeping an eagle-eye on the high-flying visitors and try to snap photos of their visits.

Jariwala, who works from home, sees fly-bys unfold from two windows that face north and east. He’s seen adults and their young offspring fly to the northeast side of the building near overhead air conditioning units. He said in the springtime, they’ve heard the high-pitched sound of baby hawks on a corner ledge. He’s seen raptors swoop from the sky like a missile toward fleeing pigeons.

“We see them quite consistently here,” Jariwala said. “Sometimes we’ve seen them out toward the Pearl and that area. We’ve seen them on the River Walk as well.”

Their most recent sighting of a raptor was last week, on a blue-sky day, gliding near the Hays Street Bridge. They said most birds only get flustered if they try to open the glass door.

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Some outside feathered guests project a large, powerful presence. Massive-sized turkey vultures barely budge when they’ve cracked open the balcony door. They said Chloe usually crouches behind the glass to face off with buzzards unfazed by the domesticated cat’s antics.

Two months ago, they saw a Crested Caracara (sometimes called a Mexican eagle) that peered at them from an overhead ledge. Sometimes when they sit on the balcony, white and gray egrets will glide by just 20 feet away.

For the past three years, Varuni Kumara and her husband, Minesh Jariwala, have had peregrine falcons, bats and buzzards touch down on the balcony of their 20th-floor apartment downtown. The couple have been keeping an eagle-eye on the high-flying visitors and try to snap photos of their visits.

And they’ve had visitors of the small variety. Bats flap in at dusk to hang upside down above the west- and north-facing balconies. Butterflies, fluttering and flitting about, are a constant sight, as well as an occasional grasshopper.

Kumara has kept a digital photographic archive of peregrine falcons and hawks they’ve seen in recent years. There’s a raptor perched atop an ornate gate in the King William neighborhood. There’s a photo of a majestic raptor, its wings unfurled on their balcony. And she’s photographed that same falcon mid-flight, its talons lowered like a plane’s landing gear.

Kumara and Jariwala love the experiences that come with San Antonio’s urban lifestyle. They’ve seen falcons so often downtown that it seems almost as if the birds are following them. Call it “Close Encounters of the Winged Kind.”

A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning.

Vincent T. Davis started at the San Antonio Express-News in 1999 as a part-time City Desk Editorial Assistant working nights and weekends while attending San Antonio College and working on the staff of the campus newspaper, The Ranger. He completed a 3-month fellowship from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in 2003 and earned his bachelors degree in communication design from Texas State University in 2006.