Youngster #1 exercising his wings at 25th floor edge (photo by John English)
UPDATE, 4 June 2019, 9:50am: For a short time we thought both had fledged. But only Red flew — back and forth to Heinz Chapel steeple. Yellow was still on the nest rail as of 1:15pm.
Yesterday at the start of Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch, we figured out that a youngster had flown because his parents were perching and flying to unusual places. About 10 minutes later Hope and Terzo flew together — kind of crazy — and John English saw a third bird flying with them. Alas, I missed seeing that third bird.
But I found him on the 25th floor corner in the shade.
First fledgling, 25th floor, 3 June 2019 (photo by John English)
Eventually the sun moved.
He warmed up and flap-walked to the corner of 25 (top photo) and then disappeared, probably down to the patio. His parents flew above and perched nearby to check on him.
Youngster #1 kept going. By 3:40p, Peter Bell saw him on the edge of 16 facing Heinz Chapel. He’d already completed the circle tour of the Cathedral of Learning.
Meanwhile his brother was still on the nest rail when Fledge Watch ended at 1pm. He will probably fly today.
Come on down to Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch today at Schenley Plaza, 11a to 1p. I predict this will be the best day to watch.
CANCELLATION UPDATE: We are canceling tomorrow’s Fledge Watch for Wed 5 June. Thunderstorms are in the forecast and the birds will be flying too well to find them. I chased ‘Red’ around the building twice today. This means that Fledge Watch ended today, Tues 4 June.
p.s. In case you haven’t noticed it’s All Peregrines, All The Time this week.
The peregrine family at the Cathedral of Learning was up before dawn this morning. By the time the sun rose at 5:50a, Hope and Terzo had already been gone 10 minutes to get food. The youngsters waited and watched for breakfast.
Above, a youngster watches the sky for incoming parents. Below, he climbs higher for a better view.
Young peregrine walks on the nest rail, 1 June 2019, 12:57p (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Yesterday at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch we saw Hope and Terzo give flight demonstrations and perch up high. The youngsters ledge walked back and forth from the nest to the nest rail. Half the time they were up above, the other half they were out of sight.
Here are a few photos from Saturday June 1. The captions tell the story.
Hope on the roof edge. The equipment is not near her, it just looks that way (photo by John English)Two youngsters on the nest rail, 1 June 2019 (photo by John English)
When they’re not on the nest rail they explore near the nest. Can you see both of them in these photos?
At this moment (6am on June 2) it looks like there will be a gap in the storms just in time for Fledge Watch. If so we’ll be there from 11a to 1p. We’ll cancel for rain or thunder.
This year the PA Game Commission will track a few young peregrine falcons using nanotags and MOTUS technology.
Nanotags are very small transmitters that communicate with cell towers using MOTUS technology. The nanotags are so small that even a migrating dragonfly can wear one, shown below. Click here to read how the tags work and see one on a piping plover.
During the typical banding nest visit peregrine falcon chicks are not old enough to attach the transmitters — they need to have real feathers. Instead, PGC Endangered Species Biologist Patti Barber will attach the tags to healthy grounded fledglings that are rescued and about to be released by PGC Game Wardens.
As always, if you find a fledgling on the ground corral it to a safe zone and call the PGC ârescueâ number: 724-238-9523. The Game Warden will contact Patti Barber and, if she’s in the area, she’ll come attach the tiny tracking device. The fledgling will be on its way … and we’ll know where it goes!
(photo of young peregrine by Nancy Weixel in 2011, screenshot of dragonfly from MOTUS website)
Peregrine chick at the nest opening, Downtown Pittsburgh, 30 May 2019 (photo by Lori Maggio)
The peregrine falcon chicks at Pittsburgh’s two city nests were active yesterday, 30 May 2019.
In Downtown Pittsburgh Lori Maggio saw one of the four chicks at the nest opening before 8am. Their presence was variable, though. When Mary de Vaughn stopped by in the evening there was nothing to see.
