Last year seven pairs of peregrines nested in the Pittsburgh area. Will there be that many this year? And where? The only way to know is by having observers report what they see.
Yesterday Art McMorris sent me a plea for Pittsburgh peregrine watchers. Of our seven nest sites, four are well monitored (Pitt, Downtown, Tarentum, Westinghouse) but three known bridge nests have no regular observers and three more might attract new peregrine pairs. You could be the one to adopt a bridge and a pair of peregrines.
Here’s Art’s request:
Dr. Art McMorris, Peregrine Falcon Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking for people to help monitor several sites in the Pittsburgh area for peregrine falcon nesting activity. Some of these are sites where falcons are known to be nesting; others are sites where falcons have been observed, but no evidence of nesting has been documented. All would benefit from additional monitoring by local enthusiasts. If you’d be interested in watching any of these sites, please contact Art directly at (McMorris@mac.com) and he’ll send further information about monitoring and about the site.
The sites are:
- Glenfield, I-79 Bridge (I-79 and the Ohio River). Arched span from Neville Island to Glenfield.
- McKees Rocks Bridge (McKees Rocks Bridge Rd. & Ohio River)
- Monaca-East Rochester Bridge (Route 51 & Ohio River).
- Pittsburgh, 40th St. Bridge (40th St. & Allegheny River).
- Rankin Bridge (Green Belt/Rankin Bridge Rd. & Monongahela River)
- Sewickley Bridge (Orange Belt & Ohio River)
If you live near one of these bridges or regularly pass by, consider being a peregrine monitor. You might discover a new nesting pair!
Click here for information on last year’s bridge nests.
Art sends his thanks in advance.
(photo by Kim Steininger)
p.s. If you want to monitor the Downtown peregrines, come to Peregrine Quest this Sunday March 10 at 2:00pm. Meet me at the Market Square Starbucks. Click here for more info on this event.
We are planning to join you at Starbucks on sunday.
Red Girl has laid her first egg of the season in Wilmington!
Since there’s a nest at the Tarentum bridge, it may be a good idea to keep an eye on the Freeport bridge in the future. It’s another high span over the Allegheny River a few miles north of Tarentum.
And I had heard of a Bald Eagle nest being built off of route 28 somewhere, would you know anything about this?
Thanks for the suggestion.
There are 2 eagle nests — at Hays on the Mon, and near the Hulton Bridge on the Allegheny.
Isn’t there a peregrine nest at the Westinghouse bridge (rt. 30)? I saw a falcon there last fall.
Nathalie, yes there’s a pair at Westinghouse Bridge. That bridge is not on the “needed” list because, as it says above, there are already volunteers at that site.
Reply to Steve-O:
Well, they’re still working on the Freeport Bridge, so it’s unlikely there will be Peregrines there this year (seems like they’ve been working on that crappy bridge since it was built)! And I do have someone who drives across it all the time keeping an eye out for PEFAs.
Rob