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Diary - 2005
The new breeding season
is well underway with both pair of Peregrines
in their usual
places and working on producing some new youngsters for us to
admire and enjoy. Already the numbers of interested birders is
increasing, especially on Saturdays. It's great to see familiar
faces returning and it is a lot of fun catching up with what
everyone has been up to over the last months. If you don't have a
scope there's still a good chance you can get a close-up view of
the Peregrines
- there is almost always someone around happy to
let you look through theirs. So, come on out and join your fellow
Peregrine Falcon
fans.
If this season runs
about the same as last year's, look for the Peregrines
to pick a
nesting site and begin sitting eggs the second week in March,
chicks to hatch mid-April, and fledging to occur during the third
week of May. Of course, this is pure semi-educated speculation.
To make it easier to
keep track of everyone, here are the names we (well, some of us
anyway) use for the birds. On the south side of the Rock we have
Khaos and Elvis. On the east side it's Milli and Esteban (Steve to
some).
February 20 - Sunday
Around 7:15 everything
was very quiet. No cars in the parking lot, very little wind or
rain, and the sun was just breaking through the clouds. I was
listening to the radio, relaxing and staring out my car window at
Elvis, who was sitting on the right side of the diving board hole.
He suddenly took flight, but rather than going upward, seemed to
take a dive. I lost him against the brown of the Rock for an
instant and searched quickly for him. He instantly appeared,
halfway down the face of the Rock and zipping right toward me. It
all happened very quickly and I was startled as he seemed almost
to slam directly into my window. Instead, he swooped very low over
the roof of my car. I turned immediately to look out my back
window. Elvis was already rising and making a turn off to my left
side. As he flew by, about 30 feet away and eye level, I could see
he had a smallish brown bird in his talons.
Elvis landed on the boulder directly above the chimney-shaped
formation. By that time I had come to my senses enough to get my
binoculars and take a look. He was pulling feathers from his
little breakfast snack, but I couldn't make out what he had
caught. Likely it was a female Brewer's Blackbird.
So much for waking up slowly.
You know, I was at the Rock the morning the 18-foot boulder fell.
That was exciting and very cool to see, but nothing nearly as
heart stopping as Elvis' little performance. Aren't these just
amazing birds?
February 26 - Saturday
It was a beautiful day
today - sunny, warm, and dry - and that was much appreciated after
all the rain we've been experiencing. Lots of scopes were
available for close-up viewing and the Peregrines
on both sides
were around most of the morning. Cleve Nash had his gear set up
for capturing some of his terrific video and still shots. Jerry
Franklin was up from Santa Barbara and happily sharing his scope
and knowledge with interested visitors, and several others were
here off and on with their scopes. It was nice to see lots of the
regulars. Lots of fun.
We had the usual flights
to watch and several copulations. Khaos sat for a long time in the
diving board hole entrance, giving lots of folks the opportunity
to get a good look at her. Elvis was making some beautiful
swooping flights across the face of the Rock. They both soared
overhead several times. Around noon Elvis brought in what looked
to be a yellow-legged shore bird of undetermined species and
handed it over to Khaos in a mid-air food exchange.
February 27 - Sunday
Elvis delivered a plump
white bird to Khaos for her breakfast at 9:00 this morning. She
was out of sight inside the diving board hole. He landed in the
right side of the entrance and placed the prey item beside him.
Khaos picked up the bird and flew off to a ledge to pluck and eat
it.
On the east side of the
Rock, around 11:20, an osprey circled above and then disappeared
over the south. He's (she's?) been a regular visitor for several
months now.
Milli and Esteban have
been spending most of their time in the area of last year's
nesting site and further around to the north side of the Rock. It
will be interesting to see where they end up nesting this year.
Click the graphic
below to see some wonderful photos of Peregrines
taken by Mike
Baird.
March 5 - Saturday
It was a beautiful,
quiet, sunny morning at the Rock. The gate to the south side
parking lot was closed, so I hung out with Milli and Esteban. Both
were present most of the morning. Between 8:00 and 9:00 they
copulated 4 times. No eggs yet, but soon. I'm expecting the birds
on both side of the Rock to begin sitting eggs within the next
week. We'll see.
