Brian Mutch

During the second week of March, Angel Montoya, Paul Juergens and I once again completed our annual survey in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, looking for nesting Aplomado Falcons. Unfortunately by the end of the second day, and having collectively driven more than 1,200 miles in much of the best habitat we could look at, only one adult pair was located. This pair was observed at a yucca on the Baeza Ranch complete with a very nice Chihuahuan Raven nest.

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During The Peregrine Fund’s fall planning meetings in Boise, Idaho, we decided to organize our first intensive survey for breeding Aplomado Falcons in west Texas. Having just completed our fourth season of releasing young Aplomados to this arid desert grassland, a northern extension of the Chihuahuan Desert, we all felt there was a good chance of discovering a breeding pair. So, on 10 March 2007, four Peregrine Fund biologists, Angel Montoya, Paul Juergens, Christina Kleberg, and I, met in Marfa, Texas, where we were joined by Peregrine Fund Founding Chairman and Director, Dr. Tom Cade. In our favor, a surprising weather report for the area called for little wind (March is a very windy month in west Texas), highs in the 70s, cool nights, and the chance for a cold front with a little precipitation—all in all, perfect conditions for surveying, and conditions we felt might make this small falcon a little more conspicuous in all this huge country.

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