21 May 2018, 7:50am:

Last Wednesday one of the Pitt peregrine chicks was bumped into the gully below the nest (see video here).  His mother, Hope, has been feeding him down there.

I thought that the downstairs chick would eventually return to the nest but this morning the opposite happened.  When the down-under chick got his breakfast the upstairs chick couldn’t stand missing out so he jumped into the gully to be fed.

Now they’re all off camera.

I doubt they’ll bother to come upstairs before they fly.

p.s. Dorothy, the previous female peregrine who lived at the Cathedral of Learning for 15 years, did not feed chicks in the gully. Apparently she wanted all of them together upstairs — and coincidentally on camera.  Hope doesn’t play by Dorothy’s rules.

(video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

This week was a busy one for nesting peregrine falcons.  Here’s a long report from our nine peregrine locations in southwestern Pennsylvania.  Today the blog is All Peregrines, All The Time.

1. Downtown Pittsburgh’s peregrines: formerly at Third Avenue

Dori and Louie’s four chicks, taken from their nest on 8 May 2018 via a USFW Special Taking Permit, continue to thrive at Humane Animal Rescue. Click here or on the screenshot above for a video from Humane Animal Rescue’s Facebook page.

Humane Animal Rescue, Update, May 15 at 6:22pm: Rehabilitators at our Wildlife Center continue to provide care for the four chicks removed from a Third Avenue building in Downtown Pittsburgh last week. While the birds are still reliant on staff members wearing our Peregrine puppet for food, they’ve begun to show interest in eating on their own.

Meanwhile, Dori and Louie are rarely seen at their former Third Avenue nest site.  Click here for the entire story.

2. Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

Two chicks were banded at the Cathedral of Learning on 11 May 2018. On Wednesday, May 16, one was bumped off the nest into the gully a few feet below, so now one is topside and the other is underside.

The underside chick’s movements are easy to follow from Schenley Plaza because his mother and father, Hope and Terzo, perch above him along the bulwark.

Yes, the chicks are being fed. There are no photos of the underside feedings but here’s one, above, from topside yesterday. Watch topside activities on the National Aviary’s Cathedral of Learning falconcam.

3. Westinghouse Bridge over Turtle Creek, Monongahela watershed, Allegheny County

On Thursday May 10, Dan Brauning and April Sperfslage of the PA Game Commission visited the Westinghouse Bridge to check on nesting activity.  They found three chicks too young to band — about 15 days old — and two protective parents.  The male’s bands were confirmed as black/green, 19/W, nicknamed George.  The female is unbanded, nicknamed Rose for her rosy cheeks.

If you’d like to watch onsite, click here for a map of 3 viewing locations. The best one is Elder Street (yellow X).

4. Elizabeth Bridge, Monongahela River, Allegheny County

Our newest peregrine family is nesting at the Elizabeth Bridge over the Monongahela River at Elizabeth, PA. Click here for details and where to watch.

5. McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River, Allegheny County

On May 11, PGC’s Dan Brauning and April Sperfslage checked the McKees Rocks bridge for signs of nesting activity but only found two unattended eggs at last year’s nest site.  When John English and I stopped by on Tuesday May 15, we saw no peregrines on the bridge but two soaring together downriver.  It appears that this nest has failed.

6. Neville Island I-79 Bridge, Ohio River, Allegheny County

Whenever you visit the Neville Island I-79 Bridge you are likely to see a peregrine but it’s always on the Glenfield side. Dan Brauning says the nest is on that end of the bridge this year, though he couldn’t get up there to check when he and April visited on May 10.  We can’t be sure of the adults’ identities but they were confirmed three years ago as Magnum (Canton, 2010) and Beau (Cathedral of Learning, 2010, son of Dorothy and E2).

Click here for a map if you’d like to see for yourself.

7. Monaca-East Rochester Bridge, Rt 51, Ohio River, Beaver County

When John English and I visited Rochester’s Riverfront Park on May 15, we were surprised to see an osprey nesting on top of the Monaca-Beaver railroad bridge.  I’d assumed the peregrines would nest there this year but Scott Gregg reports that they have moved to the Monaca-East Rochester Rt 51 bridge because of conflicts with the ospreys.  On 4/26 Scott found the peregrines nesting on the same platform under the Rt 51 deck as in prior years.  However on 5/6 and 5/13 he couldn’t confirm chicks.  John and I saw no peregrines there at all on May 15.

