The young peregrines, two of them, on the South side fledged yesterday, May 31. I was not there to see this, but my cronies were there. Jack and Petra Clayton, Gordon Robb, Jerry Pyle.
Fledgling Photo by Jack and Petra Clayton
But today I was there at 7:30 AM. Not one bird, adult or chick, would show up for two hours. After glassing the Rock, which seemed like forever, I found a young chick in a jumble of rocks, so camouflaged in its coloring.
A landing Photo by Jack and Petra Clayton
I must have passed over it two or three times. All we saw in six and a half hours of observation were the two adults and the one chick. I hope nothing is amiss.
I mentioned in the last post that the north side peregrine chicks were flying well. Landings are a little shaky, but soon, they will have them down pat! These are the photos taken of the first attempts.
Photos by Steve Acheff
Thinking about flying is important.
Photos by Steve Acheff
Chicks are building muscle strength before the first flights.
Photos by Steve Acheff
Flying into the eyrie is a safe place to try the first flight, don’t you think? Or is it more wing strengthening?
Ever day I search for the new location where they might have flown to and landed.
The north side peregrine chicks are flying well now, traversing the Rock face from north to south. Landings are a little shaky, but in a week or two, they will have them down pat!
Today at 9:15AM, we got our first glimpse the two white puffball chicks on the south side of Morro Rock. They appear to be about 23 to 24 days old. They stood at the mouth of the “diving board” eyrie for a few minutes, then went back out of sight. Four of us spent another six hours and saw nothing of the chicks.
“Diving board” eyrie Photo by Kathy DeVoy
Tomorrow is another day. You can bet I’ll be there!
Peregrine falcon chicks Photo by Kathy DeVoyTwo peregrine falcon chicks Photo by Kathy DeVoy
Be sure to go to the website to see the photos in the best light and a bigger size!
Just wanted to share with you some of the photos that have been sent to us recently. Many visitors and photographers enjoy these falcons as much as we do! There are two chicks at this Piedras Blancas site. It is in a large offshore rock that has been a nest site for many years.
Peregrine falcon to the upper left, two downy chicks to the upper middle right in the nest site Photo by Gary O’NeillHighlighted nest site Photo by Gary O’NeillMature Peregrine falcon Photo by Gary O’NeillMature Peregrine falcon Photo by Gary O’NeillMature Peregrine falcon in upper left, two downy chicks in circled nest site Photo by Gary O’Neill
When I returned from four hours on the south side of Morro Rock, there was a note on my windshield from a fellow birder. He wanted to let me know that he had seen a single chick out on the edge of the “cathedral” hole on the north side of the Rock. That was yesterday, May 2nd. This morning I went to the north side first thing to look. Within five minutes, one came to the edge, then a second one appeared. They relieved themselves over the edge and stayed for three or four minutes.
Tomorrow I’ll try to get a photo.
Day 1 to 24Day 25 to 48
Happy trails, Bob
Item: I think I missed the hatch date on the north side by a couple of days. The chicks are getting dark around the eyes.
This morning on the south side of Morro Rock, the male landed in a very small hole, one that they stash prey into. As he left the hole, a flutter of feathers trailed him out with his powerful wingbeat. He entered the eyrie twenty yards away with the prey. As he entered, the female came out of the eyrie. After perching a few times at different sites for a few minutes at each, she then left for about fifteen minutes and returned from the sandpit with fresh prey to deposit in a stash hole.
This is what I have been waiting to see. Now you know the young have hatched. Probably within the last 24 hours.
One peregrine source says 31 to 33 days to incubation. Another says 32 to 35 days. So I missed again, either two or four days off.
“What the Hell!” I’ve only hit it once or twice in the last 35 years. But now we have chicks! “Yeah!” They should be able to be visible by mid-May.
North Side of Morro Rock Pastel by Heather O’Connor
It’s a blustery day, cold, windy, rainy, not a day I would care to spend at Morro Rock, but here I am watching with next to nothing happening on the south side of the Rock. If I got the start of incubation correct, chicks should hatch by tomorrow.
Gordon Robb, one of the near full time falcon watchers called me from the north side of the Rock to tell me that the tiercel just brought the female a small bird. She took it into the “cathedral” eyrie at 12:40 PM. The parent birds never eat in the nest site, so it’s a good chance we have chicks on the north side of the Rock that probably hatched in the last 24 hours. In about two weeks, we should know how many.
Back to the business of birds. I have been watching the south side pair of falcons daily for the last eight weeks. Everything seemed out of sync. Courtship should have been in December. I didn’t see any going on, but the birds could have been breeding on the ocean side of Morro Rock which I cannot see. It’s only visible from a boat. Breeding should have been in January, February and March, but only recently has been visible.
Now we are in the 15th day of incubation and I am happy. The eggs should hatch about the 17th ofApril, Easter, and we should start seeing the young come to the edge of the nest about the first week in May. The young normally fledge at 44 days old. If I got the first day of incubation correct, they should fledge about May 30th, Memorial Day.
We want to give another scholarship! How about you?
Make a donation by visiting Bob at Morro Rock, sending us a check (address is at the bottom) or pressing the DONATE button to the right.
Our previous CalPoly Scholarship students wholeheartedly want us to give another scholarship too! We have heard from some of our Scholarship students recently and they know what a difference it makes. They are a great example of what your money has made possible.
Our first CalPoly Scholarship Student was Wren Thompson will be going to the University of Washington to get a Master of Arts in Museology. You may know that museums make the world a better place by offering broad educational experiences.
Our second scholarship student, Nicole Robin Durtschi, has been “working as a biologist at Oceano Dunes, with the breeding Snowy Plovers and Least Terns! It’s been a very unique experience, with plenty of challenges, but of course plenty of amazing experiences. Being able to watch chicks grow up is pretty incredible 🙂 And spending most days out on the beach has really helped me learn my shorebirds!” She is an avid birder now. I’d love to visit with her to learn about the Least Terns and Snowy Plovers this coming year.
With a look at two of our students that you have contributed to, I ask you to contribute now to our Cal Poly Scholarship by pressing the DONATE button ON THE RIGHT or sending us a check made out to PCPW and mailed to PCPW, 765 Center Ct., Morro Bay CA 93442.
The south side chick, the only one to this new pair of falcons fledged this morning at 9:40 AM traversing the face of the Rock from left to right in a smooth glide landing on a chalky bluff 300 yards from the nest site. The landing was on a near vertical face with no crashing or tumbling, he stuck the landing! A few more short fifty yard flights ending with the last on the top of a large boulder on the sky line.
Photo by Petra Clayton
Soon everyone started to show up. All this time the adult female had been flying overhead in large circles chasing gulls and vultures or anything that might come near her young. She at times would stoop on her chick trying to get it to fly more. The young would not budge.
She later brought the chick a small shore bird. Everyone was thrilled to see it rip into the prey. After consuming all the body and organs, he then swallowed each leg whole, thighs, leg and toes!
Juvenile peregrine falcon eating whole shorebird – Photos by Petra Clayton
Happy trails, Bob
Item: Jack and Petra Clayton have a Flickr website where you can see her latest photos of the peregrines. Trying to adjust the shorebird leg to gulp it down takes some juggling!
South side of Morro Rock-During breeding season through fledging: Late December-July. (Sometimes the CA State Parks closes the gate and makes it impossible to take Bob's truck out to set up during the winter. Call first.)
If you wish to find Bob Isenberg check the north side of Morro Rock, where he photographs surfers many mornings.
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