Diary - 2000
The Year of Milli & Rudy

February, 2000 - Morro Rock appears to have two new adult Peregrines. No one has been able to identify these birds, but the Peregrines have paired up and have been seen mating. The female is obviously a replacement for the Falcon who died last spring. The tiercel makes me think he is also new to the Rock because his habits are quite different. Most notable is that favorite perching spots are different. Also, he seems to me to be lighter in coloration. His identity will eventually be established by a check of his leg bands.

In ten years of observing the Falcons at Morro Rock, I have never thought of the individuals with human names. They were, simply and elegantly, "the Peregrines." John Edmiston tells me that many local Falconers had called our last female "Morro Mary."

With that as an example, I have decided to refer to our new female as "Milli." Milli for "Millennium Falcon" (you know - the ship in Star Wars) and also because she is our Falcon for the beginning of a new millennium. You, of course, can call them whatever you like.

So, with a mating pair in residence once again, we begin a journal for this year's breeding season. Cross your fingers; we may have babies this year! Please keep in mind that these are the observations of someone who is no expert; I just love the Peregrines
and am fortunate enough to live near enough to visit them daily. Our real experts are the staff at SCPBRG; I talk with Janet and Brian Latta there to get their impressions of what has been seen. There are many other frequent observers who share their Peregrine watching experiences and allow me to pass them along to you. Thank you to Vince Cicero, Steve Schubert, Joan Rainey Day, and the many local and out-of-town Rock visitors who return frequently to see the falcons. Without everyone's help, this site would not be as rich as it is.

It is a joy to be able to share information with you. It is your interest in the Peregrine Falcons that truly counts in the continuing survival of these magnificent birds.

February 15, Tuesday - Milli was perched on the diving board when the tiercel flew in with a small prey item. He deposited his present in the aerie , then left to perch about 200 feet away. Milli sent white feathers showering down from the diving board as she enjoyed her snack. About 30 minutes later the tiercel flew back to her and they mated. This was a bit surprising to me, since I had been thinking that the Falcon was the aggressive, dark, immature female fostered in last spring. Apparently not.

February 27, Sunday - Between many rainy days and the gate being closed much of the last two weeks, I haven't been able to observe the Peregrines. However, this morning I observed them mating three different times over a period of about two hours.

March 8, Wednesday - Both Peregrines were in flight and perching on the south side of the Rock today in the early afternoon. No mating was observed, but the tiercel was putting on quite an aerial show and both birds were quite vocal.

March 13, Monday - Around 8:45 this morning both Peregrines had flown into the diving board hole. A few moments later a third Peregrine, a female, flew into the same hole. There was a lot of loud vocalization, followed by a quick exit by all three birds. The tiercel circled above while both Falcons flew off toward the east, both making a lot of noise. Otherwise, things continue as usual. Milli is spending a great deal of time in or near the diving board hole. The tiercel is coming and going a lot, sometimes bringing food to his mate. Several in-air food exchanges have been seen. The pair mates frequently. Things are looking promising for babies this year.

March 16, Thursday - Finally a bright sunny day, allowing for opportunity to observe both birds. Harold Weiman brought his large scope out and was able to get the tiercel in sight. It looks as if there is a pale, possibly blue, band on the tiercel's right leg. If so, this bird was banded by Santa Cruz and is probably an older bird. Santa Cruz stopped using the blue bands in 1992. Perhaps he is the tiercel from previous years, but I still doubt it. His favorite perches are completely different and, to me, his coloration is considerably lighter, especially on the chest.

March 17, Friday - Once again three Peregrines were in the air over the Rock - two Falcons and a tiercel. They circled three times, going from west to east. The tiercel returned to perch and watch the excitement as the two Falcons chased off toward Morro Bay. Fifteen minutes later one Falcon returned and claimed the diving board perch.

March 23, Thursday - Today and yesterday the tiercel seems to have taken it upon himself to begin incubation of eggs. Milli is about, but during the times I have been observing, seems more interested in perching away from the aerie and watching tourists come and go. I wonder what she makes of the human activity. "For critters driven purely by instinct, they certainly seem to have no logical action going on down there."

She and the tiercel continue to mate. Janet feels this is a partial incubation with the tiercel perhaps not being aware there may be another egg or two to be laid.

Steve Shubert believes he has spotted a band on both of Milli's legs, but was unable to tell their colors.

