Surprise! There are five eggs at the Gulf Tower peregrine nest… and they’ve been there for two and a half days.
This evening Catherine posted a comment (here) that she thought she saw 5 eggs at the Gulf Tower nest on Saturday but was unable to capture a photo until tonight. She included a photo link with her comment. Aha! Proof!
Spurred on by Catherine’s discovery I went through the motion detection snapshot archives to find the first evidence of five eggs. Here they are on Saturday, March 26 at 12:32pm. Dori and Louie have been so good about covering them that it took Catherine’s sharp eyes to point them out.
This really is March Madness.
Pitt: 5, Gulf: 5.
(photo from the National Aviary webcam at the Gulf Tower)
The big sit just got a whole lot more interesting. 🙂
I guess Dori was not to be outdone! Can’t wait for the little ones to arrive 🙂
How great. Have to drive into Hillman today; I will surely be thinking of all those potential hungry mouths coming in April when I am driving past the Cathedral.
All square at five, same as last year!
I’ll be in town the first week in May, hopefully I’ll get a chance to stop by for a bit, going to be a busy few days though.
It looks like Dori is not sitting on one of her eggs. Is that right?? If so, do you know why?? Thanks.
At 4:45, looks like whoever is sitting on the Gulf nest missed one of the eggs when when they tried to cover them…it looks like an egg is sitting next to them instead of under them.
Well now Kate I have a question. Last yr. when Dori came on the scene 2 eggs were already laid by Tasha and then she laid 3 giving 5 to that nest. But this year she laid 5 of her own. Why did she not lay 5 or her own last year or did she think the 2 already there were hers or was it nature protecting the nest in that 7 eggs would have been overwhelming I imagine to care for that many chicks to fledge. Or is it one of those mysteries we have yet to mull on. Just wondering. These birds and their habits are so fascinating and we have all this time to think before hatching.
Faith, I don’t know the answer but my hunch is that something in nature triggered Dori to stop laying eggs. As you say, I think it was “nature protecting the nest in that 7 eggs would have been overwhelming.”
Kate,
I work downtown in the old Westinghouse building on Stanwix Street. About 2 weeks ago, I believe I saw either Dori or Louie perched atop the PNC building near the Mon Wharf on one of the rainier days. I have kept an eye out since then and have seen the bird several times since then on the same building around my lunchtime at 12:30pm. On March 29th, a coworker and I saw 3 falcons flying around the top of PPG One’s highest tower. It was around 12:45 when I first saw them. They would take turns landing on top of PPG while the others would circle. Later around 2:30 on that sunny afternoon we couldn’t believe it but we saw 7 or 8 and closer to 4pm we counted 12 of them flying over the Mon. These were not pigeons the way they were soaring/flying and they were definitely larger in size and had the coloring of the Peregrines. Are these these the offspring from last year or maybe some born earlier this year looking for their own nesting place??
I will be moving to that PNC building next week so I will no longer have the view to keep a lookout for Louie and Dori. =( I will be visiting the webcams!
I really enjoy your comments and photos of these beautiful creatures. Thank you!
Kristy, your report of 7 to 12 raptors soaring together matches another report I received that turkey vultures have started to perch on buildings downtown. This is the first year I’ve heard of them doing this downtown although I’ve seen them do it on buildings near the Waterfront in Homestead.
Turkey vultures are social birds and like to hang out together. Peregrines (and red-tailed hawks) are highly territorial and will only tolerate their own mate — not others of their own species — near them during the nesting season.
Who knows why the turkey vultures are over by the Mon… I do know that Louie & Dori hate vultures and will attack them if they fly near the Gulf Tower.