30 May 2014
Frozen in time, the male peregrine at the Neville Island I-79 Bridge shouts at the PA Game Commission’s Tom Keller and Patti Barber as they arrive to band his nestling on Wednesday May 28. Patti took his picture. This male is banded! We won’t know his identity until Patti’s photo tells the tale.
I was out of town Wednesday morning and missed the excitement. Anne Marie Bosnyak, Peter Bell, and Laura Marshall observed the banding from nearby. While we wait for official news from the Game Commission, here’s what we know so far.
Based on Anne Marie’s close observations, we think incubation began on April 1. Hatching probably occurred on May 6 when Anne Marie watched the male bring food into the nest and then bring it back out when the female — still in the nest — told him “Not yet.” On May 25 Anne Marie used her new camera (yay!) to confirm that the female is still Magnum, hatched in 2010 at Canton, Ohio.
Below, Magnum walks the girder to the nest hole on May 25. The floor of the nest is that plate with many rivets.
Thanks to PennDOT’s assistance, Patti and Tom got access to the site on Wednesday at 9:00am. To everyone’s surprise, Magnum stayed in the nest while the male flew around and shouted. (Typically the female attacks while the male stays back.) PGC found only one chick in the nest, a female, plus some unhatched eggs which they took for testing.
Here Tom Keller holds the chick for banding.
Congratulations to Magnum and her mate whose chick will fledge June 14-19.
Meanwhile we look forward to hearing of her father’s identity.
(photos by Anne Marie Bosnyak)
Oh, only one baby girl…I’ll never forget watching last year’s female fledge. I got an up-close view of her atop a bridge pier; she would flap her wings and tentatively lift one foot, letting the other slide forward, trying to levitate. I can still see those talons, clenched like fists in all that concentrated effort. It was one of the most breathtaking things I’ve ever seen. Have any of Magnum’s offspring been identified since fledging?
Carolyn, I have not heard of Magnum’s offspring yet. This is actually good news because it means we may hear of them at 2-3 years old when they nest
Awesome. My parents live on a large property less than a mile from the Neville Island bridge, and early this spring, my mother spotted a Peregrine in the yard on two separate occasions. She has multiple bird feeders…it’s the neighborhood joint to visit if your in the mood for a finch feast, no doubt!
Curious. Do you know if there was any nesting material over and/or around those rivets?
kc, I don’t know much about the nest. Am awaiting news from the Game Commission.
Did anyone witness a fledge for Magnum’s single chick? I wasn’t able to stop by the past couple of weeks, and all was quiet yesterday evening when I did; no sign of anyone…
Carolyn, the chick disappeared before it fledged. No fledging, no bird at all.
Aww…was there any concern that Magnum might be injured or ill? When I re-read the original post, I thought it might be odd that she was not more defensive of the nest.
Carolyn, Magnum is fine. She has a different “personality” than the (too!) fierce female at the Monaca Bridge.
It is likely the young bird fell or was blown off the bridge by the wind, but we will never know what really happened.