Diary - 2004

The time has come to start tracking the 2004 season for the Peregrines at Morro Rock. This should be an exciting year with lots to watch. By all means come out and join the fun.

This coming Saturday, February 14, we'll be getting together around noon on the south side of the Rock for a little Peregrine watching. Since Saturday is Valentine's day and breeding season is in full swing, we're dubbing the occasion "Love is in the Air." Janet and Brian from the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group will be here, there should be lots of Peregrine activity and Accuweather.com claims it will be a sunny, warm day. Bring your binoculars and scopes and join us.

With that, we'll begin reporting here what is being observed at the Rock this year. If you have anything you want to share with our site visitors, please let me know by writing to Judy Sullivan

February 9 - Monday
There are two pair of Peregrines at the Rock again this year. We don't know yet where the nesting sites will be, but the south side pair is sticking close to the diving board hole and the smaller, double cave below it. The pair on the other side are all over the place on the north / east side of the Rock. The only spot I've seen them frequent that could even come close to being a nesting site is a deep ledge with grass on it. I haven't been able to detect any cover there, so it isn't likely they will choose that site, but you never know.

February 15 - Sunday
It was wonderful seeing Janet and Brian and all our good friends who came to the Peregrine viewing yesterday. Lots of nice people, perfect weather, and cooperative Peregrines made the day enjoyable for all. We missed those of you who couldn't make it out and look forward to seeing everyone next time.

After watching the south side Peregrines for a couple of hours, Janet, Brian, Steve, and I went around to check out the pair on the north / east side. Our hope was to be able to see any identifying bands. Brian had his super-scope with him and scored big time with the female Peregrine (we have been calling her "Xena").

There's a long version of this story and a short one. I'll try to hit a happy middle ground here. We have gone back over our written records, photographs, and memories of what was going on during the years beginning in 2000 and this is what I think must have happened.

It turns out that the first year we thought there were two pair of Peregrines nesting at the Rock (2001), there was really only one pair. Milli, after an apparent nest failure on the south side, moved to the north side in mid-March. I believe she took up with a new tiercel there, leaving Rudy to his recliner and remote control. (The north side male, we had named him "Zypher," was far more aggressive and active than the notoriously lazy Rudy. He was also of normal coloration, where Rudy had been quite pale.) This pair produced three chicks. Brian banded them on May 12, determining that they were about 22 days old.

Milli appears to have stayed at the Rock, hanging out on the north and east sides. I was in Seattle, so didn't make any notes during the 2002 season. A new pair had moved into the south side, producing young. Peregrine watchers reported a lone female spending a great deal of time on the east side in 2003 while a new south side pair fledged 2 young.

If you are totally confused by now, it comes down to this for 2004. We have no idea what has happened to Rudy. I guess "Xena" never existed - she was actually Milli on some sort of witness protection program. But now there are definitely two mating pairs of Peregrines at the Rock. The two birds on the south side have no bands on their legs and are likely the pair that has been there for the last two years. I call the female "Khaos" (the Greek goddess of fog and mist). The north side pair consists of Milli and a new male.

So, we wipe the slate clean and begin observing with a fresh perspective and, hopefully, keener eyes.

Speaking of names, both females are named. Surely we can come up with something to call the guys. Any suggestions?

February 24 - Tuesday
The tall ships Hawaiian Chieftain and Lady Washington arrived in port this morning for their yearly visit. They were beautiful to watch, as always. The Hawaiian Chieftan shot off a couple of canon volleys after it crossed the bar, startling Peregrines and gulls into the air for a lot of squawking and complaining.

This from Rosemary Flamion. I thought you would enjoy hearing about a different view of the Peregrines. Rosemary wrote this to me in an email and it is shared here with her permission.

February 29 - Sunday
Around 8:30 this morning the tiercel flew in with what appeared to be a meadowlark in his talons. He landed and proceeded to dine on it, despite protests from Khaos. She let him eat for five minutes, then chased him away and took the rest of the meal for herself.

