Another installment in “All Peregrines All The Time” 😉
Early this month we had high hopes that Pittsburgh’s Downtown peregrines would nest at the Gulf Tower this spring because they were seen on camera so frequently.
Dori and Louie visited the nest every day and dug two deep scrapes at the back of the box. We thought this showed their commitment to the site.
Alas, it did not. No peregrines have been seen at the nest since Dori left on Friday morning March 11.
Dori will have to lay eggs soon, but where will that be? She hasn’t been seen at the other nest sites she chose in the past. (Nope, she’s not at last year’s nest.)
Where did the Downtown peregrines go?
Have you seen them? Please leave a comment if you have!
(photo of the Gulf Tower peregrine nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
p.s. For those of you unfamiliar with the Downtown peregrines’ fickle nest selections, click here to read their history.
I work at the office tower joined with the Westin Convention Center (Federated Tower) across from the Gulf Tower. Yesterday afternoon I saw one of the peregrines flying between the two buildings. They must be close by.
I hope they are OK, even if not at a very visible nest. I can confirm that they are not in Hershey, PA 😉 All we have is a bunch of Grackles scaring away the Cardinals (my favorite) from our feeder.
I work near the Gulf Tower and would frequently see them flying around but I have not seen them since March 10th. On my daily walks through town I have been keeping an eye out for them.
Thanks for the Gulf Tower update. The “Where are the Downtown peregrines?” posts are beginning to feel like an annual March tradition. 🙁
Last week I saw a Peregrine as I came out of the Fort Pitt tunnel into town. It flew over the bridge and I lost sight of it. It made the bridge pigeons crazy, they were flying in all directions.
Thank you for the updated history, Kate. The effort you have put into keeping records and helping others to learn about these remarkable birds and to take steps to ensure their survival is much appreciated.
Just saw both peregrines flying above the USX and BNY buildings.
Kate, how on earth did they find them when they nested off of 4th Ave?
Lori, every time they’ve nested away from the Gulf Tower we’ve only found them because someone reported them to me. They are such sneaky birds!
Hi kate, I was wondering if you had any news about Hope.
Not yet. Will write more tomorrow
Oh my, since about 7:50 this evening, Hope has been acting strangely. Loud squawking, almost pacing behavior. And there is another bird nearby squawking back. Man, praying it’s a suitor.
Kate, on Thursday March 24 at 9:56am I found the wings and a few other scraps (section of spinal column, mostly) of a pigeon carcass dropped on the sidewalk outside the Oliver Flowers store on Sixth avenue downtown. No other feathers or mess around it — it wasn’t disassembled and eaten at that spot, so maybe a peregrine dropped it there? Not much of a clue, I know. Do they tend to carry carcasses very far away from the scrape for disposal? Or it could just be that someone has a perch overhead where they eat, away from the scrape.
Sara, they usually have a preparation perch but it is highly variable. Alas, your find just means “A predator of birds was here.”
Kate, what other sites have been used by Louie and Dori? I work at the courthouse and I’ve been keeping an eye out for them but I’m not sure if there are particular locations that I should be focusing on. Thank you