Sunday at “the rock”…

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Sorry to take so long to getting back to you good followers but, I have been trying to get confirmation. Many keen observers are always helpful. Here is what I’ve seen and believe is happening. 

Yesterday, Sunday, the few hours that I spent at “the rock,” the female was in the eyrie and out of sight. The tiercel returned to “the rock” with prey. He went into one of his larders. The female, hearing his chupping on arrival, peeked over the edge of the nest site, thinking he would probably bring it to her. When he did not, she returned to brooding, not being off the eggs more than 30 seconds.

 The tiercel then perched high above the eyrie on the skyline. You could see his stomach soiled with reddish brown dust from the nest. Most likely, he had previously been sitting on the eggs. I had to leave before I saw any incubation exchange. Today, I think that I will. So, I believe, that would make Sunday, March 3, 2013, the first day of incubation.

Happy trails, Bob

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Be patient…

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Please be patient while we switch over to the WordPress.org website. We will then be able to bring you an eStore and other upgrades! We look forward to expanding our capabilities on the web. Meanwhile, Bob will continue his observations out at Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California, USA. The peregrines are in a very exciting life cycle period since they are about to begin incubating eggs. He’ll let me know when he returns this afternoon.

Thanks for your patience.  ~Heather

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Soiled, but not foiled…

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Soiled, but not foiled...

Photo by Cleve Nash

On the left you can see the female and her wet vent area. The male on the right has brought her prey to eat.

All signs, from observations, tell us that egg laying has begun. Cleve Nash and I have been monitoring the female very closely. Saturday she spent nearly three hours in the “diving board” eyrie, again on Monday, but not as long. We have both noticed visible soiling around the vent, which usually in an indication of egg laying. We, also, see that she is not so apt to do battle with the Red-tailed Hawks or the north side falcons. Let’s face it, you don’t get into a bar fight when you are nine months pregnant.

The tiercel is constantly bringing in prey, sometimes to her directly or stashing it in one of his many larders. If what we are seeing is correct, we should see incubation begin around the weekend of March 2-3. This will be confirmed by the tiercel taking his turn at brooding. In past years, watching this behavior, it seems the tiercel spends 35% of time brooding to the falcon’s 65%. The time off the nest that he gives her has to be spent eating, digesting and exercising so as to keep the muscles from atrophying. It is a delicate balance between the two to bring this about in a month’s time without the eggs being uncovered for more than a minute.
Happy trails, Bob

P.S. Before we had a WordPress website, we used Facebook to deliver information. This was our Facebook entry:

“March 4, 2012. This is the first day of brooding observed. At 12 noon there was an exchange. The female left the nest and the male went in to sit on the eggs.”

As you can see, we are only one day off from last year’s entry. That is if we are correct.

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Favors in return…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Favors in return...

“Simone” Photo by Cleve Nash

A lot of nice people were visiting Morro Bay over the four day holiday. Many were able to see the “tall ships” do battle outside the bay and many saw the falcons for the first time in their lives. A few of the lucky ones saw them breeding. You can’t imagine the comments from people who don’t know each other gather around a couple of spotting scopes when all this sex is taking place. How is it that people can talk for twenty minutes about a fifteen second interlude? The tiercel is still bringing her prey items either from stash sites or fresh kills and receiving sexual favors from her in return. Does this sound familiar?

While it was so busy and crowded in Morro Bay, Cleve Nash, a photographer who doesn’t care for crowds, took a short drive up the coast from his home north of here to San Simeon. It’s a cove with a beach and a pier that was used to offload materials and artifacts for William Randolph Hearst’s castle. In the parking lot, Cleve noticed a female peregrine in a pine tree. She flew to a pole where he noticed the unusual coloration around the mustache which connected to the sideburn, forming a circle. Cleve didn’t remember seeing this bird even though there are a few along that part of the coast.

I said “Call her ‘Simone.’”
Cleve said “I don’t know about that. My wife didn’t mind too much about my seeing “Doris” in Baywood, “Judy” in Morro Bay and “Shelly” in Pismo, but “Simone” just has a different ring to it.”
Happy trails, Bob

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Presidents’ Day weekend…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Presidents' Day weekend...

Photo by Heather O’Connor

As we continue to observe the antics of the breeding peregrines, this holiday weekend brought two tall ships, the “Lady Washington” and the “Hawaiian Chieftain” into Morro Bay, California. A delightful day in the low 70s with many visitors stopping by to see the tall ships and frequent copulations of our resident pair.

Just to review: Our resident falcons breed here around Christmas and New Years’ holidays in December/January, egg-laying starts in March, chicks hatch around Easter in April, fly by Memorial Day in May and by Labor Day in September, the parents chase them off.

As time passes, Bob will let you know the exact dates for each event this year.
~Heather

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A few inches apart…

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

A few inches apart...