Meanwhile at Pitt the chicks were very active. They spent most of the day ledge walking but came down to the nest for a variety of reasons.
At 7:13a one of them made a visit while Terzo was on the green perch.
A chick comes down to the nest while Terzo is there (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
… and visited the snapshot camera.
Eyeing the snapshot camera (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)
At 7:20a Yellow spent time “wing-ercising.”
Wing-ercising, 30 May 2019, 7:20a (National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) Yellow pauses on the green perch, 30 May 2019, 7:20a (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
This Day-in-a-Minute video shows how often they visited the nest yesterday (30 May 2019) — a lot more than we realize.
Come down to Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza today, Friday 31 May 2019, noon-1p. Anne Marie Bosnyak saw a lot of activity last evening. I think we’ll have a good show today.
(photo of Downtown chick by Lori Maggio, photos and video at the Cathedral of Learning nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Downtown Pittsburgh peregrines nest with adult flying away, as seen from Mt. Washington, 27 May 2019 (photo by Lori Maggio)
We can’t see into the Downtown peregrines’ nest from the street, but we can from Mt. Washington, across the river from Downtown Pittsburgh.
On Memorial Day Lori Maggio took photos from the Mt. Washington overlook nearest the Mon Incline. Though these super-zoomed images are fuzzy, you can see three of four chicks and an adult flying from the nest (above), and four chicks in the photo below. The chicks are still white, clearly younger than the peregrine chicks at the Cathedral of Learning.
Four peregrine chicks in the Downtown Pittsburgh nest, as seen from Mt. Washington, 27 May 2019 (photo by Lori Maggio)
Yesterday the Pitt peregrine chicks walked off their nest and out of camera view (see They Walked Off The Nest). Though the youngsters may return briefly, you’re more likely to see their parents on camera.
This morning Terzo stepped into view for less than a minute, then paused on the green perch. The streaming camera is zoomed too close to see that perch but Terzo was visible on the snapshot camera at 6:11am. The screenshot below is from FALCONCAM – CL snapshots (listed in Resources on the righthand side of my blog). This link is the easiest way to see if anyone’s home.
Tomorrow, 31 May 2019, I’ll be at Schenley Plaza near the tent from noon to 1pm. Stop by if you get a chance. I’ll bring my scope so we’ll get the best possible view of the birds.
(photos of Downtown nest by Lori Maggio, Cathedral of Learning nest screenshot from FALCONCAMS – CL snapshot)
Pitt peregrine chicks waiting for breakfast, 29 May 2019, 6:03:58
"Red" flaps his wings
Both flap and hop
Whining for breakfast, 29 May 2019, 6:07:45
One of them climbs up to the snapshot camera
Both in view
Back down to the green perch ...
... and then he walks up the other side as his brother watches
Brother is leaving, too, walking off to the left
Both are on the ledge up above the cameras at 6:18:44, 29 May.
This morning at 6:18am both of the Pitt peregrine chicks walked off the nest and out of camera view. They’re now officially ledge walking.
The slideshow above covers 13 minutes of activity, just long enough to show them bouncing around, whining at their parents (not in sight), and disappearing from camera view.
I visited Schenley Plaza at 10:45am and found both of them on the nest rail watching the world go by. Here’s Peter Bell’s picture from last year, 27 May 2018, that shows what they look like today (if I could take a picture).
Two youngsters on the railing, 27 May 2018 (photo by Peter Bell)
Now that they’re off camera the best way to see them is from Schenley Plaza. Stay tuned for a (possible) revision to the Fledge Watch schedule. Maybe Friday. Not Thursday because it’s going to storm.
Have you encountered incredibly energetic earthworms in your garden that thrash violently when you touch them? Do they break off their own tails to escape? If so, your garden is probably home to a new invasive species: the Asian jumping worm (Amynthas spp).
Asian jumping worms resemble the European earthworms that live nearly everywhere in the U.S. and are appreciated in gardens and compost heaps because they mix the soil (though they cause trouble in northern forests).
