Birding at Sea #3 – Before Taking Off

Male Peregrine Falcon, Point Fermin Park

The next day was our scheduled departure on the Star Princess, but did that prevent us from birding in the morning? Oh, no …

We departed early for two locations in the Los Angeles area (we had driven down to San Pedro the night before). Our first stop – on a very foggy and gray morning – was Founders Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. Snuggled right behind a Trump International Golf Course (we parked in what may have been their lot), it’ s a small slice of land on a sea cliff. I am sure that Trump wanted to get his hands on it and deny access to folks like me, but, fortunately, he did not.

Founders Park

Our goal was the highly endangered California Gnatcatcher, which we found rather handily. Another Lifer!

Singing California Gnatcatcher, Founders Park

A bird that frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth, the non-migratory California Gnatcatcher lives in coastal Southern California south through Baja California and Baja California Sur. 

It was recently split from the similar Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, which lives in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts. Often solitary, it joins with other birds in winter flocks. We either saw one male several times or several males; I think the former. 

His cap was black rather than the dark blue-gray found on females. And, he was singing up a storm! The song sounds somewhat like a kitten; a rising and falling "zeeeeer, zeeeeer."

As its name would imply, the California Gnatcatcher's diet consists of small insects and spiders.

California Gnatcatcher, Founders Park

In the northern part of its range, the California Gnatcatcher was listed as Threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1993 due to increasing development in its coastal sage scrub habitat (hear that, Mr. Trump!). Current loss of coastal sage scrub in U.S is estimated at 70 to 90 percent.

California Gnatcatcher, Founders Park

Although some of its habitat has been saved in national forests and state parks, its population has been severely fragmented, leading to efforts to preserve more open land in southern California to help ensure that this species will not disappear from its former range. 

California Gnatcatcher, Founders Park

At Founders Park, we also had a few sightings of another Lifer for me: the Allen’s Hummingbird. We saw only females; most got away before I could photograph them, but this one – in the parking lot – preened and posed. You can see how wet it was from her feathers.

Female Allen's Hummingbird, Founders Park

The ground and a lot of the fenceposts in the Park was absolutely covered with beautiful and fairly large (1 1/2 inches across) Milk Snails. They all seemed to be on a mission – I am just not sure where they were “rushing” off to.

Milk Snail climbing a fence post, Founders Park

We also saw a number of rabbits that I assumed were Cottontails. However, when I looked up what kind of rabbit lives in that part of California, I discovered that the common one is the European Rabbit. So, I am going with that!

European Rabbit, Founders Park

Other birds spotted included a couple of Bushtits …

Bushtit, Founders Park

… the now ubiquitous California Towhee …

California Towhees, Founders Park

… and some Wilson’s and Yellow Warblers so buried in the scrub that no photo was possible. On the way out, we stopped, literally, to smell the flowers.

Founders Park

After exhaustively photographing that California Gnatcatcher (those pictures above are just the tip of the iceberg; ok, here's one more) ...

California Gnatcatcher, Founders Park

... we headed for Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. It is a very nice park, with big trees, an old lighthouse, flowers ...

Point Fermin Park

... and some lovely overlooks to the ocean ...

Views from Point Fermin Park

There were lots of birds, most playing hide and seek in the bushes. We did see a dark morph Rock Pigeon taking a bath …

Rock Pigeon, Point Fermin Park

… More California Towhees …

California Towhee, Point Fermin Park

… a cute little Pacific Slope Flycatcher …

Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Point Fermin Park

... and a variety of Warblers too shy to be seen. But, we had two BIG sightings.

First, we got a nice juxtaposition of Cormorants, when a Pelagic and a Brandt’s were sitting on a ledge with a group of Harbor Seals ...

Brandt's Cormorant and Harbor Seal, Point Fermin Park

... and, then, a Double-Crested Cormorant flew by. That sounds like a bad joke (a Pelagic, a Brandt's and a Double-Crested walk into a bar ...), but it was a good way to make comparisons.

Brandt's, Double-Crested and Pelagic Cormorants, Point Fermin Park

In fact, it was a great place to see Cormorants ...

Brandt's Cormorants, Point Fermin Park

Second, and this was the good one: Peregrine Falcons.

Female Peregrine Falcon, Point Fermin Park

At close range.

Really close!

A pair has been nesting for years under an overhang on the cliff. When we walked down to see what we could see, the female was sitting of the ledge above the nest, which we could not see. 