There was a lot of activity this morning on both sides of the Rock. Mid-morning a third Falcon (likely Milli) appeared on the South side, causing a heated argument between the two girls. At one point they were clutched talon to talon, tumbling down toward the water. They broke apart about 30 feet above the water and flew off their separate ways. The tiercel flew a bit with them in the beginning, but quickly returned to his perch to watch the action.

March 10 - Wednesday
It seems as if the Khaos and her unnamed tiercel are sitting eggs in the diving board hole. Since Friday (March 5th), Khaos has been absent a lot. The tiercel has been bringing in small prey items (twice we identified meadowlarks) and calling out to her. She flies out of the diving board hole to get the food; he almost immediately takes her place.

Yesterday morning was a little different. Khaos was sitting out for the first 2 hours I was at the Rock. No sign of the tiercel. Then she flew to the diving board hole and began an echupping discussion with the tiercel, who had been in the cave all of that time. He then flew out and she took his place. The tiercel was gone for about 40 minutes, then came back with a small bird. He sat on the diving board, Khaos appeared. She took the bird and flew off with it to eat. The tiercel went into the cave, taking her place. This time Khaos was out for only about 15 minutes, plucking the bird and eating it. She then returned to the diving board hole; the tiercel flew out and away.

This morning there was no Peregrine in evidence for almost two hours, then the tiercel came in with food. Khaos came out, and was plucking her breakfast when I had to leave.

In the last week I have seen three rather fierce encounters between Khaos and what was almost surely Milli. The first one happened Saturday before last and ended with the two of them talon locked, tumbling towards the water. They broke apart about 50 - 75 feet above the water and Milli retreated. The last one happened on the north side of the Rock yesterday and again involved a talon lock / tumble, but this one was quick. None of the times did a tiercel involve himself in the arguments.

I haven't been watching the north side pair as much, but there doesn't appear to be any incubation activity there. In fact, I almost never see them go near any of the potholes. They seem to spend most of the time on a deep ledge, flying about, or perching on a high point.

I've been hesitant to say anything; this incubation seems to be a week or two earlier than in previous years and I may be proven wrong in the next few days. Anyway, if I'm correct that the south side pair began incubating on Friday, eggs should begin hatching sometime during the second week of April.

March 14 - Sunday
This entire weekend was foggy, so there wasn't much to see either morning. We were able to see a couple of incubation exchanges, so all seems to be on track. It does take a lot more patience now to see Peregrine activity with them sitting eggs, but settle in and you may be rewarded with activities you won't have the opportunity to observe the rest of the year. Watch for the tiercel to bring in prey items (he often takes them to the diving board and Khaos gets her meal on the way out) or just taking her place while she gets out for a while to stretch her wings and sit in the sun for a bit.

March 17 - Wednesday
This morning around 10:30 Mike Baird and I were on the northeast side of the Rock near the stone marker in the parking lot. Suddenly a bird flew directly in front of my car, traveling about 2 feet off the ground. It was being pursued by the north side tiercel. These two were so close to my car that I couldn't see them when they were directly in front of me. The intended prey went to ground in some grass at the base of the Rock but was quickly flushed by the tiercel, who chased it away from the Rock and again back around past the front of my car. It was quite exciting for us to watch, but not nearly as enjoyable for the little guy in the lead. He again went to ground and the tiercel perched on a rock about 50 feet up. I got him in my binoculars and could see him eyeing the ground. I have no idea what happened to the bird, but the tiercel watched for a couple of minutes, then flew off toward Duke.

We had no time to get a good look at the bird in the lead; they were traveling very fast. Maybe one of you has some idea of what it could have been. It was about the same size as the tiercel, maybe larger. It's shape wasn't nearly as streamlined. The coloration was a light brown on top with a paler belly and a ruddy, brownish red under wing, perhaps even onto its belly.

