Yesterday morning I joined Bob Mulvihill (National Aviary), Jason Martin (M&P Security Solutions) and Phil Hieber (University of Pittsburgh Facilities Management) at the Pitt peregrine nest box for annual maintenance of the nest and cams.  We planned to cover the slippery plastic-pipe front perch, assess the gravel’s condition, and clean the webcams.

The top perch turf was loose so Bob reattached it with zip ties, above.  Then he began to wrap the lower perch with thick sisal rope that’s used at the Aviary for birds of prey.

Meanwhile I took measurements.

Unfortunately the pipe circumference is 5.5 inches and the rope was too short.  (We wish we’d had those measurements ahead of time!)  Bob zip-tied the old plastic turf back in place and drilled new holes under the gravel to improve drainage.

The resident female peregrine, Hope, zoomed by several times so Jason held up the broom to protect our heads. Thankfully she never came close.

Then Jason examined the cameras and cleaned the domes …

… and added more pea gravel to the nest surface.  (Thank you, Phil.)

We were all done by 11:10am.

Two and a half hours later Hope stopped by to check out the new digs.

Thank you, Bob, Jason, and Phil, for all your help.

It’s looking good!

(photos by Bob Mulvihill and the National Aviary snapshot camera at University of Pittsburgh)

On Tuesday morning, November 22, a beautiful female peregrine perched close to Tony Bruno and Steve Gosser at the Tarentum Bridge. Her close approach reminded Steve of the peregrine Hope who used to live at the bridge before moving to the Cathedral of Learning.

Steve was able to photograph her bands, black/green, 69/Z, and yes indeed she was Hope.

Did she stay at the bridge?  No.

Steve saw her at Tarentum until he left at 11:00am.  Then at 12:12pm the falconcam caught Hope courting with Terzo at the Cathedral of Learning.

She’s recognizable on the falconcam by her distinctive “muddy” gray face and her green right-leg band.  (It’s even greener-looking in subsequent photos.)

Below, her left leg band shows black/green as she leaves the nest.

So … Hope is using both her old and new territories this fall.

It’s only a 15 mile commute … as the peregrine flies.

p.s. If you search the WildEarth archives for this footage, you’ll find it on 11/22/2016 at 13:12.  WildEarth’s archive clock remains on Eastern Daylight Time so it doesn’t have to be reset for the nesting season.

(photos at Tarentum Bridge by Steve Gosser. photos at Cathedral of Learning nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

Last weekend there was a shuffle at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest.  A new female came to visit.

On Friday afternoon Carol D. noticed something unusual and sent me this comment:

[11/11/2016]  I was watching the Pitt falcon cam this afternoon and Terzo was at the nest. At about 1:00 you could see the shadow of another falcon land on the ledge out of sight of the camera. After a short time, it came into the nest and didn’t act like Hope. I couldn’t see the legs very well, but it didn’t look like it was banded. I took a screenshot of it and compared it to one (of the many) that I have of Hope and it wasn’t her. She has a white chest area with few brown dots and comparing this screenshot with hers, the one that was there with Terzo had more of a cream colored chest with a lot of brown spots. I was just wondering if you or anyone else noticed this.

No one else reported it but thanks to Carol’s tip we knew where to look. I pulled the motion detection snapshots while Pittsburgh Falconuts friends made a video bookmark here: Terzo and friend at scrape.

Who was this female visitor?  Here’s what we know.

Her face has a faint peachy color.  (Notice the area between her nape and malar stripe in the next two photos.)

She appears to be unbanded.  You can see one bare leg while she’s perched below, and both bare legs in the next snapshot.

And just as Carol said, her chest plumage is peachy-colored with many dots.

Even though she’s unbanded her appearance is so unique we’ll be able to recognize her if she returns.

And, yes, she is gone.  The shuffle was temporary.  24 hours later Hope was back at the nest.

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

Last Sunday, 6 November 2016, Tony Bruno photographed a peregrine falcon that’s been hanging out at the Tarentum Bridge.  His photo is beautiful and tantalizing. You can almost read her bands.

Even at high resolution all we can see is black/green, 4??/BR.  There’s a digit after the 4 but the bird’s feathers cover most of the number.

The black/green 40-series/BR means she’s a female from Pennsylvania but without the last digit we don’t know who she is.  Art McMorris, the PA Game Commission’s Peregrine Coordinator, examined the photo closely and wrote:

So now we wait for more sightings of this peregrine and another great photograph to learn her identity.

What we do know is this:  She’s not Hope, 69/Z, who sometimes returns to Tarentum for a visit.  Hope “owned” the Tarentum Bridge for six years before she moved to the Cathedral of Learning 12 months ago.

(photo by Anthony Bruno)

Where do Downtown Pittsburgh’s peregrines spend their time?  Lori Maggio found out.

Lori walks to work on Smithfield Street and has a good view of Downtown Pittsburgh along her way.  From July 14 through September 30, usually at 7:15am, she recorded the peregrines’ locations whenever she found them.   This came to 27 days of observations since Lori didn’t walk every day and the peregrines weren’t always visible.

55% of the time Lori found a peregrine perched on the Lawrence Hall gargoyle at the Boulevard of the Allies facing Smithfield Street, below.  This is a very reliable place to find a peregrine falcon if you’re early Downtown.

Most of her other sightings were in the six-block area bounded by Forbes Avenue, Grant Street, the Boulevard of the Allies, and Wood Street.  Lori saw a peregrine at the Third Avenue nest site four times and heard the pair e-chupping once.   By the way, the Third Avenue nest site is inside that six-block zone.

Here are photos from some of Lori’s recent sightings, September 26-30, 2016.

The roof edge of the Huntington Bank Building:

A window ledge at Huntington Bank:

A porch railing at Lawrence Hall:

And on September 28 when Lori saw a peregrine on the Gulf Tower falconcam, she walked over to take its picture:

Great work, Lori!  Now we know where to look for these elusive birds.

(photos by Lori Maggio)

August is a good time for peregrines to wander.

Yesterday evening Rob Protz found Hope hanging out at the Tarentum Bridge, her former nest site from 2010 to 2015 before she came to the Cathedral of Learning.

Earlier in the day Karen Lang and I looked for Pitt’s peregrines with no success. Now we know why.

Rob’s sighting explains where Hope was. I wonder where Terzo goes when he’s not at Pitt …

(photo by Rob Protz)

p.s. And after I published this, Dori visited the Gulf Tower at 7:30am.

While we watch the Cathedral of Learning falconcam for female challengers, the Downtown peregrines have been seen on camera, too.

Lori Maggio, Ann Hohn, and the Gulf Tower falconcam provide these photos of Dori and Louie’s whereabouts, July 29 through August 23.

Ann’s photo, above, at the Gulf Tower was taken on the same day as the top photo at Third Avenue.  These sites are only four blocks apart.

(photo credits are in the captions)