Courtship and Nest Building: Peregrine Style

Ecco and Carla court at the nest, 23 Feb 2025, 11:12m (photo from National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

24 February 2025

If you watch courtship among bald eagles or red-tailed hawks you’ve seen that it includes flying together, perching together, and bringing sticks to the nest. Peregrine falcons also fly together but they have different traditions when it comes to close courtship and nest building. Yesterday the Pitt peregrines engaged in these activities as seen on the National Aviary streaming falconcam.

After a 12 day hiatus, Carla reappeared on camera yesterday and engaged in two courtship bouts with Ecco. Their ledge displays included bowing together, vocalizing and touching beaks (see Familiarities on the Cliff). This bowing session lasts about 90 seconds.

video from the National Aviary streaming falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh

Following this encounter, Carla stayed at the nest to do some “nest building.” I’ve put those words in quote marks because it doesn’t look like building at all. Instead she scrapes the gravel with her feet, then putters and rearranges the stones and bones. There are lots of tiny bird bones on the gravel left over from last year’s successful nesting season.

Carla doesn’t add anything to the nest. No sticks, no grass. She will lay her eggs in the bowl she and Ecco scrape in the gravel. Her puttering takes twice as long as the bowing session — 3 minutes.

video from the National Aviary streaming falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh

Carla hardly needed to do any scraping yesterday because Ecco has made the scrape deeper every day while she was off camera. You can see the scrape (bowl) under the roof in this photo.

The Scrape at the Pitt peregrines’ nest, 23 Feb 2025 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

And here he is, digging the scrape on 18 February.

Ecco digs the scrape, 18 Feb 2025 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot cam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

For more information about peregrine “nest building” see this Peregrine FAQ:

Schenley Park Outing to See the Owls, Sun 2 March, 9:30

Mother owl with two owlets at Schenley Park nest, 19 Feb 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)

1 March UPDATE: Yes this outing is happening as planned and yes it will be COLD. Dress warmly. Here’s some news:

  • One of the owlets fell from the nest on Thursday 27 Feb and was rescued by Sarah Mateskovich & taken by WIN to Tamarack Wildlife Center where they determined it has only a minor beak injury. The rescued owlet may be fostered at another nest since this bridge nest is inaccessible for her return.
  • As of 28 February there were still 2 owlets in the nest, apparently there were 3 to begin with!

23 February 2025

You’ve been hearing about them. Now come see them!

Join me on a daytime great horned “owl prowl” in Schenley Park on Sunday 2 March 2025. Meet at 9:30am in front of the Schenley Park Visitor Center (40.438514, -79.946479). We’ll walk from there to the viewing area.

NOTE the time! 1 HOUR LATER THAN USUAL!     9:30AM

Dana Nesiti photographed two owlets in the nest on 19 February, above. Since this outing is 11 days after his photo I expect the owlets to be halfway to adult size.

Dress warmly in layers and wear comfortable WARM socks and boots. Bring binoculars, field guides and a scope if you have them. We probably will be standing still on frozen ground while we wait for the owls to move. This is a very cold activity so be prepared!

The outing will last 60+ minutes, depending on the weather.

And just to tantalize you, here’s what they looked like this morning

Great horned owls in Schenley Park: Mother and two owlets, Sunday 23 Feb 2025, 9:15am (photos by Kate St. John)

Catching Up on Bad Weather

Plowing snow in southeast Virginia (photo from Jan 2014 by VADOT via Flickr Creative Commons License)

22 February 2025

This week was cold in Pittsburgh but no snow after Monday so I was surprised on Friday when my mother said she had 12″ of snow at her home in Virginia Beach.

Early this week I was relieved to see that a severe winter storm was going to pass south of Pennsylvania and so I ignored it.

But it couldn’t be ignored south of here. The colored dots on this map are 4-12 inches of snow falling between noon on Tuesday 18 Feb and noon Friday 21 Feb. The time span doesn’t even include the start of the storm!

Snowfall map — noon 18 Feb to noon 21 Feb 2025 — from weather.gov

It wreaked havoc across Virginia and made national news on the CBS Morning Show (which I never see because I’m busy blogging).

20 Feb 2025 video from CBS Mornings on YouTube

Wasn’t that fun … not! Click here if you’re curious about snowfall totals in Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina.

p.s. Interestingly the heaviest snowfall on that screenshot map was in the snow belt at Oneida Lake in upstate New York — more than 54 inches!

