Saturday, 23 March 2024
After a week of egg laying, today we saw the first signs of hard incubation. As we arrived on the south side of Morro Rock, 10 AM and only the male falcon was visible, high up on the edge of an arrowhead shaped hole about 10 yards from the nest site. Around 11AM we heard chupping from the nest site. The female then came out of the eyrie and flew to a rock about 100 yards east where the male quickly copulated with her and then flew into the nest site. All of this in about 45 seconds.
He remained in the nest site for an hour and ten minutes. This continued on for the rest of the day. The female staying in for two hours or more at a time. He sits on the nest for half as long as she does. This is normal behavior since the female does not hunt. He must find food and bring prey to her.
Happy trails, Bob and Jerry
