4 March 2020:
Yesterday there were many turnovers and surprises in the contest between Terzo and the unbanded male peregrine vying for the Cathedral of Learning nest. By the end of Tuesday there was still no clear winner. Here’s the play-by-play in snapshots on 3 March 2020. All photos are from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh.
7:08-7:19a: Terzo brings food for Morela which she holds as they bow at the nest.
7:52-9:49a: Morela waits in the rain. (The blob is a raindrop on the camera cover.)
11:50-11:53a: New male briefly visits the nest and bows with Morela who raises her tail high.
12:29-12:34p: Surprise! Terzo in the gully, jumps up to bow with Morela.
2:38-2:43p: Morela at the nest alone.
3:11-3:29p: New male bows with Morela, then scans the sky for Terzo (photo at top). Terzo is still out there, as he proves later in the day!
5:33-5:35p: Terzo calls to Morela and they bow at the nest. After he leaves she remains at the nest.
Lingering until 6:18p: As the day ends Morela leaves to roost elsewhere on the building.
The contest between Terzo and an unbanded male will continue until someone wins.
Watch today for the latest developments at the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh.
p.s. Today (4 March 2020) at 6:55am Terzo and Morela bowed at the nest.
(photos from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)
p.s. the new male was later named Ecco.
This is exciting, so much drama!
Will this end with a fight to the death between the males or will one just go away? I’m hoping there won’t be any more blood shed at that nest. But I guess we are observing nature.
This is so awesome to watch! Thank you for the updates!
And we thought that with Hope gone, we were in for a less dramatic season. Boy, were we mistaken. Guess the new male heard about how “livable” our city has become so he moved in to a great studio apartment with a killer view. The saga continues…
Same in Harrisburg with 38/S challenging “Lil Dad” W/V again over the winter.
Thx Kate for posting!
I keep checking to see who will it be…Will she mate with only one or both?
I’m going to say that she will mate with both in her hopes of producing eggs. Will we or won’t we know? Stay tuned for the next episode of “How the Nest Turns!”
Evening traffic leaving Schenley toward Greenfield has afforded me the opportunity once last week and again today to spot what I’m pretty certain was a peregrine flying overhead near the Greenfield bridge. Couldn’t get a long enough look to determine whether they were banded, but interesting considering the contest afoot / aflight.
Deane, I’m glad to hear the traffic has a silver lining. Next time you see the bird, check out its tail (when the sun shines through is it rusty?) and look for patagial marks on underside of wings (the dark front edge of wing as seen from the underside). (Patagials are a red-tail characteristic.) A pair of red-tailed hawks is very actively patrolling the airspace over the Greenfield Bridge because they’re going to nest near it. Probably the same nest site as last year. … I saw the red-tails a lot yesterday.
Speaking of seeing what you want to see. Spotted again yesterday and this morning, first over the Greenfield Bridge, then a couple minutes later briefly visiting a nest near the intersection of Hobart and Greenfield. 100% red tail hawk.