Field Notes Dong Bell April 6, 1988 territory he left was a bird that preyed exclusively on gulls? He would sit & ambush them as they came around points. The Diablo Canyon pair was double-clutched this year, as they laid a set of eggs in mid-February. Many other pairs along the Big Sur coast have laid dead eggs in March. 17:30 - Both Matt, Todd & I made our way down to the erie cliff. As we were driving up the mountain we saw what looked like falcons flying in front of the cliff - it may have been a food transfer. Anyway, we set up the climbing gear, the birds are quiet. Not until we got the ropes to the edge of the cliff did the birds spook, first the male, male, then the female from the scrape. They began screaming & circling in front of the rock. Our plan is for both me & Matt Wyon to descend parallel. We went over, but I had some trouble with a tangled rope. Matt arrived at the pothole first and he excitedly said: "3 eggs." I made it down to the pothole. Matt carefully sifted around the scrape for shell fragments - not many big ones, but lots of little ones. He was ecstatic about the site. The 3 eggs were gorgeous! All spaced a little bit apart. Matt picked each one up, put them in foam-lined containers. Replaced the 2