Things I haven’t seen…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Video by Bob Isenberg

Things that I haven’t seen. The young falcons for the last 5-6 weeks. I know they come back to the rock in the evening because I see were they have been roosting. It’s a set of five holes in a diagonal line lower on the face of the rock. Another thing is the adult falcons have not taken a young gull in six days, just small shorebirds. The young gulls are growing rapidly. Their larger size and weight could be a factor here. Also, no deliveries of prey to the sand-spit. One more thing, no young vulture chicks yet. Although I see one adult everyday fight its way through the screaming nesting gulls to get to the old nest site. With this much determination and taking the abuse, there has to be something up there I haven’t seen yet.

From observation, I have seen a significant size difference. They are getting big, almost equal to the size of the adult, losing their spots and their feathers are pushing out from the down and getting long.
~Bob

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Humpback whales spouting in the distance…

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

My trip out to see the whales was super, but I must practice my video technique on a moving boat on a windy day to do justice to the grace and beauty of these magnificent and graceful whales. Please see the posting below. ~Heather

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Terrific Tuesday… and tails

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

I found a diversion from our always intriguing and constant peregrine observations. I went out chasing whales on the boat Dos Osos with the SubSea Tours Captain.  The visitors on this the trip from all over the USA joined in searching the horizon for spouting whales. It took time checking out various places as the fog lifted in the west. Being on the water is always a refreshing and an enjoyable experience. We kept at it. Our captain was so determined to find them. It’s a big ocean, but he knew the sea mounds where he knew he would find them feeding on sardines, anchovies and krill.

Getting a tip from other fishing boat captains (they all work together to search out whales), we headed southwest a few miles. Birds lifting off the water and settling down again gave us the information we needed. Whales would be there. Several sea lions and a sea otter frolicking far out from land were spotted on the way out. This is their domain.

When we got out to see the humpback whales rising to the surface, blowing, and rising several more times, it was breathtaking. Their mass floated lightly in the Pacific Ocean with grace. There was final gathering at the surface before they dove deep to dine on sardines, anchovies and krill.  We watched them do this for a series of three more times. These big guys would flip their huge tails, tail-lobbing. Tails, tails, tails amazing, beautiful and saluting all of us. ~Heather

http://www.subseatours.com/

Be sure to like both their Facebook page as well as ours.

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Along the waterfront…

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Along the waterfront near the Coast Guard Station, there is a stand of trees that is filled with Black Crowned Night Herons and Snowy Egrets. On the ground below are their young, the ones that fell out of the nest and the ones that tried to fly and could not. They wander around picking up sticks, sparring with each other, beak dueling and sometimes go into the street! Ouch! Pacific Wildlife care has taken in a few of the weaker ones to rehabilitate and release later.

We have not forgotten about the peregrines. We are there every day watching them bring in prey for themselves and occasionally take one to the chicks on the sandspit. Without the young around, it can be dull, but we have little nuggets like these for you to keep you entertained.     ~Bob

Video by Bob Isenberg

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Pure speculation…

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

I do a lot of observation sitting at the rock here in Morro Bay, mostly when falcons are not entertaining me. I move the spotting scope to young gulls and other birds just so I have something to show when people ask to see the falcons.

For the past few weeks, I have been watching Black Turkey Vultures, one in particular. The vultures are here most every day . I have noticed in the past when they arrive a couple of them will do acrobatic displays over one small section of the rock on the skyline where they had a nest site a few years back. They fledged two young.

At this time of year when gulls are nesting all over the rock, it is hard for them to approach the old nest site. They are mobbed by gulls. It’s like flying into a hornets’ nest, but the vulture has a way to combat this. The bird I have been watching comes in high and about 200 yards out goes into a tuck, much like a falcon, and plummets straight into the old nest site with a stream of screaming gulls behind. Once she has landed, they don’t seem to bother her any more. You can’t see her after she lands, but I believe she could be feeding young. “Pure speculation…”  ~Bob

Having known Bob for awhile, I believe his observations are right on. Recently, while we were watching young owls, he said that one was getting ready to fly. It did within a few seconds. Through frequent observation, accurate estimates of  behavior are quite consistent and accurate. He does this very well.  ~Heather

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All was not lost…

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

4th of July 2012  Due to a barricade on the road out to the rock, we were not able to check on the peregrines. All was not lost though.  This barrier gave me an opportunity to take a camera and search out the recently found juvenile Great Horned Owls. Cleve Nash had gone out again to record their activities.  I made my best efforts taking some still shots and a few snippets of video. Isn’t technology wonderful?

How difficult it was to really see the owls amidst the eucalyptus tree trunks and branches. Their coloring and markings made for perfect camouflage among the peeling bark, green leaves, gnarly twigs, light and shadows. I hope you’ll enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed searching them out.    ~Heather

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Watching Great Horned Owl young

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

A quiet sunny morning about mid 60°F. The amazing way the owl chicks blend into their environment.  ~Video by Heather O’Connor

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Just a few nuggets…

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

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Just a few nuggets from the rock today. The video we posted of “Rosie,” the Shell Beach falcon, did not capture the coloring because of lighting and location. Here is a still of her the same day by Cleve Nash.

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Today Cleve has been wandering around the Morro Bay State Campground looking for young horned owls which have eluded him for the last week. Not any more! Five fledglings were near an old nest site that he had watched in the past few years. These birds are so hard to see. You can be really close and miss them because of the perfect camouflage coloring. Cleve was alerted by the call of one of the young. Turning around, they were right there in front of him.

The Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, is probably the most feared enemy of the peregrine falcon, especially the young, if they are not tucked in a hole out of sight. We’d like to share more of these fascinating photographs. Please go to Cleve Nash’s website.   www.clevenash.com   ~Bob

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Shell Beach peregrines with a pigeon

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Video by Cleve Nash

June 30, 2012  We are still inundated in fog half way down the rock. Visitors coming to see falcons on a Saturday afternoon are relegated to looking at superb photographs. However 15 miles down the coast in Shell Beach, it is bright and sunny and 2 of our contributing  photographers, Cleve Nash and Bob Mancuso,  are taking video and still shots of a pair of adult falcons. They wondered if we liked sitting in the soup in Morro Bay. We replied “Not Exactly.” because Bob received notice on his parking place by a passing seagull. Yuk!

The video shows the pigeon that the female brought into her perch. Meanwhile the male patiently waited for a tidbit. She eventually gave it up.

The female is brightly colored with some rather different colors. Cleve called her “Rosy” for the blush of breast feathers that were on either side of her breastbone.  Normally they are a bright white.     -Bob, Cleve and Heather

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And the fog rolled in…

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

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Photo by Heather O’Connor

Some days at the rock viewing can be challenging. I still like the atmosphere. It is a cool Pacific Ocean and hot inland temperatures that produce a marine layer of fog. A bit mysterious and intriguing. One never knows what one will see.

The top of the rock was barely visible today. Bob did see the peregrines snatch  a shorebird on the beach below, an uncommon occurrence for some reason. The falcons prefer to go over to the estuary and sandspit to hunt. That is where the juveniles are presently. Both male and female brought back prey for themselves to eat at the rock. Will the juveniles have to return to the rock to find food delivered?

Whether one is on foot, on bike or in a car, a trip to the rock on the winding paths and road is worthwhile no matter what the weather. The sighting of bushtits madly dashing through the woody shrubs was exciting. The sound of shorebirds gradually materializing from the fog, we could identify easily. Long billed curlews flew so gracefully over the inlet into the bay.

-Heather

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