March 27, Monday - Milli has apparently taken over egg sitting duties. Yesterday she was in the diving board hole both times I was there - 2 hours in the morning and an hour and a half in the late afternoon. In the morning the tiercel was absent until 10:40 when he flew into the aerie, exchanged some words with the Mrs., then flew off again. The same thing happened this morning about 9:45. This afternoon I was at the Rock around 3:30 and Milli was sitting out on one of her favorite perches, then flew into the aerie. It was obvious from the vocalizations that the tiercel was inside. Less than a minute later she flew to another perch and was still there when I left around 4:00.

The next month will be pretty dull for Falcon watching. But, if you go out to the Rock and have the patience (or good luck), look for the tiercel to bring food to Milli and for incubation exchanges.

Definitely come out to look for fuzzy white chicks sometime around April 25th.

March 29, Wednesday - Absolutely no sighting of the Peregrines this morning for me. Some days are just like that. However, tonight, after watching for almost 2 hours and seeing nothing, I was rewarded with seeing the tiercel fly in at 6:00 and perch in a spot out of the wind. Today has been very windy, with some gusts rocking my car. Fifteen minutes later he flew towards the aerie, chasing off two gulls that were nearby. At this point Milli flew out of the aerie, vocalizing loudly. After perching for a few minutes, she took a couple of short flights and returned to the aerie. It was getting dark at this point. Soon after the tiercel joined her.

April 22, Saturday - I spent yesterday afternoon at Morro Rock with Janet Linthicum and Brian Latta of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. We were observing the Peregrines' behavior and, more importantly, Janet and Brian were here in hopes of identifying our new birds. Vince Cicero of State Parks was with us for part of the time. It was quite windy, overcast much of the time, and chilly, but the time was well spent.

Brian and Janet were able to note both a black band and a silver band on both Peregrines. This is what Janet wrote this morning:

"Concerning the tiercel, I checked the records I have at home, which are a bit incomplete, but we may be able to nail this one at least to a reasonable certainty awaiting confirmation of the second character on the band. There are only two birds with VID bands with R on the top on the right leg. One was banded in the nest at Point Loma near San Diego in 1998. While it could be him, that would be a pretty long distance for a male to move, median dispersal of males is about 50 miles, while that of females is about 120.

"The other was banded in the nest at Point Arguello at VAFB in 1998. At the time, the young were too young to sex so were all banded with female bands. Brian has more experience with this, but when I had a good look at the USFWS (silver) band on your male, it looked rather "tall" in relation to his tarsus, as if it might be oversized (female). I should mention that this has happened a lot, and never caused harm that we're aware of to either bird or eggs. The other interesting thing is that if that's who he is, his father would be the bird we described to you that is exceptionally white. The bird at Morro Rock isn't as white as he is, but then his presumed mother is pretty dark.

"Also of interest, his (the supposed father's) full brother is in captivity and is rather dark, just goes to show how genetic the dice can roll.

"Anyway, I need to look into this further tomorrow at the office where I have the records of, for example, whether the R would be horizontal or vertical, and whether there's a line between the characters (there was on your tiercel), and whether Lee was able to discern the real sexes of the young at Point Arguello in 1998. But for what it's worth, my 5 cents is riding on the Point Arguello kid..."

April 25, Tuesday - Anticipating the possibility of activity that would show the eggs have hatched, I spent some extra time at the Rock today. Within three hours the only activity I observed was the usual incubation behavior. Our tiercel had lunch under the large overhang, then napped for almost an hour. He then flew to the aerie and took over egg sitting duties. Milli flew out, landed on one of her favorite perches, preened for a bit, chased a couple of gulls, then returned to the aerie. Both she and the tiercel put on a bit of a flight show right above our heads for about ten minutes, then she went back to her eggs. All in all, a lovely display, but no little fuzzy critters to report just yet.

If you are of a mind to visit anytime soon, here is what to watch for:

Keep in mind that the aerie (nest) is the diving board hole - look to the skyline, follow it to the far left. You will come to a large, diagonal crack in the Rock just as you near the western edge of the Rock/skyline. To the left of that crack is a large cave with what appears to be a ledge or diving board at the bottom of it. There is no grass or other nesting material. Peregrines make a scrape in the floor of a cave or on a ledge and lay their eggs there.

With that spot in mind, watch the sky and the rest of the face of the Rock for an incoming tiercel carrying a prey item (a small to medium-sized bird). If he takes it in, gives it to Milli, and Milli keeps it in the cave, she is likely using it to feed to chicks. She could fly out with it, have a meal for herself, and then bring it back. Either way, look for food going in and not being brought out.

In about three weeks we should start to see little fluffy white critters up there, peeking over the edge and looking a little concerned about how big that first step away from home is going to be.

