Believe it or not, spring is coming. I can tell because the peregrines are courting.
Despite deep snow in the nestbox Dorothy and E2 have been bowing and courting at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
The motion detection camera captured two of their visits last weekend: an extended one with lots of bowing on Saturday and a quick visit by E2 alone on Sunday. Here, E2 seems to be saying, “What are you looking at?” In fact he’s probably wondering why Dorothy did not answer his call at the nest box on Valentine’s Day.
Here’s a slideshow of both visits. (Click on any image to open the slideshow in its own lightbox.)
A whisp of wings enters from above
(photos from the National Aviary webcam at University of Pittsburgh)
OH!! What a sweet thing saying “Good Morning”! Yippee…soon it will be spring and before we know it, little fluff balls.
I was quietly watching cartoons with 3 little ones under the age of 4 on Sunday. First of all, “quietly” is key here because they have not been quiet all morning. I really need them to be quiet for at least 30 minutes and this cartoon was doing the job. And, I really wasn’t following the story until I realized that big bird in the cartoon was a peregrine falcon. Unexpectedly, I burst out, “That’s a peregrine.” The kids looked at me as if to say, “whatever” and continued quietly watching. I was so excited that I recognized the bird, in all things a cartoon, I almost lost the little quiet time I had.
I’m hooked on peregrines and can’t wait for “cam watch” to start.
Enjoyed show so much, especially with the ever present 1-3″ we seem to have almost daily. I read in PG that they will be doing work on Gulf Bldg. this summer, altho it is not supposed to start until end of June. HOpefully that decision was based on Peregrine nesting. Faith Cornell
This is the best news I’ve heard all day. It’s restored my faith that winter will end, eventually!
Thanks Dorothy and E2!
Re: Faith’s post on the Gulf Bldg renovations. From what I’ve seen in the local papers, the changes are interior and cosmetic, and should not affect the nesting area? I hope!
Anne
Kate have noticed that both of the webcams from Wildearth.TV are up and running. Have seen falcons at both nests, but am unsure who is who. Pictures are great, and with sound, it should be noiser than ever this year.
I plan to announce the cams when the Aviary has them on their own website if that process doesn’t take too much longer. Currently there are a couple of issues with the cams – certainly with the Pittcam. They are not in final form yet.
I will watch for your announcement.
Has the pair stayed in town all winter?
Yes they have. The peregrine pairs at both Pitt and Gulf Tower stay in Pittsburgh year round because there’s enough to eat (pigeons) even in winter.
It’s 9:30 pm, and it appears that Tasha is roosting in her nest box. Is this normal for this early in the season? She couldn’t have possibly laid an egg?? I don’t recall this happening last year with Dorothy until she laid eggs…but the cam wasn’t as clear for the Gulf Tower last year either. She’s been there since around 5pm. (No, I’m not totally obsessed – I just have the laptop set up in the kitchen so my son can see them when he gets home from school and I let it run all evening… :)))
Tasha may be feeling “egg-y.” She usually lays her first egg between March 10th & 17th. So she’s probably staying close to home