Daily Archives: September 20, 2012

I’ve been away from the notebook and pen for some time tying up some loose ends. I’ll try to get you up to speed. Over the last few weeks things have been slow. The adults have chased off all of their young on both sides of “the rock.” Yesterday there were five Red-tailed Hawks circling the rock up high. Both pairs of falcons were busy chasing them with a lot of vocalizing and high speed stoops.
A young female Kestrel circled the rock from seaward passing right in front of the male and female resident falcons and they did not give chase. The Kestrel, previously known as a sparrow hawk, landed in a bare willow at the top of a rock sprawl and spent twenty minutes just looking around still in plain sight of the falcons and they still did not give chase. The Kestrel left by way of the sand spit, probably a juvenile looking for a home.
The first of the migrating birds of prey have started to arrive along the Central Coast of California. White-tailed Kites, Ferruginous Hawks, Merlins, Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks. A few flocks of ducks, but no geese yet in the estuary.
Heather has been supporting the eye surgeons from here to UCLA with her fourth lens replacement to come next week. We all wish her the best of luck.
Happy trails, Bob

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