Sad news of the Cathedral of Learning peregrines at the University of Pittsburgh:

Yesterday afternoon, March 16, a woman in the Friendship neighborhood of Pittsburgh found a dead peregrine falcon face down in her backyard.  Because he was banded we learned he was E2.

E2 hatched at the Gulf Tower in 2005, the son of Louie and Tasha. He arrived at Pitt in November 2007 after his predecessor Erie had disappeared.  He was 11 years old.

Last seen on the Cathedral of Learning falconcam at 12:37pm on Tuesday, March 15, E2 died less than a mile and a half from home.  He had a broken right wing and leg and blood in his mouth.  We don’t know what happened but it appears he was hit broadside. (*)

When E2 last visited the nest there was only one egg (photo below shows his bands).  Hope laid her second egg 4.5 hours later.  Though she sometimes sits on the eggs, she may have not begun true incubation.

At this point in the nesting cycle — egg laying — E2 brought food to her every day, mated with her, and cached food on the cliff.  His custom was to visit each egg after it was laid.  He did not visit the second egg.

By now Hope has figured out that he won’t be coming home.

Hope will begin to hunt for herself again.  For a while, she’ll protect the eggs but not incubate them.  Eventually she’ll advertise for a mate by circling above the Cathedral of Learning.  If a new mate arrives in the next few weeks, the pair will bond and she will lay a new clutch two weeks later.(**)

There is no time to be sad. Peregrines don’t grieve, especially in March when their hormones are driving them to reproduce.  Between now and September they must defend a territory, mate, lay eggs, and raise young to self sufficiency. There is still time for Hope to raise a family if she finds a mate soon.

Goodbye, E2. I’m sad and unhappy about your untimely death but I know there’s no time to grieve.

My greatest wish right now is that Hope will find a new mate really soon.

We will watch and wait.

(photo of E2 at top by Peter Bell. Last photo of E2 from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

(*) When a peregrine swoops low over the street he can be hit by a vehicle.  There are many reasons for swooping low including pursuit of prey and chasing an intruder.

(**) There is precedent in Pittsburgh for re-clutching with a new mate. Read about the Gulf Tower in 2010.

Many thanks to Art McMorris and Bob Mulvihill for keeping me informed while I’m traveling. And special thanks to Caitlin for reporting E2’s bands.

This comparison of nesting adults — E2 and Hope — no longer applies.  On the afternoon of 16 March 2016, E2 was found dead in Friendship.  By 23 March, Hope had found a new mate named Terzo.

Click here for a comparison of the new pair, Terzo and Hope, as of 6 April 2016.

Meanwhile …

… can you tell who this is?

Good luck!

(photos from National Aviary snapshot cam at University of Pittsburgh)

On Monday February 8 at 3:30pm, Scott Kinzey stopped by the boat launch at the Tarentum Bridge. As soon as he pulled into the parking lot a peregrine falcon flew over his car and landed on a low beam.

The bird was banded and Scott could see that the top of the band was black, the first digit was ‘6’ and the second digit was rounded — but that’s all.  Fortunately, he had his camera with him.

Does this bird look familiar?

Scott watched as the peregrine “flew into the [structural] holes on the bottom beam of the bridge as if looking for something.  Several times, maybe four different holes.  It flew off towards the middle of the bridge before 5:00pm.”

This description resembles Hope (black/green, 69/Z) who made the Tarentum Bridge her home for six years before she moved to the Cathedral of Learning last November.  Did she come back for a visit?  Was she back to stay?

I checked the falconcam archives for her presence at the Pitt nest. Since the last big snowstorm (January 12, 4″-6″) she’d been on camera every day, usually several times a day, but on February 8 her last nest visit was at 12:15pm and she didn’t reappear until February 10 at 12:25pm, 48 hours later.  Since then she’s been on camera every day.

I can’t prove a negative. I can’t prove that Hope was not near the Cathedral of Learning on the evening of February 8 because she may have been there, though not on camera.

On the other hand, Tarentum is only 15 miles from the Cathedral of Learning.  A peregrine could fly there at a leisurely pace in only half an hour.

Rob Protz, who monitors the peregrines at Tarentum, examined Scott’s photos and says this bird’s facial features look like Hope.

Maybe Hope goes home to visit and then returns to Pitt.  Maybe she spends her days at Pitt and her nights at Tarentum.  We don’t know.

What we do know is that she visits the Cathedral of Learning nest nearly every day, sometimes several times a day, and she courts with E2.

For now Hope can hang out in two places if she wants to, but she’ll have to pick one nest when she lays her eggs next month.

In the meantime, stop by the Cathedral of Learning and the Tarentum Bridge at 5:00pm to count peregrines.  Are there four different peregrines at these two sites — or only three?

(photos by Scott Kinzey)