2016 was another successful nesting year for the Downtown Pittsburgh peregrine falcons even though they didn’t choose the Gulf Tower nestcam site.
- Dori and Louie began the year at the Gulf Tower nest and visited frequently until mid-March. Then they disappeared. What a bummer!
- We knew they were nesting Downtown but couldn’t find them for almost two months.
- On May 9 Lori Maggio saw them bringing food to their old nest site on Third Avenue. (This location is inaccessible for banding.)
- The chicks appeared at the nest opening on May 31 so we ramped up Fledge Watch.
- Four chicks fledged within three days: June 6-8.
- One fledgling landed on Wood Street and was taken to the Rescue Porch. He flew successfully the next day.
- After the chicks were independent, Dori and Louie spent the rest of the year visiting all three of their former nest sites.
Watch the 2016 slideshow below. Click on any photo to see it full-screen.
Which nest site will Dori and Louie pick this year?
Dori was at the Gulf Tower this morning (above).
Stay tuned.
(slideshow photos by the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower, Peter Bell, Matt Digiacomo, John English, Ann Hohn, Lori Maggio and Amanda McGuire)
Ow! You had to use that photo of fat, ugly, me with 3 pretty women on the sidewalk on 3rd Ave, didn’t you??? 😉
I’m so excited for a new season of Falcon watching!! I just saw one on the scrape, red band that had N21 or 25 on it. Don’t know who that is.
Are you referring to C of L scrape? There are 2, you know.
Anyhow, if you are, Terzo is N-black / 29-red.
Seehttp://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/29/his-name-is-terzo/
Do you know what ever happened to the chicks? Have the remained in the area? Would they have nests of their own this year?
Bethany, since the chicks were not banded there is no way to identify them if/when they are found elsewhere.
Rob, I’m not sure if you are referencing my comment or not, but it was a small falcon on the Pittsburgh (CofL) scrape. I have a picture and the N-black/2?-red tag is clear, but not the second number. I also caught a glimpse when he was on the ledge and thought it was 25, could be 29. Just glad to see them again. There is a falcon at Gulf right now!!!! I’m from Michigan so I look forward to watching these cams. Thank you.
I see on the cam that Dori has been spending a lot of time at the Gulf Tower tending to her scrapes and just hanging out. Fingers crossed!
This morning I noticed something on the pillar that she likes to perch on. Could that be a pellet? I checked and it wasn’t there last night.
Lori, I saw that too. I don’t know what it is but a pellet is a good guess.
A falcon has been at gulf nest all night and most of tday fingers crossed. Did a falcon get hit with car in downtown today??
Patricia, someone said a dead “falcon” was on Grant Street at lunchtime yesterday (Tues), but no one sent a photo of the bird and no one reported that they read its band number if it was banded. Without that information, none of us could identify the bird. It might have been a hawk, not a falcon. Meanwhile, both Downtown peregrines have been seen on camera since the incident so they are fine.
Thank you am very happy to hear our falcons are fine. Not happy that maybe a falcon from somewhere else may be gone.
On Monday afternoon there was a juvenile Coopers Hawk that was flying around near Grant and Forbes and perching on several buildings. I got a few pictures and it did not appear to be banded, if that was the bird that was mentioned above.