Most of the Gulf Tower peregrine fledglings are flying now and increasingly hard to find so yesterday I asked “Where are they now?”
I shouldn’t have tempted The Fates.
Last night a fledgling answered my question with, “Here!” and caused quite a stir.
Around 6:00pm Tuesday evening, email was abuzz with news from the webcam watchers. Jennie had heard from a friend that a peregrine was on the ground near the Federal Reserve Bank on Grant Street.
Jennie wasn’t downtown but she knew to call Game Commission Dispatch (724-238-9523). The dispatcher knew all about the bird. Yes, an officer answered that call and reported the bird DOA.
Dead??? Oh no!
By the time I got into email at 8:00pm everyone was grieving but no one was sure what had happened. Neither was I, so I left a message for WCO Beth Fife who was out of town. Beth gathered the information and called me back. What really happened was…
During rush hour pedestrians on Grant Street noticed a very beautiful young peregrine perched on a railing near the Federal Reserve Bank. Many stopped to take pictures. One of them called the Game Commission. The bird did not move.
When the Game Commission officer arrived to rescue the bird she wouldn’t let him near her. Instead she flew away past the Federal Building and landed on top of the bus station — proving she can fly and land six stories up. Nothing wrong with her!
The officer reported her “GOA” (Gone On Arrival), which sounds a heckuva lot like DOA, and that’s how we all got confused.
Here she is perched on the railing last night in a photo by Jim Altier. Jim is from Youngstown and just started working in the Gulf Tower on Monday. He happened to walk by while she was posing for everyone. (She has blue tape on her right leg band; she’s one of the two female chicks.)
What luck for Jim to see a peregrine so close on his second day in town! Welcome to Pittsburgh, Jim, and thanks for the photo.
(photo by Jim Altier)
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p.s. Thurs, June 24, 2:30pm: Check the comments for more news on these fledglings. The other female (white tape) was on the ground midday today with a wing problem & is on her way to rehab.
p.s. Fri, June 25, 9:20am: White-tape (Gulf Tower female) has a head injury. She will be in rehab for quite a while.
Thanks, Jim, for the great photo. She really is a beautiful young peregrine. And thanks to you, Kate, for clearing up the confusion.
Kate, thanks for the update on blue, and the great photo from Jim! I am without power after the nasty storms tonite, but am able to check your blog from my iphone. I can’t watch the streaming cam, but am happy to be able to get a peregrine fix thru your blog. She is gorgeous!
Thank you, Jim, for awesome photo; thank you Kate for the update. It was a honor to watch the cam and learn a lot from everyone.
It is wonderful that Blue is fine!
Thanks to Jim for the great pic! And thanks to Kate for the informative story. That was quite the detective work to get all of the information together!
What a great photo from an experience I can’t begin to imagine. Thanks for sharing. She’s certainly standing tall and doesn’t look nearly as fluffy/bulky as I’d envisioned…not that I had anything to really base that on – now I do! Thanks again.
Someone said there was a falcon in the play yard at the Federated Building this afternoon during the lunch hour. Wonder if it was Blue again???
Correction – Someone said there was a falcon in the play yard at the FEDERAL Building this afternoon during the lunch hour. I wonder if it was Blue again?
Nancy, Thanks for the news.
Our Game Commission WCO Beth Fife just called me. (Beth’s the one who bands the peregrines.)
Beth just retrieved the other female fledgling from the spot you described above. This one has white tape on right band; some call her “Baby” in the chat.
Baby’s right wing isn’t moving well so Beth is taking her to rehab for a full medical exam& medical attention if she needs it. (She probably does. Beth knows what
she’s looking at.) I’ll update you on my blog when I know more but that may be
weeks from now.
In the past: We had a fledgling with a similar problem at Pitt in 2005. His broke his collarbone, was in rehab for 6 weeks, then went to a falconer to re-learn how to fly & hunt. The falconer was going to release him in spring 2006 but before he could the bird released himself (so to speak). While out on a training mission in Feb of 2006 the bird just flew away, basically said, “I know what I’m doing now. Bye. Bye.”
So if it’s a broken bone it’s likely she’ll heal & learn to fly & then be on her own, depending on the severity of the break.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Beth! Appreciation and heartfelt thanks to everyone keeping watch over the Peregrines.
Kate – thank you for keeping us so informed on our “babies”! I enjoy reading your blog!
Sending lots of healing thoughts Baby’s way!
Thanks, Kate, for giving all the fans of these beautiful birds the latest information. With so many people holding “Baby” in their hearts, and with talented and dedicated people looking after her, she should be just fine. Not to say we won’t still worry about what kind of trouble she’s getting into 🙂
thank you for all the news; can’t seem to watch anymore, prob. not in nest anyway. can still see Phoenix the eagle in Canada.I remember the one from last year & it has a happy ending so we are ever optimistic.
Boy this is so delicate with with White-tape GT female.. right after Green Boy, just a rough couple days here.. Do we know how it happened? On thur there was a reference to a wing problem; so it’s both the wing and the head injury that occurred at the same time? Does “for a while” mean weeks, months in your experience with these type of injuries? Head and wing injury seems very serious from afar.
Beth Fife’s guess on Thurs was a wing problem or broken bone, based on behavior. The doctor checked. It isn’t a broken bone/wing that caused low flight – it’s a head injury. The diagnosis changed. That’s why the news has been confusing.
Kate – looks like your June 24 curse again with these babies……. Hope she is better soon. Was she the last one out of the nest? That one always looked so unsteady. Any news on Yellow Girl from COL?
BEAUTIFUL. She was enjoying the sites of downtown Pittsburgh and checking out of the people there too. She must have some good stories to tell.