Around 9:20, Milli took
off from her perch flying in a determined manner toward the north
side beach. Suddenly she started a lazy turn back toward the Rock.
She had grabbed a small bird mid-air over the north parking lot.
She ate it on the grassy ledge below and to the right of last
year's aerie
. About 30 minutes later Esteban brought her something
else to eat; they performed an in-air food exchange and Milli took
her present around to the north side of the Rock and cached it.
The rest of their morning was spent clearing the area of gulls,
copulating, resting, and gliding gracefully in the air above the
Rock.
Meanwhile, this may be
the best time to see the birds regularly. Once the females start
incubating, there will be long stretches of not much going on,
followed by incubation exchanges. Come on out!
March 13 - Sunday
The gate to the south
side parking lot has been locked for almost two weeks now, so I
haven't been able to see what's going on with Khaos and Elvis.
Yesterday Roy Burke felt that perhaps Khaos had begun brooding. He
had seen her spend an hour and a half in the diving board hole.
But today she was out and about as usual, so he isn't as confident
today.
Milli and Esteban have
both been in evidence throughout most of the mornings in the last
week. Both are seen perched for long periods, sailing gracefully
above the Rock, and going about their usual routine. Friday
morning I was just noting my first sighting of violet-green
swallows this year when Milli swooped down and grabbed one over
the north parking lot. So many gulls and she grabs a swallow.
This is purely
speculation, but I'm getting the feeling Milli wants to set up
nesting on the north side of the Rock. She spends most of her time
there and frequently buzzes the nearby gulls, sending them up in
angry flight. She is certainly less predictable than her south
side counterpart.
March 18 - Friday
I'm still confused about
where Milli is nesting, but feel she may have started. She is
seldom visible; Esteban brings her food, but that could still be
mating behavior. Time will tell. Meanwhile, Khaos and Elvis did an
incubation exchange on Tuesday of this week; I saw another one on
Wednesday. At least they are predictable.
March 22 - Tuesday
In the year 2001 Milli
abandoned the south side of the Rock, moved to the north side and
took up with a new tiercel. There she raised three youngsters -
two females and one male. This was the year we first thought there
were two pair on the Rock. Milli fooled us and we didn't figure
that out until last year when photos Steve had taken back then
were looked at closely and we saw Milli's bands. Anyway, I bring
that up now because of what I believe caused Milli to leave the
south side aerie
.
I had speculated back
then that Milli might have been sitting eggs in the diving board
hole for about a week. We had a fierce rain storm with strong
winds from the south blowing rain right at the aerie
. Shortly
after that rain, Milli no longer appeared to stay in the diving
board hole and I wondered if perhaps her eggs had been destroyed
by the rain. This is still speculation - we never found out - but
as I'm sitting here this afternoon I'm a little worried about the
same thing happening this year. Khaos has apparently been sitting
eggs in the diving board hole for about a week now. It has been
pouring rain all day with some very strong south winds this
morning. I'll be very interested in getting out to see if all is
still fine tomorrow. Hopefully the gate to the south parking lot
will be open.
March 23 - Wednesday
Thank goodness the rain
let up today. The south gate is still closed, but Milli provided
us with a bit of entertainment. She came flying in low to the
ground around 9:30, carrying a large bird. I couldn't make out
what it was from the scope, but am guessing it was a curlew or
godwit. Flight was obviously difficult and she landed about 40
feet up on the Rock, shifted her load somewhat, then flew at about
the same level around to the further north side. There she landed
lower to the ground. Several people were able to get quite close
to her as she ate.
March 27 - Sunday
Steve Schubert and I
watched the east side Peregrines
this morning. Steve thinks they
might have started nesting on one of the ledges below and to the
right of last year's aerie
. This is a favorite hangout of the
falcons throughout the year and, as far as we can tell, there
isn't a cave on the ledge. But there is a lot of grass. If they
are, indeed, nesting here, it may be a while before we will be
able to see chicks that hatch. Like, not until we catch a glimpse
of white wings flapping. Milli is looking pretty ragged with
several feathers missing from her wings. There was one instance
that looked like a classic incubation exchange, but later both
birds were out and flying for about an hour and there was another
copulation. Who knows. Maybe they've been nesting for 2 weeks and
I've just missed the signs. Time will tell what's going on.
