The peregrine family at the Cathedral of Learning was up before dawn this morning. By the time the sun rose at 5:50a, Hope and Terzo had already been gone 10 minutes to get food. The youngsters waited and watched for breakfast.

Above, a youngster watches the sky for incoming parents. Below, he climbs higher for a better view.

Then he hops over to the nestbox roof …

… and shows the red tape on his right legband.

We’ll have good weather today for Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza, 11a to 1p.

My hunch is that one of the young peregrines will fledge today. Let’s see if they prove me wrong. 😉

p.s. To see this wider view of the nest on the snapshot camera, click here.

(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Yesterday at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch we saw Hope and Terzo give flight demonstrations and perch up high. The youngsters ledge walked back and forth from the nest to the nest rail. Half the time they were up above, the other half they were out of sight.

Here are a few photos from Saturday June 1. The captions tell the story.

When they’re not on the nest rail they explore near the nest. Can you see both of them in these photos?

At this moment (6am on June 2) it looks like there will be a gap in the storms just in time for Fledge Watch. If so we’ll be there from 11a to 1p. We’ll cancel for rain or thunder.

(photos by Kate St. John and John English)

This year the PA Game Commission will track a few young peregrine falcons using nanotags and MOTUS technology.

Nanotags are very small transmitters that communicate with cell towers using MOTUS technology. The nanotags are so small that even a migrating dragonfly can wear one, shown below. Click here to read how the tags work and see one on a piping plover.

How will they attach the tags?

During the typical banding nest visit peregrine falcon chicks are not old enough to attach the transmitters — they need to have real feathers. Instead, PGC Endangered Species Biologist Patti Barber will attach the tags to healthy grounded fledglings that are rescued and about to be released by PGC Game Wardens.

As always, if you find a fledgling on the ground corral it to a safe zone and call the PGC “rescue” number: 724-238-9523. The Game Warden will contact Patti Barber and, if she’s in the area, she’ll come attach the tiny tracking device. The fledgling will be on its way … and we’ll know where it goes!

(photo of young peregrine by Nancy Weixel in 2011, screenshot of dragonfly from MOTUS website)

The peregrine falcon chicks at Pittsburgh’s two city nests were active yesterday, 30 May 2019.

In Downtown Pittsburgh Lori Maggio saw one of the four chicks at the nest opening before 8am. Their presence was variable, though. When Mary de Vaughn stopped by in the evening there was nothing to see.

Meanwhile at Pitt the chicks were very active. They spent most of the day ledge walking but came down to the nest for a variety of reasons.

At 7:13a one of them made a visit while Terzo was on the green perch.

… and visited the snapshot camera.

At 7:20a Yellow spent time “wing-ercising.”

This Day-in-a-Minute video shows how often they visited the nest yesterday (30 May 2019) — a lot more than we realize.

Come down to Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza today, Friday 31 May 2019, noon-1p. Anne Marie Bosnyak saw a lot of activity last evening. I think we’ll have a good show today.

(photo of Downtown chick by Lori Maggio, photos and video at the Cathedral of Learning nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

We can’t see into the Downtown peregrines’ nest from the street, but we can from Mt. Washington, across the river from Downtown Pittsburgh.

On Memorial Day Lori Maggio took photos from the Mt. Washington overlook nearest the Mon Incline. Though these super-zoomed images are fuzzy, you can see three of four chicks and an adult flying from the nest (above), and four chicks in the photo below. The chicks are still white, clearly younger than the peregrine chicks at the Cathedral of Learning.

Yesterday the Pitt peregrine chicks walked off their nest and out of camera view (see They Walked Off The Nest). Though the youngsters may return briefly, you’re more likely to see their parents on camera.

This morning Terzo stepped into view for less than a minute, then paused on the green perch. The streaming camera is zoomed too close to see that perch but Terzo was visible on the snapshot camera at 6:11am. The screenshot below is from FALCONCAM – CL snapshots (listed in Resources on the righthand side of my blog). This link is the easiest way to see if anyone’s home.

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch Bonus!

