3 April 2020:

Peregrine news is sparse this year because we are (and should be!) staying close to home to stop the spread of COVID-19. Fortunately Dana Nesiti is monitoring the Westinghouse Bridge where he photographs the peregrines despite very poor lighting.

On 1 April Dana confirmed there’s a new pair at Westinghouse — an unbanded male and a banded female — when he captured clear images of the female’s bands.

The female peregrine, Black/Blue 48/N, hatched in 2016 at the Tower Building in South Bend, Indiana. She was first photographed in the Pittsburgh area at the Hulton Bridge by Gina Gilmore in January 2019 and may have nested at the 62nd Street Bridge in 2019. She was seen at 62nd Street in August and October but not in late 2019. Now we know where she is.

Her unbanded mate is shown in two photos below. He’s the one that flies off after mating.

Both birds are new to the site. The previous pair was a banded male (“George” from Cobb Island VA in 2006) and an unbanded female nicknamed “Rose.”

Since Dana saw both peregrines away from the scrape this week, we know that incubation had not yet begun at Westinghouse.

Thank you, Dana, for your excellent detective work!

p.s. Follow Dana’s bald eagle photos on Facebook at Eagles of Hays PA.

(photos by Dana Nesiti)