Chattering female

There was a small slot where you could see her clearly without any rocks or bushes in the way. Bryan and I got to the overlook first, so I took lots of nice shots before I had to cede my spot so that others could see. While we were photographing, the Peregrine began to chatter the way Bald Eagles do when a mate is approaching, so I knew something was up. 

She flew away (I missed the shot because someone else was in the “slot”) and, almost immediately her mate flew in and perched on another photographable ledge. 

It was incredible! They couldn’t have been more that 30 feet away! And, because we were slightly above the ledge, it was a great photo op!

Male Peregrine Falcon, Point Fermin Park

This wasn’t a Lifer, but it was a life-time plus for photos!

Poised on the edge

The Peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. 

It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand. 

The only land-based bird species found over a larger geographic area is the Rock Pigeon. But, unlike the Peregrine, the Pigeon has been introduced to many areas. Now Pigeons support many Peregrine populations as a prey species.

The Peregrine Falcon, often just called a Peregrine (and by some – probably Texans – a Duck Hawk) is renowned for its speed, reaching over 200 mph during its characteristic high-speed hunting dive (called a “stoop”). This makes the Peregrine both the fastest bird and animal in the world. 

See the bone?

The air pressure from such a dive could damage a bird's lungs, but small bony tubercles on a falcon's nostrils are theorized to guide the powerful airflow away from the nostrils, enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving by reducing the change in air pressure. To protect their eyes, the falcons use their nictitating membranes (third eyelids) to spread tears and clear debris from their eyes while maintaining vision.

As is typical of bird-eating raptors, Peregrine Falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males (and, that’s how I knew which was which).

Scratching an itch

Both the English and scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon," referring to the migratory habits of many northern populations. Experts recognize 17 to 19 subspecies, which vary in appearance and range; the ones in the U.S. are American Peregrines or, in northern Alaska, Tundra Peregrines.

While its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, the Peregrine will occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles or insects. They mate for life and nest in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times, on tall human-made structures, returning to the same nest every year. 

Female Peregrine Falcon, Point Fermin Park

Peregrine Falcons live mostly along mountain ranges, river valleys, coastlines and in cities. In mild-winter regions, they are usually permanent residents, and some individuals, especially adult males, will remain on the breeding territory. Only populations that breed in Arctic climates typically migrate great distances during the northern winter.

Amazing balance

The life span of peregrine falcons in the wild is up to 15.5 years. Mortality in the first year is up to 70 percent, declining to 25-32 percent annually in adults. 

The Peregrine’s major threats are collisions with cars, buildings or other man-made structures or predation by larger hawks and owls, such as Great Horned Owls.

The Peregrine Falcon, which eats a large variety of birds, hunts most often at dawn and dusk, when prey is most active, but also nocturnally in cities. 

They require open space to hunt, including open water, marshes, valleys, fields and tundra, searching for prey either from a high perch or from the air. The Peregrine typically strikes and captures its prey in mid-air with a clenched foot, stunning or killing it with the impact, then turning to catch it in mid-air. 

If the prey is too heavy to carry, the Peregrine will drop it to the ground and eat it there. If they miss the initial strike, Peregrines will chase their prey in a twisting flight. Occasionally, Peregrines use natural contours to surprise and ambush prey on the ground and there have been reports of prey being pursued on foot. In addition, Peregrines prey on chicks in nests, from birds such as Kittiwakes.

The Peregrine Falcon has been used in falconry for more than 3,000 years, beginning with nomads in central Asia. It is one of the easier falcons to train and has a natural flight style of circling and then performing a high-speed dive. Peregrine Falcons handled by falconers are occasionally used to scare away birds at airports to reduce the risk of bird-plane strikes. They were also used to intercept homing pigeons during World War II. Almost all falconry birds are bred in captivity, which became useful when wild birds were endangered.

The Art of Hunting with Birds,1240-1250, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II

See the leg bands

The Peregrine Falcon became an endangered species over much of its range because of the use of organochlorine pesticides, especially DDT, during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. 

Pesticide built up in the Falcons' fat tissues, reducing the amount of calcium in their eggshells. With thinner shells, fewer falcon eggs survived to hatching.

Since the ban on DDT from the early 1970s, populations have recovered, supported by large-scale protection of nesting places and releases to the wild. 

Peregrine Falcons were removed from the United States' endangered species list in 1999 after a successful recovery program aided by falconers in collaboration with The Peregrine Fund and state and federal agencies.They are still closely monitored; both the birds we saw had multiple bands.

After the excitement of seeing the Peregrines, we headed out to the harbor to board our ship and head out to sea.

To the sea!

Trip date: May 7-14, 2019