Diary - 2008

Recently I talked with two local birders. They asked about the Peregrines and the number of youngsters fledged from the Rock last year. Having more fog in my head than the entire Central Coast at times, I responded incorrectly, saying there had been three babies on the south side and none on the east side. Dennis, if you are reading this, please accept my apologies and this correction. There were three fledged from both sides last season . . . a bumper crop.

Another subject I'd like to bring up before beginning this season's diary is odd eating habits. There have been some interesting observations this winter. Cleve Nash got a photograph of an Osprey carrying off a Bufflehead Duck. A group of birders near the Natural History Museum reportedly saw an otter eating a surf scoter. Also near the museum, two Red-Tail Hawks went on a killing spree involving Black-Crown Night Herons for meals. I witnessed three successful kills and one attempt that ended in two people walking too close and causing the hawk to fly off. The heron stumbled off into the cover of some shrubs. Within a week the herons had realized the folly of sitting in the trees near the museum and abandoned the area.

During a discussion on the Raptor Watch email list, Dean Thompson related an interesting instance of kleptoparisitism (one animal stealing another's food) where a Peregrine Falcon was regularly seen carrying fish into an aerie . It was finally discovered that the Peregrine was grabbing the fish from an Osprey's grasp during flight.

Speaking of Raptor Watch, you might consider joining to get observations and join discussions of raptors from the Central Coast and around the world. You can join us by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

For those of you who enjoyed Dylan, the State Park Marina Peregrine of Daily Bad Hair, he hasn't been seen for quite some time. I miss him and hope he shows up again.

With that, we begin here with notes about this year's breeding season.

Judy            

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Thursday, March 6
Nesting season is upon us again, with both pair of Peregrines at the Rock preparing to start new broods. As far as I can tell (and I'm only saying this because there is no reason yet to believe otherwise), the same birds are with us as last year. The south-side pair, Elvis and Khaos, are in their usual places - mostly the diving board cave and the smaller, double cave just below. No actual nesting has begun. On the north side, there seems to be a lot of activity at a spot Esteban and Milli (a different bird from 2000 - 2006, but just for continuity and lack of anything better, the name is the same), used a couple of years ago. Let the games begin!

Friday, April 4
Both pair of Peregrines are sitting eggs at Morro Rock. The south side are using the diving board hold again; on the north side, an aerie from a few years ago is being used. This one is best viewed from around the stone marker that stands in front of the restrooms. Go past it about 50 feet, then look up. There is a wide swath of green plant life going up at a diagonal almost right in front of you. To the right of that and up about 20 feet (I'm terrible at estimate distance, so you are going to have to be good at guessing here) is a much narrower trail of green. That one ends at a ledge with three shallow-looking caves right above it. That's the area to watch for activity. Right now is the quiet time of year - she's usually inside sitting eggs.

Now there is something new to share with you. There is a third pair of Peregrines nesting in Morro Bay. The location is fairly open to possible disturbance by too much traffic and, although it was announced on a local birding list, I prefer not to publish it here just yet. However, I will be posting photographs that Cleve Nash takes as the season progresses. Neither of these birds looks familiar. More than likely they are young and this may well be their first nesting season. As you can see, the view is fantastic and we should know soon how many eggs are laid and almost immediately after hatching how many chicks there are.

The second photo on the right is of an incubation exchange that took place earlier today. Should be an interesting season.

On a more somber note, a good friend to the Peregrines and of mine passed away recently. Harold Weiman, author of popular nature books about the Central Coast, had moved to Seattle with his wife, Pat, several years ago. By coincidence, I moved to Seattle soon after and stayed for two years. Many of you will remember Harold from all the times he brought out his huge, orange telescopes for use by anyone who wanted a really close view of the south side pair. He was a generous, lovely man. This world is made less by his absence.

Thursday, April 17
Both pair of Falcons on Morro Rock have been taking food into the aeries for the last three days. Cleve has been watching the other pair and hasn't seen any feeding behavior there. Soon though.

The third pair of Peregrines is nesting on Black Hill above South Bay Blvd. It seems everyone in the county knows about this location, so it seems silly to keep it from you. Should you decide to go get a look at the Falcons there, please be respectful of them and keep your distance. They have chosen this site, despite the traffic on the trail below, so seem to be relatively comfortable with people, bicycles, and cameras so close by. But they will soon have youngsters in the aerie and you absolutely must be aware of any of your behaviors that might be bothersome to them at all. Low flying, harsh "cak cak cak cak" sounds, and any other form of agitation means you need to get out of their territory. The best place to view the Falcons and their young, short of going up on the trail, is across South Bay at the Chorro Flats turn-out. Park well back from the road and do not set up scopes near the traffic and/or in the bike lane. Your body squashed all over the road will make an unsightly view for the birds. Use caution!

Thursday, May 8
One youngster has shown itself in the south side aerie during the last three mornings. Another seems to be hovering in the background, but that could be just wishful thinking. I'll let you know as soon as more make an appearance.