If you’re in the vicinity, look for peregrines on the power towers near the bridge.  Let me know what you see.

8. Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River, Allegheny-Westmoreland Counties

The Tarentum Bridge is one of our newest success stories.  Several years before she moved to Pitt, Hope used to nest in cubbyholes in the arch of the Tarentum Bridge but her nest sites were always over water and dangerous for fledgings.  In 2015 the PA Game Commission installed a nestbox on the bridge pier.  Hope never used it but this year a new peregrine couple has taken up residence.

On Monday May 14 when John English and I visited the bridge we found the female in the nestbox.  John’s photo above shows the location of the nestbox.  My digiscoped photo shows the female inside it.  Stand on the sidewalk on 1st Avenue with a scope or high-powered camera for this view.

On Tuesday evening May 15, Rob Protz reported the first food delivery to the box at 5:40pm. The eggs have hatched!

The parents at this site are a male banded black/green 48/BR at the Westinghouse Bridge in 2014 and an unbanded female who has distinctive dots on her breast.

If you’d like to see this family for yourself, click here for a map.

9. The Graff Bridge, Route 422 Kittanning, Allegheny River, Armstrong County

This photo by Tony Bruno in 2017 shows there are indeed peregrines at the Graff Bridge, Rt 422 Kittanning, but now they are hard to see.  On Monday May 14 John English walked the Armstrong Trail at Manorville to get under the bridge for a better view.  We moved upriver a bit and were pleased to see a peregrine arrive with prey and pluck it vigorously on the West Kittanning side.  We think they’re nesting.

Peek through the trees along the Armstrong Trail, upriver from Manorville, and you might see a peregrine.  Bring a scope or a high-powered camera!

(photo credits:
1. Downtown: screenshot from a video on Humane Animal Rescue’s Facebook page,
2. Cathedral of Learning: photos from the National Aviary falconcams
3. Westinghouse Bridge: photos by April Sperfslage, PGC
4. Elizabeth Bridge: photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA
5. McKees Rocks Bridge: photo from from Wikimedia Commons
6. Neville Island I-79 Bridge: photo by April Sperfslage, PGC
7. Monaca-East Rochester Bridge: photo by Steve Leiendecker, PGC
8. Tarentum Bridge: photos by John English and Kate St. John
9. Graff Bridge, Rt 422: photo by Anthony Bruno)

It happens every year. At 28-35 days old, one of the Pitt peregrine chicks stumbles off the nest surface into the gully below.  People watching the camera get worried. The chick will be fine.

Today (5/16/2018) at 2:52p there was confusion on the nest surface as Hope brought in a dead red-winged blackbird for the afternoon snack.  One of the chicks backed up to the edge of the box and lost his balance.  Oops!  He disappeared from view.

The video above shows what happened.  We can still hear him!  He is close by and he is very annoyed!

Soon he’ll start exploring below and eating the scraps that fell from above. His parents will bring him food. He might come back to the nest or he might not.  He doesn’t need to.  He’s fine.

CORRECTION on FRIDAY MAY 18:  I was wrong when I thought the chick’s parents would not feed him in the gully.  He is being fed where he is so he has no reason to come back up to the gravel where you can see him on camera.

Here’s why I was confused: Dorothy (the previous female peregrine who lived at the Cathedral of Learning for 15 years) did not feed a chick in the gully; she waited for the chick to return.  After 15 years of watching Dorothy I thought all peregrines were like her.  Hope doesn’t play by Dorothy’s rules. Hope feeds the chick no matter where he is.

For more information on the area below the nest and video footage of a chick returning to the nest, see this vintage blog from 2015:   Below The Nest.

A Note to Commenters:  Watch the video of the chick climbing back into the nest at this link — Below The Nest — before you comment.

(video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

p.s. Humans cannot go back to the nest now without risking the death of one/both chicks.  The chicks are beyond banding age, very active but they cannot fly.  Nonetheless, they will jump to their deaths to escape predators (i.e. humans).  Human intervention at this point would be deadly.

May 15, 2018

There’s a new pair of peregrines in the Pittsburgh region and they’ve already got a family.

Back on March 4 I saw one peregrine perched on the Elizabeth Bridge as I was driving home from Westmoreland County.  I was excited because March is peregrine nesting season, they’d never nested at this bridge before, and they hadn’t been seen here since 2015.  One bird doesn’t mean a pair … but it was worth a look.