March 30 - Wednesday
Thanks for all the emails asking what's going on at the Rock.
I'm honestly not being lazy about updates, it's just a matter of
not being sure.
The south side pair continue to act like nesting Peregrines.
The east side pair, however, have me feeling pretty sure their
first nest has failed and they are setting up for a second clutch.
On Monday Bill Shewchuk (a nature photographer) and I watched a
very wet looking Milli sun herself for quite some time on the far
right side of the ledge where they appear to be nesting. Yesterday
Milli and Esteban were both flying near the ledge while three
gulls were there, each going into the area on the ledge where I
had thought there were likely eggs. Neither peregrine made any
attempt to chase the gulls away or even seemed to take note of
them. Today both Milli and Esteban made stops on the ledge, but
they didn't spend any time behind the grass. The do, however,
continue to copulate frequently. If you have any observations or
thoughts to offer, by all means let me know what you think.
April 4 - Monday
This has rapidly become a site on non-information.
Milli is a puzzle to me. Today she was back to spending a lot of
time in the center behind the grass on the ledge. Maybe she didn't
lose the eggs after all. But that doesn't make sense to me,
considering her flying about nonchalantly while three gulls were
walking around back there. Can you imagine gulls encountering eggs
and not eating them? If anyone sees anything there, please let me
know.
April 6 - Wednesday
I have absolutely no explanation for the gulls
invading the grassy ledge without reaction from Milli or Esteban
last week, but our east side falcons appear to still be sitting
eggs there. This morning there were two instances of what
certainly seemed to be incubation exchanges. It's too soon for
them to have recycled and started a second clutch, so . . . well,
your guess is as good as mine. I'm going to just wait and see what
hatches.
April 7 - Thursday
Milli and Esteban are continuing to tend to
whatever is behind the curtain of grass on their ledge. The south
side pair are surely nearing hatching time - I'm still guessing
we'll start seeing food being taken into the diving board aerie
by
mid-week.
If you haven't checked in on George and Gracie recently, it's
time to start watching their non-network produced reality show.
To jog your memories, they are the peregrine pair currently
tending their four eggs in a nest box on top of the PG&E
building in San Francisco. Hatching should begin any day now, so
we'll have a great view of wild Peregrines
raising their young.
April 8 - Friday
This morning at 7:45 Elvis brought food into the
aerie
. It looks as if chicks have hatched and are ready to eat.
Around 9:45 Khaos flew out with the prey item (a good sized,
long-legged bird with black and white markings). She flew to a
boulder where she plucked and ate some of it, then took it back
into the aerie
.
On the east side, Milli landed on the right side
of the grassy ledge around 10:15 and wailed for a couple of
minutes. Elvis came out from behind the grass, they copulated, and
then both flew off towards the north side of the Rock. They both
perched, but within five minutes Milli returned to the ledge and
disappeared behind the grass in the middle. When I left an hour
later, both birds were still in the same places.
April 17 - Sunday
I am temporarily without transportation, so won't be
getting to the Rock until that problem is taken care of.
Meanwhile, I'll post bits of information here as it is sent to
me.
The south side pair are still taking food into the
aerie
regularly, so all seems to be going well. Expect to see
fluffy downy critters soon. If my memory serves me here, we
generally see them about 2 weeks after they hatch. Since our
observations have been interrupted by the south side gate being
closed so often lately, the nearest I can guess is that chicks
should be visible by this coming Friday, if not sooner. Sorry for
the spotty information this year. It's been a challenge.
Still no word on what Milli is up to this season.
I still think she is sitting a nest on the east side ledge, but
others give conflicting sightings. Jeff Sipple was watching for
relatively brief periods this last week and saw Milli and Esteban
perched further around to the north, but seldom both at the same
time. Time will tell.
I just have to share this story with you. Janet
wrote it for the PG&E Falcons list. (You really should join if you
haven't already. (See above.) Someone had asked about peregrine
feeding habits.
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"Veda was
an imprinted gyrfalcon/peregrine hybrid we used to have at our
breeding facility. She was one of the first hybrid falcons ever
produced, given to us by a falconer when she started laying eggs.
Hybrid falcons, like mules, are generally sterile, but they can
lay eggs. She saw me as her mate. She fed young all spring, and
she, unlike most Peregrines, would generally feed one at a time.
