Peregrine Falcons nesting on lake bluffs on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska

Historically, surveys of birds throughout Alaska have demonstrated clearly that the Peregrine Falcon {Falco peregnnus) has a dendritic pattern in its breeding distribution because it nested along coastlines or rivers (e.g.. Cade 1960).The best examples of this are the shoreline nest sites on the Aleutian Islands {F.p. pealei) , and along the large rivers of Alaska, such as the Yukon, Tanana, and Colville, and their tributaries {F.p. anatum and tundrius) , but not at isolated montane cliffs away from shorelines and rivers.However, a few isolated cases of nesting by anatum on cliffs near lakes and in upland areas have been reported in interior Alaska.In the lower Kuskokwim River region, cliffs at two lakes were defended by peregrines m late July (Mindell 1983).Also, cliffs near Tetlin Lake (AK Department of Fish and Game unpubl.data) and at Lake Minchumina (D. Bishop pers.comm.) were occupied by peregrines.An adult male with a brood patch was collected on Lake Minchumina in 1955 (C.White unpubl.data) .A pair, possibly nesting, was observed on a cliff at Lake Grosvernor on the Alaska Peninsula (Cahalane 1959).However, no nest sites have been recorded at lakes in northern Alaska, the range of F. p. tundrius.In 1999, while conducting fixed-wing aerial surveys for raptors primarily along rivers in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) on the Arctic Slope of Alaska, we encountered Peregrine Falcons on mud bluffs at four large lakes (e.g.. Fig. la;Ritchie and Wildman 2000).Pairs and young were observed at two of these bluffs.A single adult was seen defending an apparent nest site at another lake bluff, where young may have been obscured by vegetation.A single adult also was perched near a ledge on a similar soil bluff at a fourth lake.Each sighting occurred on shoreline banks of large lakes in the Oumalik Lakes region of the southern portion of the Arctic Coastal Plain in the NPR-A (Gallant et al. 199.5).All sites were located between 6935'N and 6955'N latitude, and 15450'W and 15530W longitude.

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