I birded for 30 years starting in the 50s before I saw my first Peregrine.
That was on the southern San Francisco Bay which is ideal Peregrine
habitat. I didn't see my first one until offshore on a piling at John
Pennekamp coral reef state park in Central Florida Keys in about 1985. Now
they nest near by in a protected location. The problem was never falconers
it was DDT. Bob O'Brien
On Monday, March 23, 2020, Lars Norgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Oregon coast seems to have a saturated breeding population of
Peregrines. Hence the life and death duels that have characterized the
Yaquina eyrie. The species seems to be getting established on the inside of
the Coast Range. Several of Corvallis' best birders have observed adult
Peregrines repeatedly in May
/June in sw Corvallis, south Philomath, sometimes carrying food.
As for not reporting eyries to avoid nests being robbed, this is a
very old school notion of no utility. Falconers are at least 10 times more
knowledgeable than birders about the life and habits of the ultimate object
of their affections. Whether there's six, eight, or sixteen eyries between
California and the Columbia it's a simple matter for a falconer to know
about them all, AND have zero interest in possessing any of the eyasses
hatched there. The protocol l recall from the seventies was not reporting
Peregrines or Gyrfalcons year 'round. Since then, captive raised Peregrines
and various hybrids(Gyr x Saker for example) have become standard. Training
an (illegally)wild-caught bird is an amazing pain in the ass when a "hawk"
conditioned to humans from the day it pipped its egg is a option, and
perfectly legal at that.
I would be somewhat surprised if there weren't an active eyrie in
the Heceta Head/Cape Perpetua area. It's far enough from Yaquina Head to
not offend the pair there. I am extremely happy to note that two whole
generations of humans have been able to grow up in Oregon taking Peregrines
for granted. When l was ten or eleven years old l doubted l would ever see
a wild, free-flying Peregrine.
