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Beau Geste/Harlequin Cracks Peregrine Falcon Nest

anthonycuskelly

25-Oct-2011
8:45:10 AM

Ambling up Beau Geste on Saturday, got a bit of a shock when we got swooped by a pair of Peregrines. Nest appears to be somewhere around the third belay, so would affect the other routes that finish up there.

Didn't get a chance to put a notice up at the toilet block, if someone could put one up that'd be appreciated.

ajfclark

25-Oct-2011
9:33:43 AM

This pair have been reported a couple of times now.

and possibly again on cliffcare.org.au too: http://cliffcare.org.au/2011/09/30/falcons-nesting-at-mitre-rock-mt-arapiles/

Is there still not a note at the toilet block? Maybe even a sign near the routes or the Mitre carpark like they have for swooping magpies?

anthonycuskelly

25-Oct-2011
1:35:30 PM

Missed the one on the 10/10/2011. Beau Geste is Northern Group though, not Mitre Rock, so there's obviously two different nests.

We were only there for the day so parked down the other end, so not sure whether there's a sign on the toilet block.

Access T CliffCare

25-Oct-2011
1:41:30 PM

On 25/10/2011 anthonycuskelly wrote:
>Missed the one on the 10/10/2011. Beau Geste is Northern Group though,
>not Mitre Rock, so there's obviously two different nests.
>
>We were only there for the day so parked down the other end, so not sure
>whether there's a sign on the toilet block
I think Andrew is referring to the Harlequin Cracks falcon post which is in the same area as Beau Geste. Would be the same one as Peregrines are territorial and wouldn't share such a close nesting area. That sighting is noted on CliffCare and I also put a note about them on the campground noticeboard when I was there the following weekend. It notes Harlequin Cracks - people need to give that area a wide berth. They nest there regularly - I was caught out one year just as I was about to start climbing.

Cheers,

Tracey

ajfclark

25-Oct-2011
1:56:40 PM

Yeah I had a brain fart. Both the threads I linked to mentioned the falcons around Beau Geste though one is in a thread about the ones on Mitre Rock which got my wires crossed and linked to the cliffcare post about Mitre.

Looks like Tracey's keeping a list of sightings here: http://cliffcare.org.au/about/falconwatch/

anthonycuskelly

25-Oct-2011
2:05:54 PM

Cheers Tracey, glad there's a note up. Now just to do something about idiots (ie, me) who don't swing past the campground when parking down the other end...

Yup, Andrew linked to two chockstone posts, one of which would've given me prior warning if I'd seen it. So, seems it's just me missing what's already out there... lesson learned!

Erk

16-Jan-2012
5:41:49 PM

I climbed Beau Geste last weekend (14th Jan), since it had been a while since it had built a nest there (I had seen the note posted in the toilet blocks last October, and the chicks would have left the nest by now). I was surprised though when I heard the falcon complaining loudly. After a few minutes I saw that it wasn't me it was complaining about; an adult falcon was trying to chase off a smaller falcon off the Watchtower faces. It completely ignored climbers.

kieranl

2-Oct-2013
8:46:56 AM

This nest area is active again. Please avoid all climbs from Beau Geste to Salami until further notice (or January, whichever comes first)

Post-edit : Sign placed below the access gully

wombly

2-Oct-2013
11:09:39 AM

a note to pass on some off-hand feedback from a raptor expert at work - actively avoiding nesting birds like the falcons does actually make a significant impact on their breeding success. The restriction at the red rocks crag in Canberra has apparently led to a significant increase in their abundance along the Murrumbidgee.

It has the added benefit of avoiding being attacked by one of the fastest critters on the planet...

http://earthsky.org/earth/fastest-bird

Miguel75

2-Oct-2013
1:32:55 PM

On 2/10/2013 kieranl wrote:
>This nest area is active again...

A 12 guage should fix it... :)

There are 10 messages in this topic.