1 June 2020
Yesterday Michael Potoski remarked that he hadn’t been watching the falconcam often “but when I do look it seems the eggs keep moving to different positions with no sign of Morela, Terzo or Ecco.” A mystery! So I looked into it.
Sunday 31 May 2020 was a very active day at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest even though the eggs are no longer incubated. In this Day-in-a-Minute video you can see Morela come to the nest at 9:20am and move the eggs into a pile. Then at 10:05am Terzo shows up for one of many visits.
It was chilly yesterday with a northwest wind but the nest side of the building was out of the wind and in full sun. At 12:15pm Terzo arrived to sunbathe for about an hour.
Then at 1:50pm Morela came too and bowed with Terzo for more than 4 minutes. This is the longest time they’ve spent together at the nest since Ecco, his rival, made Terzo so cautious. This video includes the full 4.5 minutes even though there’s not much action.
Terzo was on camera a lot yesterday. Ecco was absent, at least for the day.
(photos and video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)
Thanks, Kate. Mystery solved. You make my day, every day. Great blog and it’s greatly appreciated.
Kate, is it possible for Falcons to have a second clutch of eggs? It sometimes occurs with Bald Eagles. There is a nest in Florida with a second clutch of 2 eaglets ready to fledge. The first clutch had only one eaglet which died from some sort of blood infection. Is a second clutch possible with Falcons? I watched Morela and Terzo yesterday and wondered what it meant now that the eggs are no longer viable.
Mary, June is too late in the season for a second clutch.
Kate, around 11:30 today (June 1), Terzo was in the nest by the eggs. Shortly afterwards, Morela flew in. They stared a each other and chirped for about 10 minutes. Then Terzo flew out.
What does this mean? I can’t tell whether they are happy or unhappy. Sorry to keep asking questions, but I don’t know much about Falcons, and this nest has been so different and interesting this year.
They are cementing their pair bond. Happy/unhappy aren’t words I’d use to describe it.
What a strange year-in many ways. Glad to see Terzo back
Kate, Does Morela have a preference or any ‘say’ about who ultimately wins the nest/territory? Or does she just accept the winner of this lengthy battle since it seems she’s receptive to both of them?
A very aggressive male will win on his own, but that’s not what’s happening here. Morela has some say in which male wins but it’s complicated because each bird is an individual with behaviors and preferences learned over time and by interacting with each other.
Terzo in the nest again today at 10:30. How long he’s been there, I don’t know. There was another bird earlier but I wasn’t able to see any bands. Guessing it was Morela. Whoever it was softly e-chupped for a bit. Nice to see they are still around and visiting.
Just as I finished the earlier post, Morela arrived at 10:32. She and Terzo bowed together, she at the front of the nest, he at the back. He flew off at 10:36. Morela is standing near the eggs, almost looking like she was going to sit on them but she didn’t. She flew off at 10:49.
Morela is back in the nest since I first looked in at around 11:45. I’ve seen her in the nest at least once each day and also with Terzo as stated in the comments from Pa Gal. I hope this means they are bonding well. She deserves a good mate.
Goodness, Terzo is certainly in no hurry to leave the nest today. He’s been there for a long time, sunning himself and stretching his wings. Too bad he went MIA earlier in the season.
At 2:37 pm Morela and Terzo were bowing together. How long they had been there I do not know. He left right after I checked the site. Earlier today, sorry don’t remember the time, Terzo sat for the briefest moment on the eggs, and then stood over them for a time. He really has been there for long periods, not the seconds when he was competing with Ecco. Has Ecco been around?
I haven’t seen Ecco in a long time, but who knows?