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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2012 - 09:19pm PT
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Not to throw water on the parade, but the following are a list of some of the concerns that members of the Santa Clara County Parks Dept. raised during the meeting on Feb. 13th about the peregrines nesting at Summit Rock in Sanborn-Skyline County Parks as summarized by Paul Minault of the Access Fund. All apply to legitimate daytime recreational use in the non-nesting season:
The site
-the small size of the site makes disturbance more threatening to the birds;
-the small size of the site requires a more protective management strategy than large sites in national parks;
-the small size of the site requires closure of the entire rock; lateral or vertical partial closures would not be sufficiently protective;
-the natural (i.e. not man-made) character of the eyrie enhances the biology of the birds that reside there and, over time, of the regional population;
Disturbance
-the birds are resident, so a seasonal closure would not protect them from disturbance;
-distress calls indicate that the birds are disturbed sufficiently to warrant closing the site;
-disturbance causes significant psychological stress and a metabolic deficit;
-disturbance could cause the birds to abandon the site;
-disturbance could harm the birds;
-disturbance could cause the birds to move to another location (momentarily or permanently), thereby increasing their exposure to predation;
-peregrines have limited ability to adapt to disturbance.
Prof. White's analysis of the situation at Summit seemed to demolish each of these arguments, but we have to remember that the SC Parks Commission still endorsed them as reasons for not re-opening Summit to climbing on a seasonal basis. Prof. White did state categorically that the peregrines were not excessively stressed out by the presence of climbers during the non-nesting season. It still remains to be seen whether the Commission will accept his argument.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Feb 15, 2012 - 10:25pm PT
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Prof. White's analysis of the situation at Summit seemed to demolish each of these arguments, Is there a place we can read Prof White's analysis? Was it just verbal or his he going to write a report?
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Feb 15, 2012 - 10:31pm PT
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used to walk right by the nest in the aquarian valley, both birds went nuts, but they shut up after about 10 minutes,
they are still there, been there every year for at least 2 years,
dope growers use them for natural alarm system,
if you don't believe me, venture down into that valley and head north til you hit the plantation,
the guy who shoots at climbers with the air pistol is the one splitting the profits,
what was the question?
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2012 - 01:13am PT
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"Is there a place we can read Prof White's analysis? Was it just verbal or his [sic] he going to write a report?"
Yes, Prof. White is going to write a letter-report when he gets back to BYU which will summarize his views on the subject. Think he's going to mail it to the head of the SC Park and Recreation Department. In any event, it'll get published somewhere.
"used to walk right by the nest in the aquarian valley, both birds went nuts, but they shut up after about 10 minutes . . ."
Conrad Jones, Associate Wildlife biologist at State Department of Fish & Game, would be very interested in finding other sites on the Skyline where peregrines are nesting in a natural environment. You can reach him at:
650.328.2380 or
cjones@dfg.ca
He lives here on the Peninsula, so could go up and observe the peregrines in the Aquarian Valley. In fact, as a State official, he's got some input on this issue beyond Santa Clara County. One of the points that SC Parks and Rec are using is that the nesting site at Summit is the only example where the peregrines are not on a man-made structure. If we could show Conrad that there are other peregrines using rocks along the Skyline Ridge to nest, it would prove that there are other natural nesting sites available besides Summit Rock, which is actually a pretty lousy location with a high chic mortality rate. Between the taggers, the rats, the owls and the crows, not many chicks are surviving to adulthood. For every pair of chicks that survive about 4 are dying or being eaten first. Hence, the peregrines at Summit are still rearing a clutch in September, which indicates that at least 2 previous clutches did not survive.
If a pair of peregrines selected Summit Rock as a nesting site, you can bet there are a bunch of other peregrines nesting along the Skyline. We just need to find them. That's another thing that Prof. White pointed out: the Peregrine falcon is making a big come back and there are lots of young males out there looking for places to pair up with a female and start rearing young.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Feb 16, 2012 - 01:18am PT
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Thx Bruce
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2012 - 02:56pm PT
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If anyone else besides Dr. Sprock has seen evidence of Peregrines nesting along the Skyline, in particular in Santa Clara County, it would be very good if they chimed in here. My guess is that beginning about three years ago, with the burgeoning Peregrine population, more and more falcons began to nest in the Tafoni rock formations in Castle Rock SP, Sanborn County Park and MROSD preserves. So the eyrie at Summit Rock is really not 'exceptional' as SC Parks would maintain. What ever happened to the 5 or 6 chicks that have reached adulthood at the Summit site since 2008? If they all survived, they must have gone off and established nests of their own, probably nearby. Would be good for our argument if anyone else has seen Peregrines up there.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Feb 16, 2012 - 07:41pm PT
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Thanks for your persistence, Bruce. Have you ran into ranger Voillet (sp?) yet? He is pretty interested in the closure. He's been busting people up there. Nice guy too!