April 26, Wednesday - This morning things were pretty much the same. Two very typical incubation exchanges were observed. During the first, Milli was out for ten minutes. She flew across the face of the Rock, making lots of noise and apparently searching for food that might be cached. She spent a few minutes preening, chased off a couple of gulls, then returned to the aerie. The tiercel left about thirty minutes later and returned shortly with what appeared to be a medium-sized bird. He spent about ten minutes enthusiastically plucking it. From the flurry of white feathers, you would have thought he was in the midst of a pillow fight. This he delivered to Milli. She took her breakfast, flew to a favorite perch, and ate.

The pay-off for the day came in the evening. The tiercel entered the aerie. Milli left, vigorously chased a few gulls, picked up a cached bird, then flew with it into the aerie. Bingo! It looks as if we have babies!

Some thirty minutes later, a pelagic cormorant wandering past - not even really near the aerie - caught the brunt of Milli's protective fervor when she darted out and hit him. The encounter provided us with quite a show, but I suspect the cormorant went home nursing some bruises.

This will be a good period to observe Peregrine activity. The tiercel will be a busy fellow, supplying nourishment for Milli and the kids. Food exchanges will become common, and pity the poor gull that comes too close.

May 3, Wednesday - Today marks one week since feeding activity at the aerie began. Two more weeks and we should start to see babies peeking down at us.

In the late afternoon, Brian Latta of the SCPBRG, watched as Milli did some nagging Peregrine style. According to Brian, Milli chased the tiercel aggressively, seeming to try and literally knock him from his perches. I have noticed some similar behavior twice in the last week, though not so aggressive as Brian describes happening today. Brian feels this behavior is likely the result of the tiercel, being young and inexperienced, not being quite with the program yet and not providing enough food. It's Milli's way of telling him to go get more!

Again, there is lots of activity to observe this time of year if you are prepared to possibly to wait a bit. People travel here from all over the world to have the opportunity to observe our Peregrines. We are so fortunate to not only be able to see them in the air, but to watch them raising a family. Treat yourself and come out. If you've never seen them before, ask one of the many people you will see gazing up at the Rock through binoculars. Many, many people come out regularly this time of year and will be happy to help you.

May 14, Sunday - Brian was back at the Rock this morning, arriving even before I did. He brought his fantastic scope and was set up to watch for more information from the bands on our birds' legs. This time he had good luck and was able to see the lettering on both. The tiercel's band, with an R, a line, and a lazy D, confirmed what had already been pretty well determined - he is from a Vandenburg AFB site, hatched in 1998. Milli's band has a P, a line, and a lazy D, showing her to be a 2-year-old also, originally from the Cal Fed building in Los Angeles near Hancock Park. Her parents were unbanded, unknown birds. Milli was released at Vandenburg, also in 1998. Looks like we have two military brats on our hands. Brian has named the tiercel "Rudy" for the "R" and "D." He added that "Rudy" could also be after Rudolph Valentino. (Maybe Rudolph Peregrino?) Anyway, "Rudy" and "Milli" it is. For those of you groaning over all of this, consider this option: someone, who won't be named here for his own protection (you know who you are), suggested "Toyota Tiercel." 'Nuff said.

While observing the Peregrines today, we were treated to a bit of high drama. Milli, impatient waiting for Rudy to return with breakfast, suddenly bolted from the aerie and hit a whimbrel at the sandspit beach. She was quite low to the beach when she hit the bird and lost her grip. The whimbrel, who wasn't killed by the impact but had a broken wing, floundered around at the edge of the surf. When it was in shallow water, Milli or Rudy would try to grab it. They would fail and the surf would take it out a bit, then deposit it back in the shallow water. It was several minutes before Rudy finally got hold of the now drowned whimbrel and drug it well out of the water. He set about plucking his prize, but was soon interrupted by three vultures who had sidled up. Rudy attempted to chase them away, but was outnumbered. All that work just to feed vultures.

Brian will be returning to the Rock later this week to band the chicks. We may already have seen chicks at the aerie entrance by then, but this will determine for sure how many youngsters have hatched.

May 15, Monday - Our tiercel, Rudy, is quite light in coloration. Those of you who have been to see him have likely noticed how white his underside is. Sometimes, when he is perched in the sunlight, he is at first mistaken for a gull. Even his slate gray back is considerably lighter than is normal in anatums.

A further note of interest: Rudy's dad fledged from Morro Rock in 1991.

Oh, Brian reports two fledged babies at Shell Beach and three downy chicks at Avila.