Anyway, while the tiercel was perched I had my first chance to get a good look at him. He's gorgeous, with a heavy black helmet / moustache, dark gray, almost black back, white upper chest with well defined barring across the rest of his front and dark yellowish orange feet and eye liner. All in all a handsome fellow. I could only see his right leg and there was no band.

March 26 - Friday
For the last four days I've been observing incubation exchanges between Milli and her mate on the east side of the Rock. Likely this has been going on for at least a week earlier. In that period of time I hadn't been able to locate an aerie , but Milli was noticeably absent, making only a couple of appearances.

Milli's choice of nesting spots doesn't involve a small cave like the ones we are used to watching. Many of you probably already know this area from last year when she apparently hung around it early in the season. It's a bit hard to describe precisely, but here's my best shot. Standing on the east side of the Rock near the north end of that parking area, look up towards the skyline. On your far right near the top is a domed boulder. The face of it has a large rectangle of reddish color. Under that is a ledge that is a bit on the diagonal, tilting down to the left. (Under that ledge is a boulder with an even larger reddish area.) It is on the far left of that ledge that Milli goes behind the edge of another boulder. Thoroughly confused?

I have seen quite a few less than friendly interactions between Milli and her tiercel and the south side Peregrines in the last few days. Mostly this has consisted of aggressive flying at each other with little contact. Wednesday morning the interactions lasted for a solid hour, with three Falcons in view at times. I'm wondering if the closer proximity of the aerie s this year has increased tensions.

April 11 - Sunday
It has finally happened. This morning at about 9:00 the tiercel, now known as "Elvis" thanks to a visiting 11 year old boy, brought a small prey item into the aerie. He then flew off. About 10 minutes later Khaos exited the aerie and Elvis took over sitting duties. It seems safe to assume that there is at least one eyass and that it likely hatched on Friday, if not a day or two sooner.

Now for an odd observation. Just about a foot to the right edge of the diving board hole aerie there is a small cave that is currently sporting quite a bit of yellow grass. Two western gulls seem to have decided that this cave is a grand place to nest and they have been spending quite a lot of time there.

Early Saturday morning the head of one of the gulls was visible inside the aerie on the far right side. That was a startling sight and certainly didn't seem like a good thing. A few minutes later the other gull of the pair hopped into the aerie from his grassy cave. The two gulls went so far into the aerie as to no longer be visible. This was rather alarming. Both were in the aerie, out of sight, for just a few seconds. When they came out, they were fighting over something one of them had in its beak.

While the gulls were in the aerie I didn't hear any Peregrine sounds and didn't see either Khaos or Elvis interacting with them. I couldn't understand why the gulls had had the nerve to enter a Peregrine aerie or why they weren't chased out by a very angry Falcon.

Janet told me she felt, in the best case scenario, that Khaos had probably moved some egg shells out of the scrape and the gulls had ventured in to grab some of them. She believed the Peregrine likely stayed tight on the eggs / chicks to protect them while vocalizing sharply to chase the gulls away. Since the next morning food was brought in, we can assume Janet, as always of course, was right. :)

In any case, it looks as if we should be able to watch downy white chicks in a few weeks.

April 19 - Monday
Yesterday morning about 9:00 Khaos swept leisurely back and forth across the south side face of the Rock. She eventually landed, picked up a bird that had been cached, and flew with it into the aerie. Elvis had not responded to her earlier vocalizations and just watched as she retrieved the bird.

About 9:45 I and another observer watched as the east side tiercel, now named "Esteban" (but you can call him "Steve"), make a run to the sandspit and grab a shorebird. As he was carrying it back to the Rock, Khaos suddenly appeared and stole the shorebird from him. There was considerable vocalization from Milli and, after he landed, from Esteban.

Whatever went on when Esteban grabbed the shorebird, he came back to the Rock soaked. As soon as he landed he extended his left wing completely to dry off in the sun and breeze. It and at least part of his back could be seen glistening with dampness.

