Finally some news from Tarentum! 

On Friday evening Steve Valasek visited the Tarentum Bridge and spent 90 minutes observing and photographing this peregrine perched on the upstream side. 

Back in April Steve Gosser saw a pair of peregrines mating at the bridge, the same pair that was identified last winter.  The male hatched at Pitt in 2008 (son of Dorothy and E2), the female in Hopewell, Virginia in 2008.   

On the strength of this great information we assumed there would be a nest on the bridge but Beth Fife from the PA Game Commission looked for a nest in May and could not find one. 

Two months passed.  No one reported peregrines at the bridge.  I checked the bridge twice when I happened to be out that way.  No birds.  Did they nest elsewhere?  Did they nest at all?  Or weren’t we watching enough?

On June 25th Steve Valasek saw a peregrine at the bridge so he returned last Friday to watch and take some pictures.  He was in luck. 

The light wasn’t good but the bird was there and cooperative, at least to the extent that he stayed in one place. Sometimes the peregrine called but no other bird appeared.  Which peregrine was this?  Despite his best efforts, Steve never saw his bands.

Hey, Peregrine!  Please turn around, stretch out that leg you’ve raised and show me your bands!

(photo by Steve Valasek)