Looking back, 2015 was an emotional roller coaster for Cathedral of Learning peregrine fans.  It began at a low ebb with Dorothy showing her age and ended with Hope for the future.

As promised, here’s the long awaited slideshow of 2015 Pitt Peregrine Highlights with a summary below:

• In March we began to doubt that Dorothy would lay viable eggs because of her age.
• April 2-9 Dorothy beat the odds and laid four.
• Only one egg hatched but it generated lots of viewer excitement on May 10.
• The chick had health issues which became obvious on Memorial Day weekend.  When he fell on his back in the early days(*), Dorothy flipped him immediately but on May 24 she decided not to. He remained on his back, struggling and complaining. This generated a viewer firestorm until Dorothy flipped him upright.  Within a day he never fell over again.
• On Banding Day, May 29, the chick received a complete health check. We learned he had delayed development, blood-sucking parasites and anemia.  Treated for parasites and returned to the nest, his fans had high hopes.
• On his first flight June 21 he landed on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.  Quite unusual!
• On his second flight June 24 he landed on the ground again and was taken to rehab where medical exams revealed he had defective wing feathers, neurological deficits and other health issues.
• Despite expert medical attention his birth defects were too much for him. He died on July 20.
• Dorothy continued to show her age and disappeared in early November. (See her video tribute here.)
• On November 30, a female peregrine named Hope arrived at Pitt.  Since then Hope and E2 often court at the nest.  We have hope for a good nesting season in 2016.

Watch the slideshow of 2015 Pitt peregrine highlights below.  Click on any photo to see the it full-screen.

(photo from May 24, 2015 at the National Aviary falconcam, University of Pittsburgh)

*NOTE:  A healthy chick normally doesn’t fall on his back and if he does he’s able to right himself quickly.  In reviewing the snapshots for this slideshow I discovered that Dorothy had been flipping the chick for weeks. She was so quick we hadn’t noticed.

Though January is gray and cold, peregrine falcon courtship has begun.  Watch the skies near any of Pittsburgh’s nesting sites and you’re likely to see peregrines in courtship flight.  It’s a breath-taking display that ends at the nest.

If you miss them in the sky you can see them on camera at the falconcam sites as they perform another part of their courtship: ledge displays.

Above, Hope and E2 “chirp,” bow low, and turn their heads side to side as they court at the Cathedral of Learning nest on Saturday, January 16.

Below, Louie entices Dori to visit the Gulf Tower nest on Thursday, January 14.  I hope she takes his hint and starts to make a scrape in the new gravel.

Click on each image to see the streaming video at the nest.

Love is in the air right now.  Watch for eggs in mid/late March.

(photos from the National Aviary falconcams at University of Pittsburgh and Gulf Tower)

Every year I make a slideshow of peregrine nesting highlights for Pittsburgh’s two webcam sites — if there’s a nest and if there are photos of it.

Creating a slideshow for the Downtown peregrines can be problematic.  In 2010, 2011 and 2014 Dori and Louie nested on camera at the Gulf Tower but in 2012, 2013 and 2015 they used other sites and often went unobserved.

Last spring was shaping up to be another sneaky nesting season (the pair had left the Gulf Tower) when I learned that the nest was in plain sight across the alley from a Downtown office window and so close to the ground that we had good views of the fledglings during Fledge Watch.

Thanks to Matt DiGiacomo’s beautiful nest photos and the many contributions from Fledge Watchers, the Downtown peregrines’ nest is well documented in 2015.  Thank you to all the photographers! (credits at end)

Enjoy highlights of the Downtown peregrines’ 2015 nesting season in this slideshow.

(photo at top by Doug Cunzolo)

How fast do peregrines dive?

Watch this National Geographic video of Ken Franklin — pilot, falconer, sky diver — as he clocks his peregrine falcon, Frightful, diving for the lure.

Talk about fast!

(YouTube video from the National Geographic Channel, December 2007)

It’s been 12 days since the new female peregrine, Hope, appeared on camera at the Cathedral of Learning.  In that time she and E2 have courted at the nest every day, sometimes for extended periods.

Off camera I see them flying around the Cathedral of Learning or perching high to watch the world go by.  It’s rare that I see only one peregrine on campus now.

I’m also happy that Hope needs no encouragement to visit the nest.  Yesterday she arrived on camera and chirped for E2 to join her.  When he didn’t come, she perched at the front looking up.  “Hey! Where are you?”

These are hopeful signs that she means to stay at the Cathedral of Learning.

Meanwhile Downtown at the Gulf Tower, the new gravel was too tempting for a peregrine to pass up.  Yesterday morning Louie stopped in to check it out.

I hope he convinces Dori to take a look, too.

(photos from the National Aviary falconcams in Pittsburgh)

3 December 2015

Today I’m honoring Dorothy, the matriarch and first female peregrine to nest at the Cathedral of Learning, with this video retrospective of her best photographic moments.

If you’ve only known her since last spring, you missed knowing the real Dorothy.  She was dynamic, energetic, fierce and powerful.  From the time I first saw her in 2001 until her egg bound spring of 2014, she had fire in her eyes.  After that, age-related health issues subdued her. I hope this video gives you a taste of what you missed.

Every year Dorothy raised three to five young peregrines — every year — and many of them went on to raise young peregrines of their own.  With 43 fledglings and a host of descendants she increased the peregrine populations of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan and the Pittsburgh area … and those are the places we know about!

Dorothy was awesome.  She was the first wild bird I ever knew as an individual and the bird that changed my life.  I will miss her greatness but not her decline.

Yo, Dorothy!  You go, girl!