Nesting appears to be continuing smoothly with both apparently on the same schedule. Food is being taken into the aeries regularly. If our best guesses are right, chicks should be a little over a week old.

April 27 - Tuesday
This morning about 8:30 both Falcons were visible outside the aerie and part of one fuzzy white critter could be seen far back on the diving board. Looks like time for the chick(s) to be venturing nearer the edge. This seems a bit early, but Janet tells me she once watched an Oracle chick aged somewhere between 10 - 17 days teetering around on the edge of the building outside the nest area. Let's hope this little one hangs back a bit until his balance is improved. Then again, I could be off in guessing when the parents first started sitting the eggs and he could be older than I think.

In two hours of watching the east side aerie, the only visible Peregrines were Milli and Esteban.

April 30 - Friday
Late this morning what appeared to a quick wing stretch or flap of a very white wing was seen just inside the aerie. Most of the chick was out of view, but it was definitely moving about.

This evening around 5:00 the tiercel brought in some food, landing at the mouth of the aerie. Milli immediately flew in and took the prey item away from him, took it over to a ledge, plucked it some, then flew back to the aerie with it. She took it in her beak and went into the aerie. The chick was in partial view and didn't move from his spot even when Milli went in with food. It never came into full view, but it could be seen moving about a bit.

I haven't seen the south side aerie chick(s) since that one semi-sighting earlier this week, but I haven't spent more than a couple of hours on that side in the last few days.

This should be an exciting weekend for chick spotting.

May 2 - Sunday
One of the east side chicks wandered out into full view this evening about 6:00. Perhaps his sibling(s) will join him tomorrow. I have nothing new to report about the south side aerie. Once in awhile part of a white wing can be seen flapping in the background, usually accompanied by a swirl of white downy feathers that are loose in the aerie, but no sightings beyond that.

May 9 - Sunday
So far it is certain there are two chicks in the east side aerie and one in the south side. Several people have stated it sounds as if there is more than one chick in the south side aerie; we'll know just how many soon.

May 12 - Wednesday
Brian Latta got a look at the photographs of the chicks. He feels the east side chicks look to be about 35 days old and that they should fledge in a week. (The photos were taken this last Sunday.) That means they may fledge this coming weekend. Brian thinks the south side chick looks to be about 25 days old, so should be ready to fledge around May 26th.

It looks as if the east side chicks are a male and a female. The tiercel is considerably smaller than his sibling, has lost most of his down, and is definitely the more active of the two.

I got a look at the south side chick today. I'm guessing female - the chick is large and still quite white. If our timing is good we should be able to watch juveniles fledge on the east side and get fairly stable before going to watch the south side chick(s) take off.

May 14 - Friday
Five years ago would you have believed that one day there would be nine Peregrines living at the Rock?

The south side aerie is bursting with babies. Late yesterday morning two youngsters were sitting at the edge, checking out their domain. This morning one was on the diving board, one was sitting on the far left of the aerie. A third was behind her just inside the shadows. They are all still quite white, but rapidly losing the down and getting brown feathers.

This gives us, including parents, five Peregrines on the south side and four on the east side. Pretty amazing.

Speaking of the east side chicks, they are, as Brian predicted, raring to go. The little tiercel, especially, is flapping a lot and getting a little lift in his hop. The female seems to have shed most of the final third of her downy white feathers yesterday and is also stretching her wings quite a bit. Yesterday morning (and again in the evening) all four members of that family were sitting out in full view on the boulder that slopes left from the aerie ledge. It was a lovely sight. Milli was feeding them and seemed to be enticing them to climb higher.

May 16 - Sunday
I just watched a program on PBS called "Nature." The subject was Pale Male, a red-tail hawk, and his mate, First Love, raising a family in New York City. It was a wonderful show, detailing not only the life of a Fifth Avenue hawk and his families, but also of the people who gather to watch the birds.