Sprock, what area did you see the falcons in Aquarian, further down the creek from where you, kev, and I put up that route? Down the creek towards the Orange Sunshine rock?
Or more over by Eagle Peak?
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Feb 16, 2012 - 09:26pm PT
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-the small size of the site makes disturbance more threatening to the birds;
This is completely valid grounds for a seasonal closure - it's irrelevant once the chicks have fully fledged.
-the small size of the site requires a more protective management strategy than large sites in national parks;
Not the size, but rather the accessibility of the site is responsible for this, but again, only during the seasonal closure.
-the small size of the site requires closure of the entire rock; lateral or vertical partial closures would not be sufficiently protective;
This is entirely likely with regard to seasonal closures; it has nothing to do with a permanent closure which is entirely unnecessary from any biological requirement.
-the natural (i.e. not man-made) character of the eyrie enhances the biology of the birds that reside there and, over time, of the regional population;
Hard to characterize exactly what is being said here. You could say that about any eyrie. All that matters, however, is that the eyrie be productive year-in, year-out and a seasonal closure will by itself insure that - a permanent closure will not 'enhance' the eyrie's productivity or contribution to the regional population.
-the birds are resident, so a seasonal closure would not protect them from disturbance;
Our Peregrines are resident at Beacon Rock which sees more tourist and climber traffic than Summit and is a highly productive site on a year-to-year basis. I can supply the name of the WDFW biologist who can confirm that fact. A permanent closure will not significantly improve the Peregrines' reproductive success.
-distress calls indicate that the birds are disturbed sufficiently to warrant closing the site;
A seasonal closure, yes; a permanent closure no.
-disturbance causes significant psychological stress and a metabolic deficit;
-disturbance could cause the birds to abandon the site;
-disturbance could harm the birds;
-disturbance could cause the birds to move to another location (momentarily or permanently), thereby increasing their exposure to predation;
-peregrines have limited ability to adapt to disturbance.
Yes, that's exactly why we do seasonal closures - to reduce stress and improve rates reproductive success. The rate of reproductive success at this site will not be improved with a permanent closure.
Again, at Beacon Rock State Park in North Bonneville, WA we have:
 a small site relative to the size of the rock the eyrie resides on (see photo below - 800' tall, would take about 10 minutes to circumnavigate if there were a clean continuous trail)
a resident pair
500-3000 tourists who summit the rock each DAY - even during the seasonal closure via a concrete tourist trail cut up the rock in 1913 and unaffected by the closure
a seasonal closure from Feb 1st to Jul 15th (or longer if necessary)
a long history of close monitoring and records of nesting and the reproductive success at the site
There is NO JUSTIFICATION for anything but a seasonal closure at Summit - if they are still pushing for a permanent closure then they are attempting to use Peregrines to justify a closure which is in place for other reasons than the Peregrines.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Feb 17, 2012 - 12:03am PT
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i really do not want to disclose the exact location,
if you have been down the right side of aquarian creek, on the ultra steep trail to the bottom, you will find a divebomber male and a nesting female,
the male has freaked me on the lower slab that sits below skyline slab,
i found a route up the lower slab and went up a while back,
so i get the FFA unless somebody else claims to have done it,
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2012 - 12:44am PT
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The nesting site you describe is far enough away from the climbing routes in the Aquarian Valley that there's no possibility of MROSD using it as a pretext for shutting down climbing there? That's my major worry. But the more Peregrines we can find nesting along the Skyline, the more it undercuts the SC County Park's argument that the nest at Summit is exceptional and unique. It's actually a good sign and means that the Peregrines are indeed making a major comeback in their traditional outdoor habitat.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Feb 17, 2012 - 12:49am PT
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nobody wants to hike down there because it is too steep, there is stuff to climb at CRSP that is easier to get to,
eagle peak and the pearls area are far more popular, the birds are well below these areas,
you can see them hunting at dusk if you sit on eagle rock,
here is the route i took up the lower slab, about 400 feet,
birds will bomb you on this slab, which is about a 1/4 mile below the main skyline slab,
the slanted part is easy class 4 and the rest is sketch without a line,
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2012 - 01:36am PT
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"the slanted part is easy class 4 and the rest is sketch without a line"
I was up that route years and years ago, but no bombing peregrines back then. Should send that Google map to Conrad Jones.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Feb 17, 2012 - 01:56am PT
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dang,
ok, i got a new route up near big trees...