(YouTube video by Kate St. John with thanks to the photographers who made this possible: Peter Bell, Brian Cohen, Jessica Cernic Freeman, Sharon Leadbitter, Donna Memon, Mike Perzel, Jack Rowley, Pat Szczpanski, Steve Valasek and the National Aviary falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh)

Note: If you cannot play the video above, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Information on Dorothy’s lineage: Mother was Sibella (20V20) of the Peregrine Recovery Program who was captive-bred and released at Feldtman Ridge on Isle Royale National Park, Michigan on 20 July 1988. Father was Bill (74T) of the Peregrine Recovery Program captive-bred and released from Van Hise Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990. Data from Greg Septon:

• Tribute to Sibella
• Wisconsin Falconwatch history
• Annual Wisconsin Falconwatch Report, 1999

2 December 2015

This proclamation is made in monarchies when the old queen dies and a new one succeeds her. It’s a fitting announcement at the Cathedral of Learning today, for the old peregrine Queen Dorothy is gone and a new Queen is in her place, at least for now.

Late yesterday morning Peter Bell told me the Pitt snapshot camera was dead. Instead I found it very much alive with nearly a hundred motion detection images in less than two days. They were triggered by very frequent peregrine courtship at the nest:  three times on November 30 and eight times on December 1.

Such intense “getting to know you” is highly unusual at this time of year and unheard of with an old mated pair.  Based on behavior I knew at least one of them was new to the site. Many photos and archives later, I confirmed that E2 is still here, he is courting a new female, and Dorothy is gone.

“The Queen is dead.”

Well actually, Dorothy simply disappeared but we know she won’t come back.   Art McMorris, PGC’s Peregrine Coordinator, affirmed that the presence of a new female at the nest means Dorothy is gone.

We never saw a fight, nor even a challenger.  Dorothy and E2 were both active in October and flew together on November 2 but the rest of November was quiet with only one peregrine on campus — or none — and no certainty that the one bird was Dorothy.

In any case, Dorothy’s disappearance is no surprise. Adult peregrines live about 12 years in the wild but Dorothy was 16.5 going on 17 — quite elderly.  Like an 85-90 year old grandmother, we loved her and will miss her but we’re not shocked that she’s gone.

“Long live the Queen!”

The new Queen is a younger bird with a Black/Green coded band and a green USFWS band.  After I read her bands I enlisted Peter to examine them too(*).  Here are his two archive snapshots from Nov 30 with a blow-up of the bands.

Yes, these bands are 69/Z.  This bird is “Hope,” the resident female at the Tarentum Bridge since 2010 who hatched at the Benjamin Harrison Bridge in Hopewell, Virginia in 2008.

Why did Hope leave Tarentum? We don’t know but here are a few ideas:

• When male peregrines are alone on territory they fly an advertisement that says “I’m looking for a mate.”  The Cathedral of Learning is so tall that Hope could have seen E2’s message from the skies of Tarentum.
• Hope has not had great success in her six years at the Tarentum Bridge.  She raised 4 young — two in 2012 and two in 2014 — but half the time she’s been alone with no mate.  Last year a young male showed up, but they didn’t nest.
• The Cathedral of Learning is one of the best peregrine nesting sites in Pittsburgh. We’ve seen another Pittsburgh “bridge bird” move to the other best site:  Dori left a bridge for the Gulf Tower.
• I wonder if Hope got tired of bald eagles.  😉  Read Mary Ann Thomas’ TribLive article to see what I mean.

And yet, though Hope and E2 seem to be hitting it off she might not stay. Art McMorris says it’s too early to know if she’ll stick around for the nesting season.  Right now she’s getting to know E2 and the Cathedral of Learning but she has plenty of time to change her mind between now and next April.

So, Tarentum peregrine watchers, keep your eyes peeled.  Hope might come back.

(photos from the National Aviary falconcams at University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning)

Footnotes and History:

• Here are some stories of 69/Z’s life. She’s named Hope for her birthplace, Hopewell, Virginia.
  • Hope’s life story and no nest in 2010
  • No nest in 2011
  • Hope’s two youngsters in 2012
  • No nest in 2013
  • Banding Day for Hope’s two youngsters in 2014
  • No nest in 2015
  • Steve Gosser photographed Hope at the Tarentum Bridge on November 21, 2015, see below.
  • Hope and E2 court at the nest on Nov 30, 2015 in this WildEarth video-mark. “jerseyme” labeled the clip “Dorothy and E2” because no one knew that Dorothy was gone. In fact, this video is our first indication.
  • Media Coverage of Hope’s move to Oakland: Peregrine falcon soap opera developing over W. PA skies
  • In the end, Hope turned out to be Hopeless because she killed and ate most of her young just before they hatched. None of her offspring were ever seen nesting.

On Monday afternoon Ann Hohn at Make-A-Wish heard a pair of peregrine falcons conversing at the unused Gulf Tower nest.

When she looked through the blinds she found Dori gazing at the nest and Louie watching her reaction.  Ann sent me this photo and wrote:

Louie is on the far left (it’s definitely him; I saw his tags). Dori is on the right (tags are green3/top and blackM/bottom).  Chirping like crazy. That’s how I knew they were here. And then they were gone.

Here’s what Dori was looking at:  Some very healthy weeds!

Perhaps she was thinking, “This is OK, but it needs a makeover.”

Art McMorris, Peregrine Coordinator for the PA Game Commission, says the thriving weeds indicate the gravel isn’t draining any more and that’s bad for keeping peregrine eggs dry.  More than just weeding, the site needs new gravel.  He says the Game Commission will replace the gravel soon.

Makeover!

(photo by Ann Hohn)