The program will air again on May 23 at 11:00 am. (Check your local listings to make sure of the time.) I'm sure you will absolutely love this program.

Now, about the weekend happenings.

There were several new people visiting the Rock this weekend to see Peregrines. It was nice to meet all of you. (Mary, drop me an email.) Many of the usual suspects spent time watching as well. On the south side all three babies were spotted by a couple of observers, but for the most part they appeared singly or two at a time. They are quite white, but rapidly shedding their down for real feathers. Jerry was here from Santa Barbara and patiently waited as we watched for a fledging on the east side. We saw lots of hopping around and wing flapping, but no take-off.

There was a bit of thievery going on though. For the second time that I've seen this year, Khaos flew out and stole food from the east side pair. Is there a pirate among us? Oh, and one other thing. At one point the female juvenile's brother was helping her groom, plucking out a few beaks full of white feathers from her head and back.

Early Sunday morning the three youngsters on the south side were perched in the aerie entrance. I watched just long enough to see them, then headed back to the east side. After all, these babies are going to be fledging today! Uh . . . maybe.

The juvenile tiercel has broadened his territory. By noon he was roaming from the top of the boulder to the left of the aerie to the top of the boulder on the right of the aerie. He accomplished most of his wanderings walking, but tossed in a fair amount of wing flapping and hopping. Some of his hops brought some good lift and covered a few feet, but nothing I would consider as actual flight.

Anyway, as he was sitting at the top of the right boulder, he caught the attention of a western gull. The gull hopped over next to him and stayed close as the young tiercel started making his way back down towards the aerie. One of the adult Peregrines was on the left boulder with the female juvenile and I was wondering why he/she didn't rush to the tiercel's rescue. Suddenly the gull lunged at the tiercel. From my viewpoint it looked as if the gull hit him, but I'm not sure about that. The adult Peregrine screeched and was off after the gull immediately. The adult pursued the evil gull aggressively for a few minutes, making its point well. The juvenile tiercel hightailed it back to the edge of the aerie.

During all of this the female juvenile stayed put, biding her time on the left boulder, getting fed, and working on shaking off more of the down.

By the time I gave up for the day, about an hour later, the little tiercel was exploring a ledge just below and to the other side of the left boulder, walking out quite a ways, seeming no worse for the wear. But, still no fledging. Tomorrow it will happen . . . maybe.

May 19 - Wednesday
Both of the east side juveniles have fledged.. The tiercel took his first flight either late Sunday or early Monday. By Tuesday morning both youngsters were airborne.

Today I watched the south side trio for about an hour. One of our regular watchers, Cleve, has taken to calling one of this group "Leather Lungs" because of its persistent, very loud vocalizations.

On the east side, Jack, visiting from Carpenteria, pointed out the adult tiercel sitting guard over the recently fledged juvenile. At one point a squirrel ran under the tail of the juvenile, causing him to start suddenly (wouldn't you if a squirrel ran under your backside?) and then turn around on his perch. He took several awkward flights, accompanied by some less-than-skillful landings in the next hour, with Dad sticking close by. One of the more amusing landings involved the youngster landing on what appeared to be a small ledge but was, in truth, more shadow than rock, and sliding down about 5 feet.

   
Norm Sherr has sent some photos to share with you.
These are the Shell Beach Peregrines.

May 21 - Friday
This morning about 7:30 one of the south side juveniles took flight. She made a pretty good effort, sailing to the right about a hundred feet, then had to beat a hasty retreat with a gull in pursuit. She made a decent, only semi- crash landing about half-way to the ground under the aerie, then was attacked again by the gull. At this point Khaos dove down and kicked some gull butt, leaving her youngster to recuperate and evaluate its reasons for believing flying was a good idea. A Scottish fellow visiting from England, Don, was there and thrilled to have witnessed a first flight. (Hi Don!)

