The State - News from April 26, 1989

A breeding pair of peregrine falcons with three chicks have been discovered nesting on a concrete support beneath the Coronado Bay Bridge, exciting ornithologists who say it is the first known birth of a wild peregrine falcon in the San Diego area in nearly 40 years. It has prompted hopes that the endangered species is making a comeback there. The mother, named Grisabella, was raised in captivity and released several years ago off Point Loma as part of a breeding program under the Peregrine Fund. Tom Nipper of the State Department of Transportation, which gave the Peregrine Society permission to set up observation posts, said there are only 50 to 60 breeding pairs of the falcons in California and only about 200 pairs nationwide. The last wild peregrine chick in the San Diego area hatched in March, 1950.