FAIRLEE — Several cliff tops across Vermont are closed to hiking and climbing this spring to protect nesting peregrine falcons, including Eagle Ledge in Vershire and the Fairlee Palisades. 

The sites will remain closed until Aug. 1, or until officials with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department determine the risk to nesting falcons has passed. The birds were on the state’s endangered species list from the early 1970s until 2005. 

“Peregrine falcons are very sensitive to human presence during their breeding season, so we ask climbers and hikers to please maintain a respectful distance from their nests,” said Jillian Kilborn, a nongame bird biologist with Fish and Wildlife, in a news release this week.

The department urges residents to respect cliff closures, retreat from any cliff where peregrines are present and report disturbances of nesting peregrines to Sgt. Jeffrey Whipple, a game warden for central Vermont, at 802-234-9933. Any sightings of the birds should be noted to Audubon Vermont conservation biologist Margaret Fowle at margaret.fowle@audubon.org.