Later the youngster flew west around the Rock, out of my view. Roy was watching directly below where she had been perched and saw her land either in or next to a gull's nest. As you might imagine, the gull wasn't real happy about its visitor. The young Peregrine was soon chased back around to the south side of the Rock and landed way to our right, almost going over into the east side pair's territory.

When I left about 1:00 pm, the fledged youngster was out of my sight, back below the aerie about 100 feet and west about 30 feet, where she had been for over an hour.

There was lots of other activity going on this morning - lots of wing flapping, many aerial sweeps of gulls from the area by Khaos and Elvis, and a lot of what appeared to be parents attempting to tempt their young to fly. The other two juveniles will almost surely fledge later today or tomorrow.

I may be off here, but all three of these juveniles look to be the same size to me. They seem large and my guess is they are females. Take that with a grain of salt for now.

May 22 - Saturday
Despite the many people who gathered at the Rock today hoping to see a Peregrine youngster fledge, as of 1:00 this afternoon neither of the two remaining chicks had taken that daring first flight. As a matter of fact, the chick that fledged yesterday joined her siblings back in the aerie. Perhaps they will all three take wing later today or . . . maybe tomorrow.

There was a bit of drama when one of the juveniles from the east side made the mistake of flying over to the south side. Khaos gave chase, letting the poor youngster know he wasn't welcome. She then made a couple of follow-up passes over the boundary, just to reinforce the limits. All three of the juveniles were in clear sight quite often, as was Khaos. Elvis was around, though less often.

All in all, it was a beautiful morning and it was good to see so many people gathered to enjoy the Peregrines, the weather, and each other.

May 23 - Sunday
What a morning! All three south side juveniles have flown, and boy are they ever creating a stir. As late as well after sunset last night (nearly dark), a reliable observer saw all three in the aerie or hopping around close by. I arrived this morning just after sunrise. One juvenile was perched on a round boulder about 30 feet off the base of the Rock, below the area of the chimney rock. She was being dive-bombed by a gull, one of a pair nesting nearby. At various times she would wander back in among some scrub where she was pretty well hidden, but the gull would still drop at her when her movement would catch its eye.

At 7:15 Elvis brought some food into the aerie, followed closely by Khaos. Both birds soon flew out, leaving behind the prey item. There were no sounds coming from the aerie and no wing flapping or visible youngsters.

By 7:30 Khaos had begun to chase angrily, screaming loudly, after the gull that was persisting in diving at the juvenile, several times hitting it hard and causing the gull to lose feathers on each contact. The youngster was making plenty of her own noise. She flew a couple of times, trying other perches nearby. Her change of location further from the gull's nest caused it to strike at her less often, but she would soon end up back on the round boulder and quickly be under more frequent attack.

I was becoming pretty sure that the other juveniles had fledged and caught the flap of a wing from behind a ridge well below the aerie, about 100 feet off the ground, and was hearing what sounded like Peregrine sounds coming from that area.

As you might imagine, all of the noise and activity was causing people to gather. I was hoping our guys with cameras would show up and take advantage of the closeness of the Peregrines
and all of the activity. Gary and Cleve arrived a little after 8:00 and quickly got their cameras set up. I can't wait to see the photos and video.

The other two juveniles were finally located. They were acting as I have seen others do after their first flights, trying to flap and walk their way back up to the aerie.

I won't bore you with any more detail, but will tell you that the entire morning was *very* busy. Khaos was almost constantly on the move, either chasing off gulls or apparently using food to try and tempt her youngsters back to the aerie. Elvis brought in a second prey item later in the morning, again taking it into the aerie and leaving it there. Many people stopped to watch the action; most had just happened along and became fascinated; others were regulars. At times there were up to 50 people looking skyward. The air was filled almost constantly with Peregrine vocalizations. Unfortunately these sounds were accompanied by the virtually nonstop barking of a dog left in the back of a truck by its fishermen owners.

