Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch

Observation date:  10 May 2017

On April 31st, I wrote a post about the north side falcons in the “cathedral hole,” a previous nest site used in 2001. After seeing the male in this hole for several weeks, I thought they were nesting there until they were evicted by Western gulls. So I didn’t post the story and thought I’d wait a few days to see if I could find where they went.

Surfboard hole with eyrie tucked in behind the flat rock            Photo by Bob Isenberg

A couple of days of hard observation around the rock had paid off. The pair had taken a new eyrie, one never used before. There have been four other nest sites that the north side falcons have used over the past 17 years. Prior to that there were no falcons inhabiting the north side of Morro Rock.

Female peregrine at the surfboard hole                         Photo by Bob Isenberg

I have been watching for the last ten days and have seen prey delivered into this eyrie. This means “chicks.” I expect to see young soon.

Happy trails, Bob

Item: This is the story that I withheld…

Observation date: 1 May 2017
MayDay…
In my last post both male and female north side falcons had been observed daily in the “cathedral hole.” In the last couple of weeks, things have changed drastically. Now it is occupied by Western gulls. Since then, I have only seen the male perched in other various places. I can only speculate what happened. They could have moved around the rock where I cannot observe or we could have lost the female. Time will tell, especially if we see young flying around the rock by June.

The south side pair have not produced a chick in three years mostly due to the age of the female who turned eighteen this spring. In the wild, normal lifespan is 17 to 20 years. All I can do is observe. When I know, you’ll know.

Happy trails, Bob