South side face of Morro Rock Photo by Heather O’Connor
Observation date: 6 March 2015
You watch and observe for hours and hours, day after day. Just when you think you have it nailed down, everything changes. This is the case for the south side pair of falcons in nesting and choosing a nest site.
Everyone asks me “Where are they nesting this year?”
My patent reply is always, “You won’t know until she does it.”
For the previous two weeks they have been in and out of the diving board eyrie a million times. The female twice staying in the hole over an hour each time. This is what is normally seen as egg laying activity. This being the right time and an eyrie she has used nine times out of thirteen seasons. You would think…”Yeah.” Wrong again, for the last three days she has been going through the same ritual in a new eyrie, one she has never used before. The hole is the one seen second from the right in the series of five holes in what we call the “upper five.” Some years ago, she used the “lower five” and fledged three chicks. That was 2011. So until I see hard incubation, my lips are sealed as to where they are nesting.
Happy trails, Bob
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Item: In the photo above, the green lines denote previous nest sites.