It was great fun, but chaos. And Khaos. As soon as Gary has some photos of the day, a link to them will be posted here.

June 2 - Wednesday
This morning the east side juveniles were perched in normal places. However, the south side kids were apparently feeling like doing a little traveling. At 9:00 all three were across the bay on the small jetty. They were easy to find simply because of the noise - these are three loud-mouthed chicks. About ten minutes after I started watching them, a tiercel started flying at them, swooping down and causing them to scream even more. This was the adult tiercel from the east side; he was chased back by Khaos.

About fifteen minutes later Khaos flew back to the Rock from the sandspit, carrying a rather large prey item. The juveniles followed noisily behind, each landing at what seemed to be unexpected spots. Khaos cached the bird in some scrub to the right of the chimney shaped formation, then flew off. She was pretty ungraceful herself wading through the rather high scrub there. Anyway, she flew back in the direction of the sandspit and the kids settled down, one out of my sight, the other two turned to face the Rock and sat quietly. By 10:00 they were all three back on the jetty, perched and being quiet for a change.

It is certainly interesting watching these youngsters develop.

June 9 - Wednesday
A little off topic, but a person hears a lot of interesting things while sitting around waiting for Peregrines. So . . .

As some of you are well aware (and likely sick of hearing about), there is a special place in my heart for people who just never seem to get it right but who love to share their expertise with unsuspecting people passing by. Be forewarned - 99% of the "facts" (in red) in the following paragraphs are absolute nonsense. So, this morning . . .

A lovely couple who seemed to be visiting Morro Bay (I've never seen them before) made an exciting discovery. Out on the jetty were dozens of penguins. This tidbit startled my nose out of my crossword puzzle and I turned to look. After all, they had a scope so they had to know what they were talking about. My eyesight just isn't what it used to be, so maybe it was just me, but all I could find were cormorants and the usual gull gang. The gentleman who had spotted the penguins started sharing his find with another couple who had been walking by. They passed the word to another group of people further along the parking lot.

Anyway, back to the original couple. They turned their scopes on the Rock and were fortunate enough to locate "a juvenile Peregrine in its pre-adult molt, most likely 2 years old." This they shared with yet another person who happened by, explaining that it was unusual for this particular Peregrine to be sitting where it was as they generally prefer trees where they can hide from the pigeons they are about to consume. They came to the conclusion that this youngster must have killed the resident adult Peregrines, which was sad, because then they would have also killed any young that might have been in the nest. This aggressiveness is, after all, a large part of why the species reached endangered status. They were horrified when that juvenile started shrieking and attacked another that was flying by. With this, they started putting the scope away, tsking about how it was lovely to watch a Peregrine fly but they just couldn't be very intelligent birds.

Maybe the most amazing part of this episode was about 45 minutes later when three people hurriedly got out of their car and rushed to catch a glimpse of the penguins they had heard about. I'm curious - has the report turned up on the local rare bird alert phone line?

Oh, on a less interesting note, nothing new or unusual has been going on with the juveniles. They are being successful executing in-flight food exchanges from the parents. Their flight is substantially better and the landings are becoming less humorous.

June 13 - Sunday
Perhaps the penguins scared them off or they are still in mourning for Reagan, but there just hasn't been much activity at all with the Peregrines these last few mornings.

Friday morning one of the south side juveniles was perched quietly for about an hour. Khaos flew into the diving board hole with some food and was followed quickly by the juvenile. About 20 minutes later they had both left the area, flying off toward the sandspit. That was the only Peregrine activity I saw in three hours. On the east side Milli was perched near the aerie, but none of the others were evident.

Saturday morning on the south side one juvenile was around off and on and Elvis made an appearance for about 20 minutes. There were no Peregrines on the east side in the 45 minutes I watched there.