Tomorrow, 31 May 2019, I’ll be at Schenley Plaza near the tent from noon to 1pm. Stop by if you get a chance. I’ll bring my scope so we’ll get the best possible view of the birds.

(photos of Downtown nest by Lori Maggio, Cathedral of Learning nest screenshot from FALCONCAMS – CL snapshot)

This morning at 6:18am both of the Pitt peregrine chicks walked off the nest and out of camera view. They’re now officially ledge walking.

The slideshow above covers 13 minutes of activity, just long enough to show them bouncing around, whining at their parents (not in sight), and disappearing from camera view.

I visited Schenley Plaza at 10:45am and found both of them on the nest rail watching the world go by. Here’s Peter Bell’s picture from last year, 27 May 2018, that shows what they look like today (if I could take a picture).

Now that they’re off camera the best way to see them is from Schenley Plaza. Stay tuned for a (possible) revision to the Fledge Watch schedule. Maybe Friday. Not Thursday because it’s going to storm.

(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

Yesterday at 30 days old the Pitt peregrine chicks reached an important milestone. They both jumped up to the front perch. It’s their first step off the gravel, the first step toward ledge walking and eventual flight.

Perhaps their parents encouraged them. At lunchtime Hope and Terzo flew circles around the Cathedral of Learning, lazily gliding past the nest and wingtip-flapping like a juvenile peregrine who’s just learned to fly. It looked like they were saying, “Here’s how you do it, kids.”

Just before 6pm the chicks were wound up. One flapped wildly, eyed the perch and up he went. (Notice the red tape on right leg band). He examined the gully for the first time, partially hiding his brother from the camera’s eye.

Then his brother (yellow tape) got into the act, flapped and jumped. Both on the perch! When the novelty wore off they went back to the gravel.

In a week to 10 days these two will start to fly. Before that happens they’ll walk away from the nest and out of the camera view.

When they’re no longer on camera, come down to Fledge Watch to see them in person. I’ll post the Fledge Watch schedule tomorrow for Pitt and Downtown.

(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Peregrine falcons are such top predators that adults have few enemies but their young are vulnerable. The parents protect them loudly and vigorously. When peregrines are agitated, everyone knows it.

During the nesting season peregrines monitor for threats and chase them away. They escalate their actions to match the threat level — from a visual show of strength, to shouting and swooping, to direct attacks.

Shouting is important. Peregrines intentionally create a ruckus because the noise calls their mate for assistance, warns their young to lay low, and worries their enemies.

Who is the top threat for peregrine falcons that nest in cities? Humans! When we hear them shouting we get worried. Of course, that’s what peregrines want.

The peregrines that nest in Downtown Pittsburgh — Dori and (not confirmed) Louie — have chosen a site on Third Avenue that’s inevitably surrounded by humans. The birds have a comfort zone that narrows as their chicks grow up. A couple of months ago a human on a roof four stories below them was no big deal. At this point it’s too close.

On Monday a roofer (that we humans couldn’t see from the ground) made repairs on a building several stories below the peregrines. He wasn’t a threat to the birds but they decided otherwise. They flew around, they perched and shouted. Lori Maggio’s photos below show them shouting from Lawrence Hall and from the nest opening. This went on as long as the roofer was up there — until quitting time around 3p.

The photos above are silent but here’s a sample of what they sounded like. The Downtown peregrines were so loud that people heard them from indoors 2-3 blocks away (see this comment from Sandi).

So what happened next? The workman finished and left the roof. The peregrines stopped shouting. Dori joined the chicks at the nest and Lori Maggio got a rare photograph of this year’s chicks, as seen from the Smithfield Street Bridge.

In the end, Dori and Louie probably felt victorious since their shouting appears to have chased off the human. Their chicks learned a valuable peregrine falcon lesson: Humans are dangerous. Keep away!

p.s. Using the chicks’ photo, Art McMorris estimates they were 18 days old on Monday, so they hatched on May 2 and will fledge the 2nd week of June. My prediction is they’ll be completely gone from Third Avenue by June 15.

(photos by Peter Bell and Lori Maggio)