Aurora, Moon and Clouds at Glacier Bay Alaska

Early morning at Glacier Bay National Park (by Betty Wills (Atsme), Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0)

21 February 2025

Our National Parks are beautiful on the ground and also in the sky.

Today Wikimedia features this timelapse video of the sky at Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska on 18 November 2021.

Bright moon, stars, and the northern lights (aurora borealis) dance in the sky on a somewhat clear night in Glacier Bay’s frontcountry. Clouds eventually roll in to obscure the beautiful sky.

Here’s is the park’s location.

Ravens Hate A Cheater

Raven shouting, Feb 2017 (photo by J.Maughn via Flickr Creative Commons license)

20 February 2025

Ravens have moral standards, they understand fair play, and when someone breaks their trust they refuse to deal with them again. Ravens hate a cheater.

We know this because researchers conducted a trading experiment in 2017 in which they built trust with ravens (Corvus corax). When a raven offered bread, the human gave him his favorite food, cheese.

Then one of the researchers accepted the bread but ate the cheese she was supposed to give to the raven, in effect saying, “Hah Hah Hah! Fooled you!”

The ravens were outraged! Find out what happened next in this vintage article.

p.s. Are we humans as smart as ravens when it comes to trust? Alas, some are not and the cheaters become bold.

Then and Now: Comparing Spring This Week

Honeysuckle leaves in a Too Early Spring, 20 Feb 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

20 February 2025

Yesterday I looked back seven years and found photos of honeysuckle leafing out! Obviously we’re having a very different February than we did in 2018 when it was hotter than normal.

How does this year’s Spring status compare to years past? Here are a few photos for comparison.

Maple tree flowers: 2023 vs 2025

Only two years ago the maple trees had started blooming by now. This week the buds are still slammed shut.

Maple flowers blooming on 17 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Maple buds slammed shut on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Tulip Garden: 2024 vs 2025

Last year the tulip leaves were standing tall. This year they emerged and stopped.

Tulip leaves standing tall a year ago, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tulip leaves emerged and paused, 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Crocus Lawn: 2023 vs 2025

Two years ago this lawn on Neville Street was carpeted in blooming crocuses. This week it’s covered in snow.

The crocus lawn on 21 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday that lawn looked like this.

The crocus lawn on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

And here’s an interesting juxtaposition …

High water comes and goes: 2018 vs 2025

The Monongahela River at Duck Hollow flooded the parking lot seven years ago. This month the highest reach was well below the parking lot.

Monongahela River flood at Duck Hollow, 17 Feb 2018 (photo by John English)
Monongahela River highest water in February 2025 (so far), 3 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I was surprised to learn that January 2025 was Earth’s hottest January on record considering that it snowed in New Orleans and Pittsburgh had -8°F.

This map shows why we’re confused by this news. While most of the world and everything north of us was extra hot, the Continental US was unusually cold in January 2025.

January 2025 global land and ocean temperature departure from average base period 1990-2020 (map from NOAA)

Great Horned Owlet is Growing Fast

Great horned owl mother and owlet, Schenley Park, 15 Feb 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)

17 February 2025

It was overcast with misty rain when Dana Nesiti visited Schenley Park on Saturday 15 February to capture photos of the great horned owl’s nest. As you can see, the owlet is growing fast and starting to get facial disc feathers. (You can also see raindrops on the back of Dana’s camera, below.)

screenshot of a photo on Dana Nesiti’s camera, 15 February 2025 (photo by Dana Nesitt)
For comparison, here’s what the owlet looked like 4 days earlier on 11 February — all beak.
Great horned owl mother with downy white owlet perched in front of her, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Hoping for a good look at the owl family, Charity Kheshgi and I visited Schenley yesterday while it was sunny. Unfortunately the wind was so cold that the owlet hid beneath his mother’s belly feathers while her ear tufts flapped in the wind.

We did, however, find the father owl roosting in a tree on the opposite hillside — in the sun and out of the wind.

“Papa” great horned owl roosting, 17 Feb 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)

Today it’s so cold that the owlet will be hiding. Next weekend’s above freezing temperatures will be a good time to check on his progress.

She’s a Mother Again at Age 74+

Laysan albatross, Wisdom, with her chick (5 Feb 2021 photo by USFWS Pacific)

17 February 2025

In case you missed it, the world’s oldest known banded wild bird has become a mother again at age 74. (She might be even older than 74.)

