August is a good time for peregrines to wander.
Yesterday evening Rob Protz found Hope hanging out at the Tarentum Bridge, her former nest site from 2010 to 2015 before she came to the Cathedral of Learning.
Earlier in the day Karen Lang and I looked for Pitt’s peregrines with no success. Now we know why.
Rob’s sighting explains where Hope was. I wonder where Terzo goes when he’s not at Pitt …
(photo by Rob Protz)
p.s. And after I published this, Dori visited the Gulf Tower at 7:30am.
Oh my, Hope. She is going to lose the Cathedral if she keeps wandering away. Time will tell, I suppose.
So nice to see Dori at Gulf Tower. She and Louie really seemed to want to nest there this past season, but they tricked us, didn’t they!? Hoping that they choose this location in the coming year.
Thank you for that update, Kate. And I agree, PA Gal.
Does anyone else think that there might be just too much gravel in the box at Gulf? I’ve never seen a nest box so full before, so just a thought.
I would love to have Dori and Louie nest there this next season, so hoping they can be encouraged to do so.
NorCa, there’s not too much gravel. I was there when Art McMorris put it in. Here’s the link
http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2015/12/11/new-digs-2/
Thanks for the link to the nest refurbishing. Seeing him standing in it while drilling the drainage holes makes you realize how large it really is. Plus 6 bags of gravel is quite a bit.
Hi Kate, I’ve been having to view the cams on http://www.wildearth, my device, I’m sure, can’t get the Aviary to load. But their info is pretty outdated on the Cathedral Falcons, it reads:
These Peregrine falcons have nested at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning since 2002. Dorothy and E2 are the parents at this site. Dorothy began nesting here in 2002 with her first mate; Erie. E2 arrived in the fall of 2007 when Erie disappeared. Dorothy fledged 22 chicks in seven years with Erie and 19 chicks since 2008 with E2.
The cam is made possible by Pix Controller and the National Aviary and this is the 4th years that WildEarth is broadcasting this amazing pair and their nest. She has not yet laid any eggs but we expect her to soon …
I just wondered if anyone else had noticed. According to wildearth Dorothy and E2 are alive and well and expected to have more chicks! Lol, not laughing at them, but it’s kinda funny and a bit misleading. Thank you, love your blog!
Cindy P, thanks for pointing this out. I’ll get in touch with the folks who can change it. ..At this point it may be futile to say who nests there!
Guess who’s back at Pitt? It’s Hope. Sunday afternoon, cam time approximately 15:29.
Kate,
I was just curious about something. I remember you saying a few times that with peregrines their loyalty to their nesting site is greater than their loyalty to their mate. Since Hope has gone off for days at a time at least 3 times (or more) so far, and she was spotted at the Tarentum bridge in July, then again this past Friday, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that is where she’s going each time she is gone from the Cathedral for days at a time.
Maybe she is conflicted and her loyalty is still to the Tarentum site since she was there for 5 years, and only came to the Cathedral to mate with and have babies with E2 since she didn’t have a mate at her site.
Even though Terzo is here, and the Cathedral is a prime spot I’m wondering if she just can’t seem to leave her former site in the past and could possibly want to return there if she would attract another mate there. I was just wondering what you thought about that.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure Hope out and it’s hard. But I do hope that she decides to stay at the Cathedral.
Carol D, Your thoughts on Hope’s loyalties are similar to mine. But as you say, she’s hard to figure out.
Kate,
Is there any plans to refurbish the box at the Cathedral?
gjlfdl, it will be cleaned up & a carpet put back on the perch. It does not need new gravel. Gulf Tower needed new gravel because there were no drainage holes. The boxes have to drain, otherwise it’s bad for the eggs.. The indication that Gulf was not draining were the lush weeds that grew in that box.
I wonder if Hope is hoping she can hold both Tarentum and Cathedral sites?