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Category Archives: other birds
The progression of a high speed kill…
Many visitors to the rock and our website have asked me this question. Do you ever see them make a kill? Yes, many times!
Morro Rock is 576 feet above sea level; the perches of male and female are approximately 25 yards apart and 375 feet above the parking lot. The morning dove approached the rock from seaward, rounding the corner of the rock about 150 feet above the parking lot. The male spots it immediately and takes off at speed. Looks like a humming bird. The female closes in about half a second behind and approaching Mach 0.20.
The morning dove travels about 55 mph in level flight. ‘Rounding the rock from windward, he could have a 10-15 mph tailwind on any given day. The distance from where the dove would have been spotted to where it fell is approximately 300 yards. A morning dove at 60 mph will travel 88 feet per second. The disadvantage for the falcon is that he will probably lose one second just spotting the dove. Also, he is at a dead stop. His advantage is the altitude that he has over the dove, about 200 feet. The falcon must cover this distance in approximately nine seconds from a standstill position which he did.
He is much like a quarter horse or a sprinter, where she is like a thoroughbred. Once she gets the long legs going, look out. At impact with knuckled talons, he hits the dove in an upward swoop. With a burst of feathers, he continues into an inside loop to capture the prey, but the female at speed picked it off of the parking lot before the male could complete his loop.
It is very rare that this can be captured on film. It is seconds in time. Neither the operator nor the camera with auto focus are fast enough to capture this. You have to be there. One of our avid website watchers was witness to this kill and still talks about it today, a year later.
High altitude kills from 1000 feet or more with spectacular stoops normally happen over the estuary and sand-spit. There are dozens of ways they take prey. This scenario with the dove is only one. ~Bob
Posted in falcon, hunting, other birds, peregrines
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Along the waterfront…
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
Posted in other birds, peregrines
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When things are slow, we always have other birds…
June 24, 2012 Balmy and sunny today. I spent a couple of hours with Cleve Nash getting some shots of young gulls just out of the nest. The adult falcons have had a banquet with them, but in a few … Continue reading
Posted in falcon, feeding, gulls, other birds, peregrines
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Pacific Coast Peregrine Watch 