Does anyone know what the outcome was with the peregrines that were trying to nest on Eagle Dance this spring? Were there any eggs or chicks?

The BLM knew about this particular pair of birds, and was talking with Nevada Dept. of Wildlife about them. The agencies also were aware that climbers were climbing by the nest this spring/early summer. And the agencies are further aware that (some) local climbers have been telling everyone to keep quiet about them.

Last May, one person at the BLM told me, "It is depressing that even though climbers read and understood what to do if Peregrines were encountered on route they still decided to blow it off and just think about themselves" (referring specifically to climbers on Eagle Dance).

More recently, a Red Rock local told me, "The falcon issue is one of those things we don't really discuss here. Like a don't ask, don't tell policy. Red Rock stays under the radar as far as falcon nesting goes and I am not exactly sure why. But I see them all the time .... Anyway, we try not to mention them and nothing ever gets closed for nesting."

I think there is a huge communication gap here. Climbers should be letting the BLM know that we are interested in helping maintain the wonderful resources that we have in Red Rock. Peregrines are no longer an endangered bird (they were de-listed in 1999), but agencies continue to monitor them, and will for at least another 7-8 (?) years. We can help by talking about the birds that we see.

Likewise, the agencies should be letting climbers know what to do if they run across peregrines or some other species of interest. They need to let us know that closures have become much more specifically targeted in recent years (specific routes and walls versus entire canyons, and for shorter periods of time), and that they have no interest in closing new areas where they don't have to.

There needs to be honest two-way communication if we want to have a trusting relationship here.

And climbers should be passing positive information among ourselves.

What should we say about Eagle Dance? In my opinion, if you are headed up there in Spring, you should be aware that you may encounter peregrines in the eagle's eye. And if they appear to be nesting, you should bail and go climb Ringtail (or some other plan B) instead. And let other climbers know what you saw so that people won't make the long trek up there only to be surprised - after you put in that much effort to get back there and get a couple of pitches up, it will be tempting to just keep on climbing (unless the birds actually defend their nest), and it would be much better if people just weren't surprised and therefore weren't quite so tempted.

The backs of those canyons are a wilderness area to a pretty fair degree, and gorgeous. But they won't stay that way through benign neglect, they will only stay close to being wilderness if we make the effort to show some restraint back there. Here's one place we can show a small amount of restraint that could actually increase the wildness in the canyons.

Quite a few years ago I found an injured peregrine in Vegas and brought it to the Nevada Dept. of Wildlife who didn't seem to be too interested in it. They gave me the deer in headlights look, and I said, "Look, I don't know what to do with this poor thing, don't you have someone you can call?" The peregrine looked like it had a broken wing, but otherwise okay. I left it with them, and hope they treated it well. They are a beautiful bird!

Shouldn't this be posted under the "hog fat" thread, as it relates to Southern Cooking? Kidding. These beautiful birds, in my experience, are very quick to let climbers know when they don't want us around. I've never seen them on Eagle Wall, but back east they would curiously eye us from across a section of cliff. I think just giving them the space and respect they deserve is a good way to go. Didn't see any sign of them on Eagle Dance last spring, so I doubt this is a big local coverup.

I once saw a perigrine take out an ibis in Cataract Canyon. Pretty cool how they hunted in a pair. The ibis had the deepest maroon/red/black color to it when we floated by up so close. In the Grand Canyon they'd take out any thing they could - lots of cliff swallows etc. cool birds.

I love birds. They are the true masters of climbing. If we are the animals trying to live on the wall, I hope we can respect the animals that spent millions of years evolving in order to master the art of living on the wall. Falcons are beautiful and amazing creatures. Let's give them the space they need to continue existing in a place we both depend on. Eagle Dance will always be there to climb, if there are indeed birds nesting there, I believe we should let them have it for a season or two.

The unspoken assumption in closing cliffs (and entire areas) to climbing when peregrine falcons are nesting/fledging is that the presence of people causes the birds stress, which in turn leads to a decreased survival rate.