Wisdom is a female Laysan albatross who was banded (red Z333) as a breeding adult at Midway Atoll in 1956. Since her species cannot breed until age six and usually delays breeding until age seven or eight, Wisdom is at least 74 years old now, maybe even 77.

Wisdom breeds at the world’s largest albatross colony on Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands chain. Like all of her species she spends most of her life at sea but returns to her breeding grounds each year to rejoin her mate, lay one egg, and raise the chick.

This year she returned as usual and laid her egg in late November. Then she and her mate took turns incubating for about 65 days and their egg hatched in early February. Here’s the chick with its parents. (Wisdom has a red leg band.)

74-year-old Laysan albatross, Wisdom, with her latest chick (video published 14 Feb 2025 embedded from USATODAY)

If Wisdom was a human she’d be part of the Baby Boomer generation. I cannot even imagine being a mother at her age!

Eagle Egg at Irvin

screenshot of USS Irvin Live bald eagle nest camera

16 February 2025

In case you missed it, the bald eagle pair at the US Steel Irvin nest welcomed their first egg of 2025 on Thursday afternoon 13 February. WTAE reports:

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — The bald eagles living at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant have welcomed their first egg of 2025.

Mother Stella laid the egg around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Stella joined Irvin in the nest after Claire left late last year. Irvin has lived at the nest for six seasons.

The egg could hatch in as little as 35 days and be the eighth eaglet born at the nest.

WTAE: Bald eagles welcome first egg of 2025 at U.S. Steel Plant nest

This is happy news since nesting at Hays looks doubtful after months of disruption by several immature eagles. Though the breeding season could be salvaged at Hays by a strong driven pair, that type of pair bond has not developed yet this spring.

A similar though very short drama occurred last fall at USS Irvin resulting in a new couple with a strong bond: Stella and Irvin. Learn about their history in this video from KDKA.

video embedded from KDKA CBS Pittsburgh on YouTube

Watch them LIVE on the U.S. Steel Bald Eagle Nest Cam. Click here to tune in this morning (16 Feb) and see a very wet Stella on the nest. (Yes, it’s raining but it will change to snow.)

screenshot from the USS Irvin nest Live stream: Stella Incubating in the rain, 16 Feb 2025, 8am

Seen This Week: A Gull, 4 Merlins, and 60 Feet into Ohio

Ring-billed gull wondering if I brought food to Duck Hollow, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

15 February 2025

Welcome to Day Two of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). I’m staying indoors while it snows and rains so much that …

FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
National Weather Service forecast for Pittsburgh PA 15 Feb 2025

Gull: Since most of the rain will fall south of here the Monongahela River will rise again. It was falling last Tuesday when I photographed one of the many ring-billed gulls at Duck Hollow. This one seemed to be asking, “Do you have food for me?” Someone had left birdseed on the trash can cover.

4 Merlins: Yesterday I went to the Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park half an hour before sunset to see if I could find the two merlins who usually hang out there. As soon as I arrived one flew in and landed on the highest pine in the Palmer Loop Practice Area north of Schenley Drive.

Merlin atop an evergreen, Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:22pm (photo by Kate St. John)
Zoomed cellphone photo: 1 of 4 merlins at Schenley golf course, 14 Feb 2025, 5:15-6:05pm (photo by Kate St. John)

Soon a second merlin landed on top of the tallest tree, a bare tree between holes 8 and 9. I walked a big circle to check for songbirds and saw the first merlin in an intense chase with a third. On my way back to the car I found a fourth(!) and was able to stand in one spot and see all four merlins at the same time.

Four is unusual but I remember a time, perhaps in the late 1990s, when Bill Hintze first found merlins at the golf course. In those days there were sometimes as many as four.

60 Feet into Ohio: On Monday 10 Feb four of us went birding on the Stavich Bike Trail in Lawrence County PA to do a Winter Survey for the Third PA Breeding Bird Atlas. We were ready to head back to the car when I realized we were only a half mile from Ohio. So we kept going, crossed the state line and walked 60 feet into Ohio.

Ta dah! Here we are just inside Pennsylvania. Best Bird: a white-crowned sparrow.

Birding with friends (Donna, Kate, Debbie, Linda) in PA at the Ohio state line, 10 Feb 2025 (photo by Donna Foyle)

Bonus Picture — great horned owlet: Here’s another owlet baby picture from Tues 11 Feb. The white fluff in front of the mother owl is the owlet’s head facing left with its eyes closed.

Great horned owl nest with mother and owlet, Schenley Park, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)