Some news about the Black Hill Peregrines - they have been feeding one youngster for the last week. He was visible very soon after hatching. The ledge being used as an aerie is very open and Cleve has gotten some wonderful shots of feeding. But, yesterday morning Cleve was at the site from 8:00 until noon and didn't see the chick once. Both parents were around and carrying food to the aerie. They would land on the ledge, look around, and fly off - taking the prey item with them. It doesn't look too hopeful. I'll write more later today when we know for sure if something has happened to that chick.

Cleve watched again this morning and, sadly, there was no sign of the youngster on Black Hill. There is a small chance that the pair will try again. Time will tell.

Sunday, May 18
There are two youngsters on each side of the Rock. The north side chicks look to be a bit older than the south side pair, with no white downy feathers showing. I suspect they will fledge within the next week to ten days. The two on the south side appear to be about 5 - 7 days behind that. I'll post here when they take flight. That's always an exciting time to be watching.

Friday, May 23
A correction - there are three youngsters in the north side aerie, not two. That site is a funny one to watch. There are three shallow caves clustered together, tall grass-like material in the front of it, and the ledge seems to tip down in the back. The chicks can stay pretty hidden. At least, that's my excuse for missing the third one until this morning. They are branching a bit and testing out their wings, so expect a lot of activity at that site during the next week.

I am puzzled about a fledgling on the south side though. Definitely a bird from this year's nesting season, it is being chased very aggressively by the adult tiercel. In the time it has been noticed - maybe 5 days now - I have watched it flying frantically, the tiercel in pursuit. It generally seeks cover on the lower part of the Rock there, near the willows. However, Cleve says he has seen it being fed.

Saturday, May 24 - I watched on the south side this morning for about an hour and a half and saw nothing but both adults sitting near each other for most of that time. Cleve was there from the time I left for a little over 3 hours and didn't see any activity either. Perhaps those fledglings are hanging out on the ocean side. Again, just speculating.

On the north side, all three of those youngsters fledged this morning. The first took off on an unsteady and short flight close to 8:30. It's landing seemed to be a surprise to it, but there were no injuries.  Within the next 20 minutes, they had all fledged. The rest of the morning was spent with gulls chasing them, Milli and Esteban chasing the gulls and an occasional vulture, the fledglings making a whole lot of noise as they made tentative flights and sometimes chasing after a parent. All great fun. Wish you had been there! Below are two photos of the Falcon tempting one of the fledglings (see it's head in the right/middle of the shot) to fly after her and away from the "border" to the south side. As you can see, she has a prey item in her talons.

Monday, May 26
I'd like to thank everyone who wrote with ideas about why the south side tiercel is being so aggressive. But now there is a whole new situation to ponder.

Today Cleve and I were watching on the east side of the Rock (where the north side family is hanging out). What a surprise to realize that not only is that Falcon feeding her three youngsters, but two others also! No sign of the tiercel either yesterday or this morning. So, here's the situation - two adult Peregrines are on the south side of the Rock. No fledglings have been seen in quite a few hours of monitoring. On the east side of the Rock five fledglings, one Falcon feeding. It's really quite noisy when Milli comes in with food. Cleve suggests that we change her name to "Mother Hubbard." She's a busy girl.

Thoughts?

Photos tonight, hopefully with all five in one shot. Cleve does a magnificent job as a photographer, just not sure how much of a baby wrangler he is at the same time.

Tuesday, May 27
It was a raucous morning, with the youngsters becoming a bit bolder in their flight and not shy at all in letting the adults know just where to deliver the food. This is the absolute best time of the year, Folks, for watching the development of the flying, hunting, and survival skills all five of these young Peregrines will need when they are finally out on their own. Do yourself a favor and join us one morning soon.

This evening, around 5:00, I went back out to the Rock. It's hard to stay away with so much going on. I watched the tiercel come in, circle above the parking lot, and then attempt an in-air exchange with one of the youngsters who had been chasing him. The small prey item fell towards the ground and was grabbed by the tiercel who had swept under the fledgling when the catch was missed. Luckily two other Peregrine watchers saw the entire episode - I had turned my head and missed the catch. Thanks, Mike and Sandy!

Photo by Mike Baird
One of the juveniles this morning.

Wednesday, May 28 - Every day seems to bring a new surprise. This morning Cleve was the one to count not five, but six juveniles. I have no explanations, only guesses and speculation. Cleve says one of them hasn't shown up in any of his photos before today. He's taken, literally, over a thousand. It is certainly possible we missed it in all the action. But we were never able to count more than five when they were all sitting. But what a wonderful surprise! Stay tuned.

Friday, May 30
If you haven't done so already, jump on over to www.clevenash.com and see all of the incredible photos taken in the last couple of weeks. Here is a sampling:

Friday, June 6
The kids are giving us fits. I feel like the one above this looks. They disappeared two days ago and were found to have relocated to the power plant across the bay. Mary Leizear, who works at the plant, has a fantastic vantage point of what she describes as "Peregrines all over the place, screeching, arguing amongst themselves, being chased by gulls.  It's amazing." This afternoon she was even treated to two of them right by her window. The youngsters were attempting to perfect their landing-on-ladder-rungs skills while trying to avoid colliding with each other.