Not that anyone ever got short-changed, she had all the food she
needed to feed everyone, but it was interesting that she seemed to
have more of attentiveness to individuals than the Peregrines or
Prairie Falcons did. She made sure everyone got stuffed up well.
We called her Veda the Plentiful, and if we ever got in a wild
Peregrine young that hadn't been getting fed enough for some
reason, e.g., one of the adults had died or it was the 5th in a
large brood when someone went to band young and wasn't getting
enough food, it went straight to her. After all these years, we
have a picture of her in our house, and some of her molted tail
feathers.
"The point being that her being half
Gyrfalcon, an arctic
species, under arctic conditions where food abundance is not as
predictable, Veda's behavior may have been really more what you're
suggesting above. She may have been concentrating her resources
one at a time innately, even though she had all the food she
needed.
"A final aside, a few years when we took the last chick(s)
away from Veda she looked around, got "bored", and laid another
clutch of eggs ;->. A wonderful bird she was."
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Janet, citing information from Derek Ratcliffe's
book, The Peregrine Falcon, second edition, says that the
amount of food needed by a nestling from hatching to fledging is
around 7,000 grams. This works out to the equivalent 12 pounds.
(This is the equivalent of 25 whole pigeons or 85 starlings. It
would be a higher number, of course, if you take wasted parts of
the birds into account.) Think how busy peregrine parents are -
feeding up to 4 hatchlings and themselves. Impressive.
May 1 - Sunday
Cleve Nash reports seeing two chicks on the left side of the
diving board today. He sent along a photo (see below) that shows
them to be about 24-25 days old. Note the color around their faces
and the Mohawk look they have going. (Thank you, Janet.) That
would put their fledging (at 42 days of age) at about May 17th.
That's a Tuesday this year. Anyone up for watching little ones
make the big leap?
To view the larger versions of these Cleve Nash photos from this
season, click here.
May 7 - Saturday
There are three youngsters in the south side
aerie
. Cleve has taken some photos of them and has generously
offered to share them with us. The photos were taken on May 11,
Wednesday. Check out the large size by clicking on any of the
photos.
May 14 - Saturday
The south side chicks seem to be ready to make the
big first flight any minute now. Jeff Sipple says he thinks they
will fly tomorrow; I'm starting to think he's right. All three of
them are branching - moving from one pothole to another - and
flapping like crazy. Those wings are certainly getting plenty of
pre-flight exercise.
Vince Duffy reports seeing food being taken into
the aerie
of the Shell Beach falcons. He has also sighted 3
recently fledged youngsters at Avila Beach. It's an exciting time
of the year.
You might want to make that trip to the Rock
tomorrow morning if you are hoping to see a fledging. Bring
everything you need to settle in comfortably for awhile. You may
be rewarded with seeing an exciting first flight.
May 15 - Sunday
No fledging had occurred with our youngsters as of
5:00 this evening. Jeff and I watched them through fog partings
and found them all still just a pothole away from where the aerie
.
Elvis delivered some food to Khaos around 4:15 and she took it to
the youngsters.
I watched for Milli and Esteban on the north/east
side of the Rock for a very short time around noon today. Steve
Schubert was watching along with Vince and Rosemary Duffy. All
good watchers; no clear evidence during the time I watched of
there being babies. I'm not ready to give up on them though.
There is a lot of branching going on amongst the
chicks. The three of them even climbed up the large diagonal crack
just to the right of the aerie
and made it to the top. So, maybe
tomorrow.
May 16 - Monday
We have fledglings!
As of 7:00 this morning, all three youngsters were
still in the area of the aerie
. I had an appointment, so had to
leave for a couple of hours. When I returned one was sitting on
top of the boulder above the chimney rock. The other two were
still in the cave to the right of the aerie
. Within 20 minutes of
my arrival, they had both taken the big leap. One managed to sail
straight across to the area facing the aerie
; the second landed
about 100' below the aerie
on a light colored, flat-topped
boulder. She spent the next hour there walking back and forth
along the length of it, sometimes stopping to flap her wings. Two
western gulls harassed her, diving at her and driving her back
toward the face of the Rock.
