Can't a bird have ANY privacy?!

Peregrine Falcon
Originally uploaded by Laura Erickson

Okay, so I'm back in Duluth, getting caught up in the whirlwind of romance and baby-making and pretty much minding my own business, when what do I find on the Internet but a report from that busy-body Julie O'Connor about MY personal sex habits! She posted on Hawk Ridge's Peregrine Watch listserv on Hawk Ridge's PeregrineWatch website:

I'm expecting 'copulation reports' to start coming in any time now. They should be courting and flirting, flying and displaying, sharing food and vocalizing to each other, then we'll start to see the male landing on the female's back for brief intervals. That's it... it's quick and fleeting, but there's no other reason for him to stand on her back. ;-) Though it starts and ends quickly, they copulate between 20 and 50 times a day for several days, so there should be ample opportunity to catch them in action.

Here's a link I found to the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group's website on peregrine courtship behavior: http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/behavior.htm. It's pretty cool to read about behaviors I recognize!

I suppose this summer she's going to be back with that spotting scope and laptop hooked into the nestcam, showing everyone in downtown Duluth what's going on with my growing babies, too. Everyone runs over to the Hawk Ridge website to read about our every little movement, like we're some reality show or something. Well, THAT isn't as bad as it sounds--when the babies are in trouble, thanks to that network, someone is always right there with help. But still--what kind of world is it when people are so fixated on sex among peregrines?