3 June 2024

Yesterday, 2 June, at 3:30pm I saw two Pitt peregrine chicks on the streaming cam so it appeared that neither one had flown. By the time I got to Fledge Watch at 4:30pm there was only one youngster on the nestrail and only one chick present when Ecco brought food.

If the other chick had been anywhere nearby he would have been front and center at the Sunday afternoon feeding. This was a very strong hint that he had flown.

A second hint came when Ecco took away the prey about halfway through the feeding and flew it to the Fifth Avenue side of the Cathedral of Learning. The fledged chick was probably over there, but by the time I could walk to that side there was nothing to see. The fledged chick was probably sleeping off his feast on a high patio.

Fledge Watch is scheduled today for 11:30am-12:30pm at Schenley Plaza. If both chicks have flown I’ll cancel Tuesday’s Fledge Watch because they’ll be impossible to see without chasing them around the Cathedral of Learning.

UPDATE, 3 JUNE 2024 at 11:00am Both chicks have flown. The remainder of Fledge Watch is cancelled. Thanks to Jenna Burdette, who witnessed the flight of the second chick, we know it fledged at 7:00pm on Sunday 2 June.

3 June 2024

The Pitt peregrines have absorbed so much attention that I’ve hardly thought about the Downtown peregrine family only 3 miles away. During a free moment on Saturday I stopped by Third Avenue to see them.

Standing near 353 Third Avenue I saw both adults watching the nest from above. The female was on one of Lawrence Hall’s gargoyles, the male was on the green crossbar above the nest and one chick was visible at the nest opening (photo at top).

The nest itself is not visible from the street so I drove to Mt Washington overlook near the Monongahela Incline on Grandview Ave to look into the nest with my scope. I saw four chicks at the nest! This digiscope photo is terrible but the yellow notes explain what I saw.

There are two good reasons to go see this site soon.

1. Because the nest ledge is only 12 stories high it is easy to see and photograph the youngsters when they flap or perch at the nest edge. I took this digiscoped photo using my cellphone one year ago today on 3 JUNE 2023.

2. The nest ledge is so low that half the fledglings land on the ground each year and need human help to get up high again on the “Rescue Porch.” Here’s the story of a fledgling rescued last year: Take Me To the Rescue Porch.

Visit Third Avenue SOON to see the Downtown peregrines about to fledge. Here’s where to see them 40.43855, -80.00055. They’ll be gone by the end of the week.

Look at the ledge indicated by the yellow arrow below.

2 June 2024

Yesterday, while I was away at the PA Society of Ornithology annual conference, Charity Kheshgi stopped by Schenley Plaza to check on the Pitt peregrines. Both youngsters were still on the nestrail so they probably hadn’t flown yet. But you can see from Charity’s photos and videos that these two were getting ready.

I think one of them will fly today … if it hasn’t already.

(You’ll hear some background noise in the videos: a robin singing and the beeps and announcements from a nearby walk sign.)

Ta dah! She reached the far side.

Come on down to Fledge Watch today at 4:30pm. Click here for more information.

29 May 2024

While the male chick, Yellow, spent most of yesterday off camera, the National Aviary adjusted the falconcam to view the female chick (Blue) on the green perch. When she wasn’t preening or snoozing she flapped a lot to exercise her wings. See and hear(!) the flapping in this 2-minute video.

When Blue stops flapping she does a very juvenile thing. She doesn’t close her wings and tuck them up. She just lets them droop.

Young wings get tired.

p.s. Come on down to Schenley Plaza to watch the peregrines getting ready to fly.

Click here for the Fledge Watch Schedule, 5/30 through 6/4 near Schenley Plaza tent

• Morning slot — 11:30am to 12:30pm on 5/31 and 6/3
• Afternoon slot — 4:30pm to 5:30pm on 5/30, 6/1, 6/2, 6/4

Fledge Watch is weather dependent and will be canceled for rain or thunder. If no one shows up I might stay only 30 minutes, so come at the beginning not at the end. Before you come, check my Events Page for cancellations.

28 May 2024

Yesterday evening the smaller of the two Pitt peregrine chicks, “Yellow”(*), jumped up to the nestrail and out of camera view. This sequence from the snapshot camera shows where he went.

Peregrine chick “Yellow” hops up out of camera view, 27 May 2024, 7:06pm

The streaming camera never saw it. Meanwhile the remaining chick, female “Blue”(*), remained on the green perch.

Sometimes she wasn’t visible on the streaming camera but you can see the entire area here on the snapshot page.

