Peregrine fans in Lawrenceville report that Dorothy’s been hanging out at St. Augustine’s for the past few days.
We know the Pitt peregrines go there for the plentiful food (pigeons) but Dorothy might have a second connection to the place. St. Augustine’s is Pat Szczepanski’s parish church.
Dorothy tolerates humans but she doesn’t trust them. Pat Szczepanski is the only person I know for whom Dorothy will calmly relax, perch and preen for as much as an hour at the Cathedral of Learning, allowing Pat to take her picture through a window.
Pat built this trust through years of quiet, non-threatening observation.
It’s an amazing coincidence that Dorothy’s favorite place to be when she’s not at the Cathedral of Learning is St. Augustine’s, Pat’s parish church her whole life.
Is it just a coincidence? Only Dorothy knows and she isn’t saying.
Pat took this picture of her hunting last Sunday.
(photo by Pat Szczepanski)
OK, curiosity got the best of me here. The photo seems to show Dorothy with the same feather missing from each side of her tail. So what got me is a search through the Cathedral archives for another shot. If she’d decided to pancake herself in the nestbox and sunbathe it’d be easiest to see, but I did grab this frame just as she was about to take off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87087391@N00/6146012674/
Nice example of the way in which their feathers are replaced slowly and symmetrically.
This is FANTASTIC!! Pat’s stillness is such a rare thing in today’s age of technology.
I am so in awe.
I’m not a teacher, but I am a learner (I hope!) and reinforcement has always been my best aid.
When Steve at the Nat’l Aviary described poor Elvis in the middle of his “catastrophic” moult, he said penguins survive their moult by bulking up ahead of time, as they can’t go into the icy water. He said flying birds, esp. raptors, moult slowly and symmetrically, to quote Peter. Now I see what he means. Lady D’s still elegant, in spite of being spotty, and most importantly, BALANCED!
I too am so in awe.
Anne