This morning they were missing from the plant and the Rock - except for occasional appearances by one or two. Cleve located them on the sandspit. He sent this photo, saying they were either hitting the beach just like other kids on vacation or they think they are shorebirds.

Monday, June 9
The juveniles continue to spend their time on the power plant roof, so watching them isn't nearly as exciting. However, Cleve took some photos of the south side tiercel today (see below). Cleve noted that this tiercel has different habits than Elvis - perching in different places. Neither of us thinks this is Elvis - the cap and sideburn markings don't look the same.

If that is true, something has happened to cause Elvis to be replaced and for the new tiercel to be accepted by Khaos. This would explain the aggressive behavior the tiercel displayed towards the chicks there, likely being the reason they were driven to the east side and adopted by that pair. Maybe. Your guess is as good as mine.

Sunday, June 15
This morning around 7:10 a juvenile Peregrine flew to the Rock from the direction of the bay. She was carrying a live bird that looked to me to be a pigeon. The pigeon was still alive and struggling to get away. Landing about 15 feet up on the Rock, the fledgling began plucking her captive, who didn't seem to appreciate the attention at all and struggled even harder. It almost got away, but was quickly pinned down and then carried off to the north side of the Rock. It was
still flapping its wings in an attempt to escape.

Now, let me interrupt this narrative to say one very important thing. I am no Cleve Nash. My camera was meant to take photos of items much, much closer to its lens. Those are my excuses for the quality of the photos I have added here. Look and then thank your lucky stars that we have others to share their beautiful pictures with us here.
 

Perching again on a low spot, the juvenile returned to the task at hand and began pulling out large mouthfuls of feathers. Within about five minutes it bit the pigeon's head off and flicked it away. (See below.) It is the piece below and to the right in the first photo. At one point a man and his dog came walking by and the Peregrine stopped her work to watch, then went back to the task at hand. (Below right photo.)

Several minutes later a truck pulled up nearby. The person driving got out and began making too much noise for the Peregrine, so she flew off, dropping her breakfast into the iceplant below. (See below.)

 
Pigeon head on small boulder to right of shot, pigeon body in the iceplant on the right.

The squirrel who had been watching the entire plucking / beheading process took this opportunity to check out the pigeon's head.

During this drama, three other juveniles had appeared at one time or another, attempting to steal away or at least share in the feast. They had no success whatsoever. One perched nearby, hoping for a chance that never came.

Twenty minutes later I was back on the east side of the Rock, watching the other youngsters and talking with friends, when a juvenile came flying in from the north, carrying what was almost surely the plucked, beheaded, dropped, and apparently reclaimed pigeon. All was not lost.

Oh yeah - the youngsters all seem to have moved back to the Rock. Let's hope they stick around for awhile.

Monday, June 9
Will Sooter, who has been observing and documenting Peregrine Falcon activity since 2002, has been kind enough to share some of his photographs with us. These Peregrines (Sid and Xena) nested along the bluffs of southern California and fledged two young. Click here to see photos on this site. You can write to Will at will@sharpeyes.com.

Back to the Rock. It happened again. A juvenile came flying in shortly before 7:00 this morning. She was carrying a smaller bird than yesterday's and was being chased by two of her siblings. She ended up dropping it to the ground on the north side of the Rock while being dive bombed by a gull. All three left the prey item where it lay. Shortly after, all three returned to a spot near where the bird was dropped and, for some reason, just stood around in the parking lot nearby for several minutes. Eventually, after one flew off, the other two went over and began eating. Here are some photos from today.

 
Breakfast anyone?

Fleeing the scene.

Friday, July 4
This morning Milli flew in carrying a gull chick. One of the gull's parents had a hold on one of the chick's wings. I know. It's nature and things can be harsh, but it made me a bit sad. Seems like critters ought to at least get to fledge before being picked off. Oh well. I'm just a wuss about these things. Anyway, below is a photo (taken by me - where's Cleve when we need him?) of Milli with her brunch.

Tuesday, July 8
Vince and Rosemary of Nipomo report only one fledgling this year from the Shell Beach aerie and three from Avila. That's a bit of a surprise, considering the higher number usually reported from Shell Beach. If anyone has seen evidence of more youngsters, please let us know.

Thursday, July 31
Just this morning someone asked if the juveniles are still around. Someone else had mentioned seeing two of them a few days earlier and I had thought I had heard a couple a couple of days before that. Anyway, no sightings for me. But 30 minutes later two youngsters came screaming in and perched on fairly low down on the east site of the Rock.

Within a few minutes, they both dove after a blackbird that was flying by below. One Falcon grabbed it, just about a foot off the ground and about four feet from me. She took her snack and landed on a boulder about twenty feet up the Rock, then sat there hollering for several minutes. Her sibling buzzed low past her, causing her to take flight and drop her blackbird. Amazingly, it was still alive and attempted an escape. This caused both birds to dive repeatedly at it. The poor thing, likely wounded, didn't stand a chance and was recaptured. I took a couple of photos and will post them here if they show anything of interest.

So, at least two juveniles are still around. And this ends the 2008 breeding season diary. Thanks for reading and for all of the wonderful comments sent to me via email. It is gratifying to know that there continues to be so much interest in these beautiful creatures.

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