One warm sunny day and everything starts happening. Breeding is nearly in full swing. About three times within a four hour period on their arrival to the “rock,” the south side falcons flew into the diving board eyrie and spent some time in the back not visible to the three of us watching intently. After about five minutes, the tiercel (male falcon) appeared on the diving board, with a short jump, he was airborne and off around the face of Morro Rock. A short time later, the falcon (female falcon) did almost the same, but flew to the “chimney” and perched. Within a few minutes, the tiercel returned with prey. She spotted him incoming from the west over the water as she flew from the chimney which alerted us to see him. They were converging on the eyrie from opposite directions. The female landing first, one second later, the male landed. Before he got his balance she had taken the prey from him and was back on the “chimney” plucking. While she ate, he chased vultures. She left the prey after a few bites and then left it for him to finish. For the last few days, they have been standing a few inches apart with up and down head movement almost like they were talking. I wish I knew what they were saying.

Also, today, the vultures are around their old nest site landing behind the rock where last year’s chick “Spec” (see story dated: Tuesday, August 7, 2012 ) was first seen. I have not seen any coupling yet, but I will keep on top of it.

The next four or five weeks will be prime time for the falcons as they will be at the height of the breeding season and do not leave “the rock” much!
Happy trails, Bob

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A Golden voyage…

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Photo of last year’s young Golden Eagles by Cleve Nash

Cleve Nash, our resident photographer, and I took a ride out to Creston, CA, where my daughter and her family live. There had been numerous eagles, Golden and Bald, around her pond on her property. A few waterfowl and kingfishers, but no eagles.

On our way home, we took the back way down Highway 229 then went towards Margarita Lake. We stopped by the Golden Eagle nest that Cleve had filmed last year with two young in the nest. No activity around the nest yet, but one perched about 100 yards off in a Digger Pine. Not a quarter of a mile down the road, we came upon three Bald Eagles all in the same tree, one adult and two “juvies” (juveniles). As we watched, three wild hogs ran across a newly planted oat field. Still watching the three eagles, a Prairie Falcon flew over the highway, then a Golden Eagle perched in a pine 500 yards away. All in all, it was a great day away from the busy-ness of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival weekend at Morro Rock.
Update on the injured Golden Eagle: His appetite is great; he ate a big rat today.
Happy trails, Bob

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Outside…

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Outside...

Photo by Bob Isenberg
Outside at “the Rock” during the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, visitors use spotting scopes set up to see the peregrines and have all their questions answered.

The Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival was a great success! The weather was gorgeous, 70+° F . On Friday, numerous leader-led groups of birders stopped by to learn about the peregrines. On a following day, “the Rock” was another story with 30+mph winds and high surf so the gate to our special place where we set up our spotting scopes and chairs was locked. Without my truck and camper, I had no windbreak for my equipment.

On Friday, my daughter called from her inland ranch while I was at “the Rock” and said, “I have a Golden Eagle by my pond and it’s injured!” I told her what to do. She got it into a portable dog kennel with the help of two adults, two “tweeners” and one dog. Ninety minutes later and a quarter of a mile from where it was first found, it was secure and ready to be taken to town and Pacific Wildlife Care. They told us it was a male and had a large wound in the patagium* in the wing with a small whole in an unbroken bone. We’ll keep you up to date on its recovery.
Happy trails, Bob

*A thin membrane extending between the body and a limb to form a wing or winglike extension.

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Inside…

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Inside...

Photo by Heather O’Connor
Inside at the Bazaar of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, we set up our booth showing “This is what we do.” visitors photo with our hats, t-shirts and binocular covers along with Cleve Nash’s photographic display which benefits Pacific Wildlife Care.

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Luncheon on the Bay…

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Luncheon on the Bay...
Photo by Cleve Nash

The photo accompanying this text is of our transient female falcon, “Doris,” in her fifth year of wintering in nearby Baywood Park. She is seen here with a Teal. The photo was shot by Cleve Nash from behind the little coffee shop on 2nd Street. She landed in her favorite tree, a cypress, where she decapitated it, plumed it and consumed it.

A few notes to bring you good followers up to speed on what’s been happening on Morro Rock and in the area. Breeding is happening on both sides of the rock, not quite in full swing, but at least a couple times a day copulating falcons have been observed. There could be more when they are out of view.
Red Tailed Hawks abound here every day and the peregrines chase them incessantly. I’m sure this adds to the excitement, often after high speed combat, they come to one of her bedroom rocks and fool around again.
On the lighter side, a young adult kestrel male has visited us and perched up high in a willow run for the last five days. He’s very bright in coloring and gorgeous to look at. On the second day, the resident male falcon stooped on him and missed. The kestrel dove deep into the willows beneath him then back up on the same perch in a minute. The male falcon can see him from where he sits, but has not dived on him since. He’s either very confident in his ability to elude or very stupid.
Happy trails, Bob
P.S. See you at the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, January 18-21, 2013. http://www.morrobaybirdfestival.org

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