The European species arrived in North America in the 1600’s in root balls and ballast. Here’s a photo of one species, Lumbricus terrestris, that we find on sidewalks on rainy days.
The jumping worms’ lifestyle causes problems. They move fast, writhe and thrash, reproduce prolifically, and can live in higher densities than European earthworms. Instead of mixing the soil they live on the surface, devouring all the leaf litter and flooding the soil with nutrients that quickly wash away. When they invade the forest, the soil becomes barren and no plants grow. This 3-minute video shows why Asian jumping worms are so bad in our forests.
Asian jumping worms are in the Pittsburgh area but most of us don’t realize it. I remember finding crazy writhing earthworms while weeding my front garden several years ago and watching robins struggling to hold them. I didn’t know the worms were something new until Master Gardener Dianne Machesney gave a presentation about them at Wissahickon Nature Club.
As awareness grows about Asian jumping worms, garden clubs have stopped sharing plants in the traditional way. Dianne told us that her own garden club and the Master Gardeners Plant Sale specified that donated plants must be cleansed of dirt and re-potted in store bought soil.
Does your garden have these worms? Penn State Extension describes how to find out:
How do you know if you have Asian earthworms? Scratch the upper surface of the soil in your garden. If you uncover many worms writhing and twisting like snakes, you most likely have Asian earthworms. These worms, which can reach 6 inches in length, are much more active than European earthworms.
The clitellum–the prominent band around the body of the earthworm–is also different. On a jumping worm, the band completely encircles the body and is creamy white to light gray. In comparison, the clitellum of European earthworms does not wrap entirely around the body and is slightly raised.
Nests look like safe havens for baby birds but if they’re not kept clean they can quickly become infested with pathogens and parasites, or their smell can attract predators. For songbirds it’s especially important to keep their nests clean. Fortunately their bodies have evolved to make this easy.
In the photo above, a western bluebird is taking out the garbage after visiting his nest. In his beak is a fecal sac, a package of white mucous membrane surrounding the feces of one of his nestlings. Every nestling produces a fecal sac shortly after eating. The packaging makes it easy to keep the nest clean.
What the parents do with the fecal sacs depends on the species. Most drop them far away from the nest but some species, such as American robins, consume the fecal sacs while the nestlings are quite young and carry the sacs away when the nestlings are older.
Just before songbirds fledge their bodies switch from producing fecal sacs to defecating wet feces over the edge of the nest. Robins’ nests don’t have whitewash beneath them until you can see the youngsters above the nest rim. By the time they are messy, baby robins are almost out of there.
Birds of prey aren’t as fastidious. If you watch peregrine and bald eagle nestcams, you’ll see two differences in their nest sanitation:
Raptor nestlings don’t produce fecal sacs. Instead they back up to the edge and aim wet feces away from the nest.
As the nestlings age the parents become lazy housekeepers, often leaving food debris at the nest as a self serve snack for the young.
Birds of prey aren’t worried that predators will smell their nests. That’s why they don’t always take out the garbage.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)
Even though I don’t grow tomatoes I know a gardening rule of thumb from 40 years ago: “Don’t plant tomatoes outdoors in Pittsburgh until Memorial Day.”
But times have changed. Our growing season is longer than it used to be. USDA’s 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone map has a warm stripe that follows the Monongahela and Ohio valleys.
Neighborhood gardening friends know it, too. They told me, “You can plant tomatoes in mid-May if you want.”
Well, believe it or not I’m not a gardener. When the growing season arrives I spend all my time birding. Around Memorial Day (today) I glance at the garden and think, âSomething must be done!â I go out there with my Newcombâs Wildflower Guide and identify whatâs growing. I pull out only the noxious weeds and leave everything else in place. At least I know king devil when I see it.
Today isn’t tomato planting day at my house, but I might pull a weed or two.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons, map from USDA. Click on the captions to see the originals)
