Another morning visit to the peregrines in Woburn with the female again perched very comfortable at the entry to the nest ledge in bright morning sun.  She has claimed this spot many times and perhaps this will be the location for laying eggs this breeding season.  This will be her first breeding season in this location.

Unlike humans, Peregrine females can choose when to fertilize their eggs. That’s a great advantage in the wild. It means begin the egg production process when she’s selected a safe nest site.

The final step is to prepare the nest. In the wild, a Peregrine’s nest is little more than a depression that’s been scraped out of the dirt and gravel on a cliffside or rocky outcrop. Not surprisingly, bird biologists call this kind of nest a “scrape”.

The courting, mating, and nest preparation behavior continues up until the time the female is ready to lay her eggs. This will hopefully be near the end of March or early April, a bit earlier than last year!