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2012 - 03:32pm PT
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I was nosing around in that area below Skyline Slabs at the bottom of the big 4th class slab years ago and found some stuff tucked away around the corner at the bottom. Short, but I guess you'd call it "a route"!
Here's a telephoto taken from West Alpine Road looking back at the general area:
Obviously there are acres and acres of Peregrine habitat along Skyline Boulevard that Santa Clara County Parks is not yet aware of.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Feb 17, 2012 - 04:06pm PT
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Be aware that Peregrine pairs are highly territorial and don't normally nest in close proximity to another pair, how close is this nest to summit?
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2012 - 04:20pm PT
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7 miles to the north as the crow flies along the spine of Skyline Ridge from Summit Rock in Sanborn-Skyline State Park. IOWs: Quite a ways away from the pair at Summit. However, there's a lot more intervening territory between the two sites that would provide plenty of additional raptor habitat.
This just undercuts one of County Parks' main arguments that there is only one nesting/breeding pair of Peregrines in Santa Clara County. Obviously, this is not the case.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Feb 17, 2012 - 04:23pm PT
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That squeaks by as far enough apart - about what we have between eyries up here in the Columbia River Gorge.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2012 - 05:23pm PT
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But both eyries are located in Santa Clara County, which is the main forensic point to be noted here.
I stand corrected! No, only the Summit eyrie is in Santa Clara County. The one in the Aquarian Valley is in San Mateo County. But of course the Peregrines don't care much about artificial political boundary lines.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Feb 17, 2012 - 08:51pm PT
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Bruce, I have to correct you on a couple of items.
10 miles to the north as the crow flies along the spine of Skyline Ridge from Summit Rock in Sanborn-Skyline State Park If you mean Skyline Slabs/Aquarian Valley to Summit Rock, its a little less than 5 raptor flight miles.
It's about 7 road miles from Summit Rock to Portola Heights Road turnoff.
But both eyries are located in Santa Clara County Again if you mean Aquarian Valley, that's in San Mateo County. Skyline Blvd is the county line.
More importantly, about the only likely Peregrine nesting habitat along the entire 30 mile Skyline Blvd and ridge corridor is some crags in Castle Rock State Park, Summit Rock and Skyline Slabs/Aquarian Valley. Possibly also a few crags on the west side of Montevina Ridge.
A clarification to those of you who aren't locals. There are three land management agencies with jurisdictions along the Skyline Blvd (CA State Highway 35) corridor: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, California State parks in Castle Rock State Park (CRSP), and Santa Clara County Parks for Sanborn Park (Summit Rock). There are also three counties: San Mateo (Aquarian Valley), Santa Clara (Sanborn Park) and Santa Cruz (areas surrounding CRSP)
I've found this entire thread very informative and interesting. A few years ago I had a Peregrine pair frequenting my place in the summer for about 4 years. Even saw them mate mid-air once....amazing aerobatics.
Several times I saw one or both of them fly North around dusk, past Castle Rock area and out of sight. I've no idea where they were actually nesting.
Thanks to all who are trying to work this out respectfully. There'll be another fund raiser at Planet Granite on 21 March. Hopefully I'll get to meet you (Bruce and others) this time.
Fred Glover
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2012 - 01:24am PT
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I see that the San Mateo County and the Santa Clara County lines touch each other between Portola Valley and the Arastadero outback. The line seems to rise up to the top of Page Mill Road where it intersects the Skyline (CA 35). No matter, because Long Ridge Open Space Preserve (where the Peregrines are nesting) is definitely in San Mateo County. Obviously, outside the jurisdiction of the Santa Clara County Parks Department, which thinks the Summit nesting site should be closed year round because it's the only example of Peregrines nesting in the wild in the County.
I just heard tonight at Planet Granite Belmont that people have been seeing Peregrines perched in the trees in Half Moon Bay. There must be some rocks near there for them to nest in. Makes you wonder just how many Peregrines are nesting in the wild in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties? Sounds like a timely M.A. thesis for some budding ornithologist. No one seems to have an accurate count. The other examples of nesting are all on artificial structures: in downtown San Jose and on the Oracle Building in Redwood Shores, to cite two examples. Think there were a pair nesting on the Dumbarton Bridge, but they died I heard.
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