We’ve been up the family acres this past week.
Had the chance to go and have a peek at a pair of Peregrine Falcon that have taken up residence in a creek-line escarpment

After the usual bumpy ride in along the old track, we were able to see the splashes on the rockface that showed their presence.
The face they have chosen, catches the early morning sunshine, and because of the angle of the cliff, the light quickly goes off the face and leaves the nest in shadow.
We had planned for an early start, but, as families, are, this had to be done, then that, and a discussion or two on other things, so it was a late start.
By the time we arrived, early morning feeding of the sitting bird had been accomplished and it (presumably the female) settled down and occasionally poked its head over the stone battlement. The other bird didn’t return in the nearly two hours we had available.

I noted the rockface on our side of the creek was a little lower than the main bluff, so looked to find a way to get up a little higher. Rock climbing on a grade 27 (Ewbank) face is not something I was equipped for nor had a desire to free climb.
I did find what could probably be a goat track, if there were goats in the area, (no pun intended) and it was no longer used, perhaps the ethereal goat met its doom there.
After a little bit of struggle, I managed to get the old body carefully, and that is very carefully, upward on the loose rocks, and slippery wet grass. Not to mention assorted blackberry and prickly wattle and some sticky myrtle.
That work gave me a view into the nest site. It’s a great site for such a nest, perhaps a large boulder dislodged a long time ago and left a sizeable hole which the bird could settle down into, and it would be protected from all but the worst eastern driven rain. (A rain we rarely get).

Once atop of the escarpment, I waited, hoping (she) might move in the nest, or the other bird might return for some flight shots, but time, as they say, ran out.
I walked back along the edge as I’d seen a sloping area further around that was close to where the parked IamGrey waited patiently, and would be an easy descent.
Great idea. Foiled by thick blackberry bushes and bracken. Not being able to see through the bracken as to what might be underneath lead me back to the aforementioned “goat” track, and looking down, it seemed even more precarious than going up. Once in a lifetime years ago, I would have tackled it and not even thought about it, now, each step was carefully considered and eventually without too much drama, except for those pesky blackberry and prickly wattle spots, I was back on ‘level’ ground.

One last look at the nest site, and it was time to return to family festivities.

Enjoy