This morning (Sunday) Cleve and I were both watching for about four hours and didn't see a single Peregrine on the south side; Milli was again perched near the aerie on the east side. This afternoon around 4:30 I saw Milli perched on the east side, but all was quiet. No juveniles.

We've been really interested in seeing how this season would differ with the two families so near to each other and nine Peregrines at the Rock. Normally I'd be expecting to see a lot of play between the siblings and, just a guess here, but some fussing back and forth between the families. Earlier this week one of the south side juveniles flew around to the east side. She was immediately chased back by the east side tiercel, who was then chased back to his side by Khaos. Beyond a few instances like that, I really haven't seen much interaction. Maybe I'm just there at the wrong times.

June 17 - Thursday
It's been a week now since I (or any of the people I've talked with) have seen any more than one juvenile Peregrine on the south side at any time and that one isn't there all that often. Also, there is normally only one adult around. The kids fledged just about a month ago and aren't ready to be on their own. Normally this time of year we'd be watching youngsters learning to hunt. Heck, there are even baby gulls for the picking. (Remember last year when the juveniles were taking baby gulls out of their nests? Gross.)

The east side family seems to still be intact. A couple of mornings ago I watched the female flying beautifully, swooping on gulls, a swallow, and even one surprised pelican. Her display of assertiveness was an especially welcome sight after a morning of not seeing a single Peregrine on the south side. While there isn't always a Peregrine on the east side to watch, it usually doesn't take long for one or more to show up.

This morning Elvis was on the south side for close to an hour. He made several dives at gulls, then flew off toward the sandspit. One juvenile was perched for 20 minutes quite early, then flew off towards Morro Bay.

Anyway, Janet and I were discussing the lack of youngsters in the air over Morro Rock and she offered her expert opinion - the penguins got them. This same explanation has been offered by a couple of others.

My feeling isn't that something has happened to the missing juveniles, just that perhaps the large number of youngsters living so close together has caused them to disperse to someplace close by where the parents are still looking over them and feeding them. Janet offered that maybe they are elsewhere on the Rock - maybe on the ocean side or higher up, out of our views from the parking lots.

June 19 - Saturday
This morning was more normal - at least as far as the adults are concerned. Both on the south side were around for most of the three hours I watched. None of the juveniles perched, but three times a lone juvenile passed through, each time headed high and to the west. Elvis flew in around 9:30 with what appeared to be a baby gull in his talons. Another observer and I got a look through his scope and saw a downy gray speckled critter. The Western gulls have chicks right now with that coloration. (Maybe we shouldn't call that tiercel "Elvis." He seems to have developed a taste for soft junk food - could baby gulls be the equivalent of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches?)

On the east side I saw both adults and both juveniles. The female youngster was flying the most, diving at gulls and putting on a good show.

June 26 - Saturday
Still very little to report. On the south side the adults show up fairly frequently. In fact, watching them right now is pretty much like watching any time of the year when there are no juveniles. There are still sightings of juveniles, usually as they fly by, but none of the expected behaviors to watch. I still see one or both of the juveniles on the east side, but less frequently. There are, however, sightings of juveniles over the sandspit and in town. Mike Baird took some nice photos of a juvenile in the Cloisters area last week. On an amusing note, Marlin Harms amused Roy and I this morning relating a recent Peregrine sighting of his. He heard a Peregrine in the air above Estero street and looked up to see a juvenile being chased by (cover your eyes here if you are squeamish) . . . a hummingbird. Don't you just hate it when something tiny gets on your tail and you just can't reach to swat it?

Of interest to some would be the appearance of two juvenile, apparently as yet unfledged, vultures above the south side of the Rock parking lot. If they are still around tomorrow and you're interested in seeing them, stand near the west end of the parking lot, look straight up to the top, and then follow the crest along to the right to about 2:00. This morning both were flapping away just to the left of a small boulder. If this makes no sense, just ask Roy to point them out to you.

With this writing, unless something unusual happens, this will be the end of updating this year's diary.