16 March 2020
As soon as I published yesterday’s blog saying “Terzo in charge since March 13,” I was wrong. The unbanded male challenger came back to the Cathedral of Learning.
And then things got silly.
Yesterday was a revolving door of peregrines on the falconcam. Four different birds in 19 appearances, most of them very brief except for Morela alone. You can see how brief the visits were in this Day In A Minute video, 15 March 2020, 7am to 7pm.
The list of players in chronological order is amazing. Notice the boldface surprise!
- Morela
- Morela & Terzo
- Terzo
- Morela & unbanded male
- Unbanded male (later named Ecco)
- Unbanded male
- Unbanded male
- Morela & unbanded male
- Morela & unbanded male
- Morela & unbanded male
- Morela
- Terzo & Dori ! (banded female from Downtown Pittsburgh!)
- Terzo & Dori
- Dori
- Dori
- Morela
- Terzo
- Morela
- Morela
Dori is the resident female from Downtown Pittsburgh, banded in Akron, Ohio in 2010. She bowed with Terzo at 12:36p and twice returned alone. Her bands are black/green M/93 with purple on her right leg. (Click on the photo for the full size image.)
Is Dori house hunting? Is she curious about the crazy goings on at Pitt?
The peregrine drama is verging on comedy.
I have no idea how this will turn out but it’s sure to continue.
Watch the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh for the latest developments.
(all photos are from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)
p.s. Thanks to Kathy Majich for pointing out the banded female’s visit … which turned out to be Dori.
Holy cow! Dori, too!? Just hoping that ownership of the nest is settled soon and none of the birds is harmed.
Thanks for keeping us updated, Kate.
Wow! Why would Dori pay a visit? I second Pa Gal’s sentiment, hoping they all come out okay and settle down.
So, as I figured. . . this is just the neighbors coming to make friends and pay their respects. The unbanded male is probably the new guy from downtown. Has Lori gotten any good pix of him so he can be IDed by facial pattern?
Lori’s photos are way too far away to id him by face, alas.
Kate , when are we to see eggs from Morela? I watch theChesapeke falcons & she has laid 3 already.?!
Pat, I don’t know when Morela will lay eggs. Excitement at the nest has distracted her even more than distracting us.
PA falcon Cam. the falcon has two eggs as of today.
Wow! I’d actually been wondering if the unbanded male could be Dori’s new mate perhaps trying to expand his territory or thinking Morela and Terzo were too close for his liking. I guess Dori doesn’t want to use the 3rd Ave. site by Point Park this year after having her chicks taken away, but you’d think with all the skyscrapers downtown they’d be able to find something suitable there. Are there any places that the Game Commission could install a temporary nestbox until the work on the Gulf Tower is complete so maybe Dori and her mate could find it and leaver Morela and Terzo alone?
I’m not certain that Dori is interested in changing sites. I’m pretty sure she’s curious about all the activity at Pitt — who isn’t? — so maybe she stopped by to find out.
On the subject of temporary accommodations for the Downtown birds: it’s to late to start that in Feb and certainly not in March. To close to egg laying.
Kate, I watch the cam on the Chesapeake falcons & the female has laid 3 eggs..when can we expect to see some from Morela?
Pat, I really don’t know when Morela will begin to lay eggs. The excitement of challengers at the nest tends to delay egg laying a bit.
It’s a bit like a Shakespeare play!