Can anyone cite a scientific study that shows this assumption to be true?

Conversely, are not peregrines nesting on buildings in cities across America?

Maybe what is happening in Red Rocks is part of an ongoing study.

"Let's pick an area where we'll allow climbers and nesting peregrines to interact, and we'll study the survival rate...compare it to all the areas we close each year."

I can think of a couple of different reasons the agencies (BLM and NDOW) might not have taken any action. I'm curious to know how that particular pair of birds fared, and I'd like to know what the agencies are up to.

I think silence on the part of climbers AND ON THE PART OF THE AGENCIES is hurting our ability to work together.

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Off on a tangent:

With respect to the scientific literature, my quick, non-wildlife-biology-educated literature search finds lots of *discussion* of human disturbance, but finds no citation of carefully collected data. Nothing that I find statistically satisfying. If its out there, it would take a little digging to find. On the other hand, there is a long history of both peregrine collecting and peregrine "hacking" (reintroduction), so while we may not be able to put a 95% confidence interval around the average flushing distance in a desert environment, peregrine observers know something about the birds reacte to them and I'd be surprised if direct human disturbance turned out not to depress reproductive success.

Peregrines nesting on buildings and other structures isn't really relevant. There is little direct contact with humans there.

I wonder how many people actually climbed Eagle Dance between March and May last spring? I would bet our data on that is even more shallow than our data on peregrine flushing distances.

I think you might be getting your tidies in a bunch over nothing, Doug. I have a notoriously conservationist bent, I've climbed around peregrines since day one(linville gorge in NC is full of them), I respect nesting closures and climb elsewhere when they're in effect, and WHEN I CLIMBED THE ROUTE IN APRIL, THERE WAS *NOT A BIRD IN SIGHT.* My partner and I looked into the "eye of the eagle" and saw no nest, no bird shit, no bird feathers, *NO BIRDS*. I had heard that there were some resident falcons up there, but I see more large bird activity in Calico Basin than I have in all the other canyons combined. Swallows are omnipresent out there, I've seen frequent bighorns, the occasional fox, and ringtails and a real-deal white mountain goat (both only once). I've lost count of how many routes I've done in the big canyons in Red Rock, but I've been on Eagle Dance (this april), Levitation 29 (last year) and Dances with Beagles (don't ask), and never seen any falcon activity. Maybe the spot you're concerned about isn't an issue at all. I'd reccommend phoning the BLM for the official version and then, as a last resort only, climbing a beautiful route and seeing if you see any pissed birds up there while you're out enjoying yourself. I didn't.

wish the peregrines would take out some of the pidgeons that seem to be trying to poop on the head of anyone trying to climb at the corridor.

everything you ever wanted to know about peregrines is here...
www.peregrinefund.org/default.asp

and here...
http://www.audubon.org/

there are also a number of web cams placed in nests that broadcast live every spring
here is one in alberta, check it out next spring...
www.falconcam.med.ualberta.ca/index.html

another in rochester
http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/mainView.php

It's interesting to note that pigeons (birds that are entirely herbivorous and unaggressive) are completely undisturbed by the presence of humans, a fact that can be confirmed by visiting any piazza in Italy or cathedral in France, or square in New York, or by the fact that there are a couple nesting on my roof, whilst falcons (aggressive hunters) seem to feel threatened by the possibility of two climbers out in the wilderness running into their vertical abode. I don't know what to make of this. Do they know they were an endangered species?

Waiting on a trip report from my friend who was supposed to be climbing this route on Monday-you want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

Here's yet another peregrine falcon link - http://www.pge.com/peregrinenestcam/.

Stay tuned for another episode of...Fast Animals, Slow Children....

(drums pounding, peregrine begins to dive)
"Hey guys, wait up!"

(drums lounder, bird of prey picks up speed)
"Aww-I dropped my lunch-and I got honey all over my legs!"

(drums reach a fever pitch, tucked wings scream through the air)

[hope someone else watches Family Guy]