Yesterday Barbara Hancey asked if Dorothy and E2 are still at home at the Cathedral of Learning.
Yes, they are.
On campus my friend Karen Lang and I have seen at least one peregrine, sometimes both, several times a week. The birds are much less active than they are in the spring and they have very little interest in visiting the nest.
Like all birds peregrine falcons are sensitive to seasonal light changes. As the days get shorter their reproductive hormones cease and their interest in breeding — and in the nest — ceases, too.
The snapshots above (E2) and below (Dorothy) show they currently visit about once a week. This frequency will drop even further and won’t ramp up again until February.
(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at the University of Pittsburgh)
p.s. This is not an egg. It’s a reddish hole-punch that blew into the nest on the windy day, Oct 29.
E2 has been back on the antenna a lot recently. I’m seeing them almost daily the last two weeks. Almost can’t believe my luck. Must be taking breaks at just the right time!
Can you tell anything from the pictures about how Dorothy’s doing?
Stacey, no I cannot tell anything detailed about Dorothy’s condition from the photos. However, I can say without a doubt that she is elderly so every day is a challenge. Adult peregrines live about 12 years in the wild. Dorothy is 16.5 going on 17.
The answer to “How is Dorothy doing?” is similar to the answer to “How is grandma doing (at age 85-90)?” Well, grandma gets up every morning, she sleeps a lot more than she used to, and she has aches and pains that she refuses to complain about. We love grandma and we will miss her when she’s gone but she is going to be gone a lot sooner than the rest of us.
As I was leaving Phipps on Tuesday I noticed what I believed to be Dorothy and E2 soaring in the sky above, and around the Cathedral of Learning. What a beautiful sight!!
Love your reference to grandma, Kate!
Thank you, Kate, for updating us on the status of our dear Dorothy and E2, my favorite peregrine falcon pair. They have brought so much joy over the years, and I wish them both well.
Do you have any news on Dori and Louie? The Gulf Tower nest is terribly overgrown with weeds, so it is obvious that they are living elsewhere. Have they been seen downtown?
PA Gal, no news from Downtown. Perhaps one of my readers will fill us in.
What do Dorothy and E2 do/go during the winter months?
Claire, they stay at the Cathedral of Learning. They hang around (perch), watch what flies by, hunt, eat, sleep.
Yesterday afternoon (10/29/15) I saw Dorothy perched on the Cathedral of Learning, high up and out of the wind.
Kate, I think I may have seen a pair of migrating peregrines yesterday-I never would have noticed, but our resident red-tailed hawk called out and swooped low over the trees, and when I looked up, I saw what looked like falcon silhouettes WAY up in the sky. They were moving with a serious quickness in that wind, wheeled around a bit, and were gone.
Have you ever seen what you believed to be migrating peregrines in our area? Do mated pairs travel together?
Carolyn, sometimes I see solo peregrines pass the Cathedral of Learning because Dorothy & E2 go on the alert. Peregrines do not migrate together. They travel alone.
Interesting-maybe I saw broad-winged hawks? Seems awfully late for them…or maybe I simply saw a family of red-tails looking super sleek, fighting that wicked wind!
Most likely red-tails. They would have to get sleek in that wind!
Both peregrines on the Cathedral of Learning today: lightning rod & favorite perch on 38SE
Re Gulf Tower pair – my husband works in the steel tower and saw a peregrine eating a dove on top of the post office (which I below is on grant street). Might that have been one of the gulf tower birds?
(Ps- he saw the peregrine eating the dove last week.)