Roy arrived about an hour later and we watched,
wishing Cleve or Gary were there to take pictures. Gary showed up
just a few minutes later. I can't wait to see the photos he got.
Probably the most exciting moment was when the fledgling on the
flat boulder took off. She flew to the east and came to a crash
landing in some scrub. Ah, gotta love the first week of flight.
Check back later for some of Gary's photos.
May 18 - Wednesday
There was lots of flying around and wailing from
the new fledglings this morning. At one point Khaos fed all three
of them on a flat boulder in good sight of everyone.
May 28 - Saturday
This year continues to be confusing, though now
the confusion has grown to include all of Morro Rock. For the last
three mornings I have seen only one juvenile, one parent, and
heard little of the usual crying for food. This morning Khaos
brought in a prey item and cached it. No one flew out demanding to
be fed. The one juvenile I could see had a full crop. I'm
wondering if two of the youngsters have moved to some nearby area
and are being fed there. Those of you who have been following the
Morro Rock Peregrines
for a few years might remember 1999. That
was the year our adult female died shortly after the three
fostered youngsters fledged. The tiercel continued to feed the
young tiercel; the two falcon youngsters moved to the end of the
sand spit where their diet was supplemented by a local falconer.
We have two healthy adults now to feed the kids, so I'm not
suggesting there is any problem. But I am wondering why I'm only
seeing one at a time right now.
If anyone is seeing anything else, please let me
know. This has been one curious year.
Vince Duffy reports seeing what he thought was
food being taken into the aerie
at Shell Beach. He has also seen 3
juveniles at Avila Beach. They have fledged. Vince and his mother,
Rosemary, travel all over the county looking for hawk activity and
they are an excellent resource for all sorts of raptor nesting
information.
May 29 - Sunday
Once again this morning there was no sign of any
Peregrines, even on the south side. It looks as if the juveniles
are hanging around the stacks at Duke. They are being seen and
heard there a lot the last few days. The weirdness continues.
May 30 - Monday
One juvenile was at the Rock this morning around
7:15 along with one adult. Several people reported seeing /
hearing juveniles at the Duke stacks throughout the morning. I saw
two of them there as I headed home around 11:30, so it looks as if
they continue to stick close to that area.
June 4 - Saturday
All three juveniles - who, by the way, are all
females - have returned to spending a lot of time on the south
side of the Rock. The last few days have been filled with a lot of
action, punctuated with almost as much time of not seeing them
anywhere but perched on boulders. I'd love to be able to tell you
when the best time of day for viewing is, but unless you want to
get there at the crack of dawn to wait for a breakfast feeding,
there really isn't one. It is amusing and gratifying to see our
youngsters finally chasing gulls and cormorants. They are
definitely feeling their power.
* * * * * * * *
On a bit of a side note, I participated in a
meeting between State Parks and interested parties earlier this
week regarding a planned climb of Morro Rock for a summer solstice
ceremony by John Burch. (Thanks to Brian Walton of SCPBRG for
attending and to Steve Schubert for his input.)
Burch is said to be of Salinian ancestry and has
demanded his right to use the Rock for religious ceremonies.
Apparently laws granting Native Americans access to public places
the Native American Heritage Association has claimed as sacred
sites trumps all environmental and endangered/threatened species
protection laws. So Burch and four others, disregarding any
possible negative impact their presence during nesting season
might have, will climb the Rock just before dark on the evening of
June 21st. They will light a bonfire on top of the Rock and
descend in the morning at daybreak. To read more about the history
of John Burch and his presence at Morro Rock, go to this page:
http://morro-bay.com/morsels/dillon/ .
The Chumash, who have in the past held their
religious ceremonies at the base of the Rock, have now joined in
supporting Burch's climb. They have respected the need to provide
a safe haven for the falcons and other birds. There is no reason
this tradition can't continue for both tribes. Burch makes a point
each year of publicizing his climb by alerting the news media.
Expect to see this on KSBY and in the local newspapers.
Having Native American ancestors myself, I find
this disrespectful to the heritage of reverence for the
environment and the welfare of animals. It is improper that laws
meant to protect Native American rights are used in such a
blatantly disrespectful manner by one person with a questionable
agenda.
