I talked with Dan Fenske, a long-time falconer and falcon
watcher/tracker/record-keeper in Oregon. He said that it is fairly common
to see competition for nest ledges, and it is usually the female that does
the aggression (she's larger). I don't do much nest ledge watching, so
haven't seen this before, but perhaps Liz and Terri and others have seen
this more often. It was pretty impressive!
Matt
Greetings Friends,
I spent a few hours in the Callahans today. At a large cliff area I heard a
Peregrine calling, but initially could not see it. Eventually I saw one,
then two, then three, all at once. At one point they had an aerial chase,
and I caught a couple of distant, but intriguing photos as they all dove
downward. It appears to perhaps be two females (top two birds) and a male
(bottom bird). In the first photo, the top bird is upside down, talons up.
I don't know what they were doing. Is it a female trying to chase away
another female who is trying to steal a mate or nesting area? Or is it last
year's young and they are just having fun? What do you think?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/16907646198/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/17093918892/
Not a lot of birds up in the Callahans themselves, but down lower at the
"foothills" next to the valley, there were plenty of ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLERS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. Also one HOUSE WREN singing in a
clearcut, and one SHARP-SHINNED HAWK seemingly migrating north. Plenty of
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS hanging around cliffs where the species nests.
Eyes to the Skies,
Matt Hunter
Melrose