Reports fell silent for seven weeks and then two peregrines were active at the bridge in late April.  Did their eggs hatch?  If so, where?

On May 2, Elizabeth Cain saw them checking out several cubbyholes.  On May 6 Dana Nesiti photographed an adult carrying food into this truss connector.  They certainly have chicks!

Dana circled the peregrines’ location on his photo below. The connector is labeled “U9” because the bridge is under renovation.  Notice the paint-shrouding at deck level!

Here are more of Dana’s action shots.

I stopped by the Elizabeth Bridge on Sunday May 13 and saw the peregrines team up to chase away a turkey vulture and wail at a passing raven.  They were invisible from the gazebo on South Water Street so I digi-scoped them from the Waterfront parking lot.  Notice that the female has closed her eyes!

If you’d like to see these birds for yourself, stop by Elizabeth Waterfront Park on the Monongahela River in Elizabeth, PA. Go all the way down to the river. They might be out hunting when you arrive, but be patient and they’ll come home. Here’s a map:

The Elizabeth Bridge peregrines bring our southwestern Pennsylvania total to 9 nest sites:

1. Downtown Pittsburgh
2. Cathedral of Learning
3. Westinghouse Bridge (Turtle Creek near Monongahela River)
4. Elizabeth Bridge (Monongahela River)
5. McKees Rocks Bridge (Ohio River)
6. Neville Island I-79 Bridge (Ohio River)
7. Monaca-Beaver area bridge (Ohio River)
8. Tarentum Bridge (Allegheny River)
9. Graff Bridge, Rt 422, Kittanning (Allegheny River)

Erie, PA’s peregrine pair makes it 10 nest sites in all of western Pennsylvania.

I’m doing a tour of the other peregrine nest sites this week.  Stay tuned for more news.

(photos by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA and Kate St. John (see captions). Map embedded from Google maps)

On Tuesday May 8, 2018 four peregrine chicks were taken from Dori and Louie’s Third Avenue nest in Downtown Pittsburgh through a Special Taking Permit granted to developer BET Investments by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  (Federal wildlife agents did not come to retrieve the chicks.  They told the PA Game Commission to do it for them.)

Chicks are settling in and gaining weight:

Update from Humane Animal Rescue on their Facebook page, May 11, 2018: We’re pleased to report that the four chicks admitted to our Wildlife Center on Tuesday are progressing well. They’ve each gained weight & have begun to recognize our Peregrine puppet as their caregiver. HAR Wildlife Center staff members continue to carefully monitor the chicks while donning ghillie suits & the puppet, feeding & cleaning them multiple times per day.

You can see the puppet in the photo at top. Here’s what a ghillie suit looks like:

Sex of the chicks:

The sex of peregrine chicks is determined by their weight at banding — females are much heavier than males — but sometimes their weights are borderline.  Among these four, two were clearly males at banding and two were deemed too close to call. “Unknowns” are given female bands because the larger ring will not bind either sex.

Update on the parents, Dori and Louie:

The adult peregrines, Dori and Louie, are generally absent now from Third Avenue.  Construction has moved to the roof of Keystone Flats, the building that sparked the controversy and led to their chicks’ removal.  Workers will add another floor and a rooftop deck.  Doug Cunzolo stopped by Third Avenue on Friday morning May 11, 2018, took the photo above and reported:

This morning I stopped up at the 3rd. ave. nest site & talked with 2 of the workers there. They said the adults come by from time to time but not to the nest site itself. They were not there at around 8-8:30 am while I was there. There are cranes from the next door parking lot up over the roof & near the nest site moving steel & concrete block up onto the roof. So too much activity for them I would think.

When I stopped by late Sunday the area was quiet and there were no peregrines around.  Dori and Louie have lots of other places to hang out Downtown.  They have not been seen at the Gulf Tower.

Follow the four chicks’ progress at Humane Animal Rescue’s Facebook page.

Though the developer is paying for the chicks’ upkeep you can show your support by donating at the Humane Animal Rescue’s Donation page. Be sure to select Designation “Injured Wildlife” from the pull-down menu! (The chicks are not injured. That’s just the name that insures the gift goes to the Wildlife Center where they are housed.)

(photo credits: chicks’ photos from Humane Animal Rescue Facebook page; Third Avenue construction photo by Doug Cunzolo)