Home > Education Program > Peregrine Releases
Peregrine Falcon Releases
The second release of the 2007 season will occur on Saturday June 2, 2007 at 10 AM.
Each spring we release young peregrines at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory using the same techniques that we used all over the state to help recover the peregrine falcon population. Visitors to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center can watch the youngsters as they make their first flights during the week after release and then as they return daily for food to the artificial nest that we built for them on one of the Lab buildings.
The young falcons learn to ride the wind above the ocean cliffs and slopes of nearby Younger Lagoon and often perch on the Long Marine Lab buildings where they can be admired through spotting scopes. Eventually, they learn to capture their own food and become independent of the release site. They then spend one or more years traveling widely before locating a suitable nesting site and acquiring a mate.
For public visiting hours see the:
Seymour Center Visitor Information and Map
March 20, 2007 - by Glenn Stewart, SCPBRG
On Saturday, March 17, 2007, at 10 AM, three juvenile peregrines (two males, and one female) were released at the Seymour Center. About 8:30 AM on Sunday morning, the older of the two males left in strong flight and
perched in a pine tree a half mile away. He made several more flights that day
eventually finding a cozy spot in a eucalyptus tree overlooking the Marine Lab from about 1.5 miles away.
The next morning he flew about the area and was spotted on rooftops
and then spent the night on a Marine Lab building without returning to
the hack box. He has made brief visits to the hack box since fledging. He stopped by the building with the hack box briefly
Tuesday morning but soon launched off for another adventure.
Also on Sunday, the younger of the two male falcons launched from the platform in front of the hack box
but was not flying as strongly. We found him perched on a branch of a
bush about six inches from the ground. We determined he could
not gain enough altitude to make it to a safe perch, and he was picked up and placed back on the roof of the Seymour Center where he began practicing his
flight ability. He was soon making flights around the Marine Lab
campus from roof to roof. He returned to the hack box to eat twice
on Monday and spent the night on the same building as his brother.
The female was jousting with the younger male on the front platform of the hack box on Monday when she toppled unceremoniously from the hack board to the ground. She was not injured, but again, as she could not gain altitude she was picked up and placed back in the hack box. She slept there Monday night and remained at the hack box, soaking up the rain all day Tuesday.
March 21, 2007
Around 11AM Wednesday morning, the female falcon successfully fledged. While the birds are still in the vicinity of the Marine Lab, this will continue to be an unforgettable opportunity to watch as young peregrine falcons make their way toward independence.
April 1, 2007
The three young falcons are doing very well, and are frequently spotted flying around the Long Marine Laboratory campus. Yesterday, photographer Nick Dunlop was able to capture the aerial antics of all three birds, see the gallery page to view some of his pictures taken this last weekend.
April 20, 2007
The falcons are all doing very well, and SCPBRG continues to leave food for them at the hack box daily, and will do so until the young disperse from the area. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, these young peregrines have been sighted less frequently around the Long Marine Laboratory campus. This afternoon however, one of the youngsters was observed high on a roof top at the lab devouring the remains of lunch.