We still don't know if Milli has a nest we haven't
been able to detect. It's possible she is nesting on the west side
of the Rock, out of our ability to see. We do have the three
females on the south side who could be in danger if flushed during
the night. The same danger exists for young birds on top of the
Rock. Unfledged young or eggs will be exposed to the elements and
predatory birds if parents flushed.
Hopefully the impact of this foolish climb will be
minimal. The problem is, there is no way to know that beforehand.
Even if things go well on one climb, that may not be true in
subsequent climbs. All we can do is hope for the best. Right now
our hope is to set parameters for Burch and his group that will
minimize damage.
* * * * * * * *
June 11 - Saturday
Today was a busy peregrine morning, with all three
juveniles harassing their parents off and on in hopes of being
fed. Even though it was quite foggy when I arrived at the Rock
around 6:30, the activity had already begun. Several times a
parent was pursued by a hungry youngster or three. The fog was
thin enough right near the Rock to get a good view of most of the
fun. I moved around to the east side of the Rock around 10:45 and
got parked just in time to see both east side adults chasing off
two juveniles who had ventured into their territory. The juveniles
beat a fast retreat, squawking all the way back home.
June
14 - Tuesday
This
morning I watched the south side Peregrines
for a couple of hours
and saw a limited amount of activity. One parent, a couple of
juveniles. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Around 9:30 I moved around to the east side of the Rock. Nothing
much going on there except for Milli flying about and then
perching on a small boulder about 150 feet up. She was preening
and scanning the sky when I heard the sound of a juvenile. A
couple of days ago I had watched as Milli and Esteban chase two of
the south side juveniles back to their territory, so looked up to
watch more of the same. Imagine my surprise to see a juvenile
tiercel come sailing in and land about 40 feet below Milli. He
wailed for several minutes, sounding very much as if he wanted to
be fed. She took off, headed toward the beach on the north and
disappeared from my view. He flew off, but it looked as if he
headed around toward the ocean side of the Rock.
A few weeks after Milli had a failed nest back in late February,
Jeff Sipple had speculated that perhaps Milli was nesting on the
ocean side of the Rock. We saw the pair of Peregrines
then most
often on the north side of the Rock, but never anywhere regularly
enough to think they were sitting eggs. Then again, we really
didn't see them all that often a couple of weeks
after the nest failure.
So, Milli continues to confuse me. She seems to be pretty
secretive about where she raises babies. Assuming this tiercel
juvenile is Milli's, the question becomes does she have any more
kids around? I'm pretty sure as she flew off, apparently to go
find food for her youngster, she laughed at me. Again. Next year
I'll figure her out earlier. Maybe.
June
21 - Tuesday
Anyone
planning to be at Morro Rock tonight for John Burch's summer
solstice climb (see above) should be aware the time of the climb
has been changed from dusk to around 5:00. In the past there have
been campfires built at the base of the Rock on both the north and
south sides, with the larger gathering happening on the south
side. I'll be going out around 3:30 to watch the goings-on and to
monitor bird activity during and after the climb. About 30 minutes
before the climb I'll be moving from the south side to the east.
There will be a better view of the climb and the most likely place
of disturbance from there.
June
21 - Tuesday evening
I'll
write about the climb later. But for now I have to give you a link
to the latest photos from Cleve Nash. He got an incredible series
of shots of an in-air food exchange between the Elvis and one of
his daughters a couple of days ago and shares them with us here.
Just click here:
Exchange Photos
Now,
about that climb.
John Burch and 3 (possibly 4) people climbed Morro Rock. Though
scheduled to begin their ascent around 5:00, things were delayed
as he waited for one of the climbers to arrive. As they climbed I
didn't see more than 3 people at once, so am not positive about
the 4th.
It turned out to be a very windy afternoon, so the fire at the
south side base of the Rock was not ignited by the time I left.
After the climb began, firemen and paramedics arrived. Perhaps
they hadn't been notified of the climb and just arrived to check
things out as they do when climbers are spotted. Burch and his
party descended part way down, then returned to their climb.
From where I was parked on the east side of the Rock, I didn't
hear or see any unusual activity from the Peregrines. However, it
was easy to follow where Burch was in his climb from the activity
and noise from the hundred+ gulls that were flushed into the air
above him. There was quite a commotion and they seemed to hang on
the air currents for quite some time, not ready to land.
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