April - Early May, 2010

I haven't posted up, but I've been out monitoring four times prior to today without seeing the Peregrines. Odd as it sounds, that's really the outcome you want in April and early May.

Why? Beacuse it means they're being successful in reproducing; you don't see them because one is down on the nest with eggs or chicks while the other is out hunting. They trade off only once or twice a day and if you're not there when it happens you basically don't see them. If you actually saw them both out and about like normal it would probably indicate they had failed on their first clutch or nesting attempt.

But from my observations to-date I'm thinking they are nesting with newly hatched chicks at this point or they will be hatching any day. I've no way to verify that, but that's the sense I'm getting based on the number of weeks they've been down on the nest and quiet.