As I was writing this, Yellow came back down to the nest. Visible on the snapshot camera (top) and streaming camera (bottom).

In the next couple of days the number of chicks at the nest will fluctuate until both are gone. Don’t worry. They are stepping up to the nestrail — the “runway” — where they’ll learn to fly.

Yellow’s first step happened much sooner than I expected. Fledge Watch might be too late to see him!

(*) Names: Yellow and Blue are temporarily named for the colored tape placed on their USFW bands when they were banded last week. Yellow is the smaller one, likely male. Blue is the larger and definitely female.

26 May 2024

Though the Pitt peregrine chicks are turning brown, they still have tufts of down and white pantaloons on their legs. It’s hard to believe that by the end of the week they will ledge walk off the nest and out of camera view. One of them will make his first flight next weekend. The second will follow shortly thereafter.

Yesterday the youngsters spent a lot of time exercising their wings — “Wingercize” — flapping frequently in this snapshot video. The larger chick, female Blue, used the gravel like a runway. It won’t be long before they fly.

After the chicks walk out of camera view the best place to see them is from Schenley Plaza. I plan to stop by once a day to check on their progress.

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch, Schenley Plaza, selected times May 30 to June 3, 2024.

Meet me at the tent at the dates and times below.

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch is a drop-in event to see the Cathedral of Learning peregrine family and watch young birds learn to fly. I’ll have my scope on hand for a zoomed in view of the youngsters exercising their wings.

Where: Schenley Plaza near the tent, pictured above.
When: Fledge Watch is weather dependent and will be canceled for rain or thunder. Check the Events page before you come in case of weather cancellation.

NOTE: If no one shows up I might stay only 30 minutes, so come at the beginning not the end.

• 30 May, 4:30pm to 5:30pm (Thursday)
• 31 May, 11:30am to 12:30pm (Friday)
• 1 June, 4:30pm to 5:30pm (Saturday) I’m not available on this date. John English will be there.
• 2 June, 4:30pm to 5:30pm (Sunday) John English and I will both be there.
• 3 June, 11:30am to 12:30pm (Monday)
• 4 June (Tuesday) CANCELED BECAUSE THEY FLEW!

If we’re lucky, here’s what we’ll see:

In 2009 Stephen Tirone filmed the chicks standing on the nest railing and flapping like crazy.  Their parents encouraged them by flying back and forth overhead. Then one of the chicks made its first flight — straight out — at the 0:56 second spot.

See you at the tent later this week.

21 May 2024

This morning two peregrine chicks were banded at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning by Patti Barber, Endangered Bird Biologist from the PA Game Commission (PGC).

As soon as Patti began collecting the chicks, the parents Carla and Ecco strafed the building to drive her away. Carla herself is banded but this was her first time experiencing it as a mother. She was fierce in protecting her chicks.

Indoors, the chicks were given health checks (they are very healthy!), weighed to determine their sex, and given two leg bands: a black/green color band that can be read through binoculars and a silver USFW band.

Patti put colored tape on the silver USFW bands so we can identify the birds by color on the falconcam. The smaller chick is yellow, the larger chick is blue.

Interestingly the larger of the two youngsters (blue) is clearly female, weighing in at over 1000g. The smaller bird (yellow) weighed 730g, just above the borderline that designates males as less than 700g and females as more.

Yellow was officially listed as “sex undetermined” but my guess is that he’s male. The Cathedral of Learning has seen a few male peregrine chicks weighing 710-720g. (Dorothy’s in 2009, 2010 and Morela’s in 2022). We humans won’t know for sure if this bird is male until we see him nest.

“Blue” calmly waited while we all took photos.

In less than half an hour the chicks were back at the nest and their lives returned to normal.

Meanwhile we got a glimpse of the unhatched egg which Patti collected for testing.

The chicks will grow up rapidly in the next two weeks and leave the camera view by the end of the month.

Stay tuned for the Fledge Watch schedule at Schnenley Plaza at the end of this month and early June.

p.s. A Big Thank You goes out to everyone who made this day possible. (Apologies to anyone I’ve missed in this list.)

• The University of Pittsburgh for being such a great peregrine landlord, for publicizing the peregrines, and for hosting the banding.
• The PA Game Commission for their commitment to banding the peregrine chicks at the Cathedral of Learning. (Peregrine banding in PA is rare nowadays because the birds are no longer endangered / threatened.)
• The National Aviary for broadcasting the Pitt peregrines’ nest from their falconcam and for organizing the banding.

(photo credits are in the captions)