May 17, Wednesday - This morning, after 2 hours of pretty dull Peregrine watching, I looked up to see a white, fuzzy chick peeking over the edge of the aerie! What fun! This was about 10:15 and two groups from Camp Keep were milling about, the kids taking turns looking through scopes. There had really been nothing much to see until one girl, Maria, said, "I can see the bird!" What Maria was seeing was the chick. When I told her what she was looking at, she shared the news with her group and there was quite a bit of excitement as everyone hurried to get a look. Maria had spotted the chick within a minute of it making its first public appearance. If the baby turns out to be a female, she should me named "Maria." Both parents became quite busy at chasing gulls and vultures. A great day for Peregrine watching after all!

May 19, Friday - If you didn't make it out to the Rock this morning, you missed a very good time. Brian Latta, Steve Schubert, Joan Rainey Day, and Marlin Harms climbed the Rock on a pilgrimage to band the Peregrine chicks. Meanwhile, a group of about 30 people gathered at the parking lot to observe. We waited about - some in lounge chairs, many with scopes and binoculars - as the climbers made an ascent. Many spectators had brought coffee; some nice person even distributed fresh cinnamon rolls. Among the spectators were Harold and Pat Weiman, Neil Farrell, and wildlife photographer Bill Shewchuk.

Not long after Brian & Crew started their climb, a second Peregrine chick was spotted at the aerie entrance and was cheered by the crowd below. Brian confirmed the number when he rappelled to the aerie a short time later - he turned and held up two fingers. We all watched attentively as Brian did his work banding the babies. Rudy flew about in great agitation, but avoided getting close to Brian. He did take out his frustration on some passing gulls. At one point he even buzzed a barn owl that had been sitting on top of boulder. We hadn't even noticed the owl, who made a hasty retreat to a small cave. Milli didn't seem to be about until after Brian had finished his work and was using the ropes to climb back up the Rock.

About an hour later, when Brian was back to his truck, he treated us to a look at four Peregrine chicks he was transporting to a hack site. They were about a month old and already getting their brown feathers.

So, what we now know is that there are two male chicks, about 25 days old. There was a third egg, but it had been crushed. What a thrill to have these youngsters - and how amazing that they were produced by such young parents.

The climbers reported the top of the Rock to be alive with beautiful wild flowers and nesting gulls. The gulls, of course, were disturbed by the presence of our climbers and some temporarily abandoned their nests. Great care was taken to protect their eggs while the parents were unable to care for them.

This climb was Brian's tenth anniversary climb of the Rock. This guy is my hero. He and his wife, Janet, do the work that has brought the Peregrines back from the brink of extinction and will maintain a healthy population. If you love the Peregrines
and appreciate having them to watch, send an email to Brian or Janet telling how much you appreciate what they do at Brian Latta or Janet Linthicum. They certainly deserve some good words.

May 31, Wednesday - We Fly! Having shed their downy feathers and acquired a full set of immature plumage, both of the young tiercels decided that today was their day to test the wings.

*"Solo" launched himself from the left side of the diving board just moments after coming out to the edge. He flapped his wings a few times and then startled me and maybe himself when he suddenly took off, then landed unceremoniously in some scrub about 75 feet from the base of the Rock. Solo's fledging flight was almost identical to one I had witnessed last year, in that he landed in virtually the same spot, then spent the next half hour looking about in seeming amazement at where he was. He then began a series of small flights that left him in all sorts of new places.

"Han" seemed to surprise himself when he jumped from the diving board less than a minute after Solo had fledged. He didn't go as far, landing about 100 feet directly below the aerie. Han almost immediately began his attempt at returning to the aerie, clawing and flapping himself upward along the face of the Rock. After fifteen minutes of struggle, he was at the entrance to a small cave and lunged into it; bad choice. This cave contained a gull, who chased him out of the cave and around to the west side of the Rock. It was over an hour before Han came back to where we could see him, making a clumsy landing in the same area of scrub Solo had tumbled into earlier.

As you can imagine, this was an exciting morning. Han and Solo both had some adventures, Milli brought food into the aerie but no one was home, and Rudy followed Solo around, perhaps keeping an eye on him for safety. At one point Solo landed in Rudy's favorite perch (just right of the aerie ), so Rudy landed at the next cave over.

Come on out to the Rock and send Han and Solo your virtual good will as they explore life on wings. They have a lot to learn in the next few months.

*(We can't just call them Baby One and Baby Two - thank you to the people who have suggested "Han Solo." The fledglings can share the name.)