Yesterday afternoon I received a quick email from Debbie Kalbfleisch who works in Downtown Pittsburgh. She wrote: “Just now, at 3:58 p.m., Dori & Louie mated on top of Four Gateway Center . . . how’s that for up-to-the-minute reporting! Babies coming soon!”
And the National Aviary Falconcams received some publicity this week. Thanks to Donna Memon for sending these links:
Peregrines photos are from 2011 and 2016. At that time Dorothy & E2, and the Hope & E2, were the pairs at the Cathedral of Learning.
In late winter and early spring Pittsburgh’s peregrines engage in courtship rituals that cement their pair bond.
They fly together in daring courtship flights, described here, and spend time together at or near the nest in “familiarities on the cliff” called ledge displays.
Early in the breeding season ledge displays are generally brief and may take place away from the nestcams but as egg-laying approaches the pair spends longer and longer periods together at the nest.
Here’s what you’ll see on the Cathedral of Learning falconcam.
The male has a ritual that he does alone. He zooms to the nest and tries to entice his mate to join him by swaggering and walking with a high stepping tippy-toe gait. He stands high on his legs with his head bowed, and calls to his mate. (E2 is doing that in the snapshot above.) The male also makes scraping motions with this feet as if he is digging the “scrape” where she will lay her eggs. He pauses and looks at the female as if to say, “Will you join me?”
How long he continues this display depends on the female’s reaction. She is usually just off camera as he calls her. We can guess where she is because he looks in her direction.
When the female joins the male at the nest the pair engages in a mutual ledge display like the one Dorothy and E2 are doing at top at the Cathedral of Learning in 2010. In this ceremony they bow low together over the scrape (nest bowl) saying “ee-chup, ee-chup.”
In mid-winter when peregrines first begin this ritual the bowing may last for only mere seconds. In March when the female is only days away from egg-laying, the ceremony can last 5-10 minutes and is more intimate. The pair calls softly and twists their heads to opposite sides. Sometimes they touch beaks.
Here’s a video of a quick ledge display in fall, 1 November 2019, by Terzo and Morela. Terzo arrives first. Morela is the larger bird on the left. Listen to them “ee-chup.”
And here’s an extended ledge display by Ecco and Morela, 6 February 2021, that lasts nearly 6 mins. Ecco bows for 2 minutes before Morela jumps down to the nest.
For more information on peregrine behavior, see my Peregrine FAQs.
(photos from the National Aviary’s falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning)
Just as winter is turning into spring, winter weeds will soon become spring flowers and this Wednesday series will morph into a flower show.
But it will take time.
Now that the snow has melted — at least in Pittsburgh — the dormant plants have reappeared. Here’s one you’ll find easily.
Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a non-native biennial that overwinters as a basal rosette of fuzzy leaves, 4″ to 12″ long.
The big rosettes are one year old. This summer each will grow a flower stalk two to eight feet high, studded with 5-petalled yellow flowers.
After the plant flowers, it dies, but its seeds disperse to become more mullein plants in fields and along roadsides.
There is never a shortage of common mullein.
(photo by Dianne Machesney)
The birds are anxious for spring to come.
Every morning a northern cardinal sings outside my window before dawn. Some days he begins as much as an hour before sunrise, then pauses and starts again a half hour later. He isn’t singing all day yet, but he’s getting ready.
On good days the Carolina wren pipes up after Mr. Cardinal has been singing for a while. The wren is not as persistent. He sings a couple of notes, then waits for first light.
The crows have been “singing” too. Their huge Pittsburgh roost is about to disperse but that just makes them louder and more raucous as they fly before dawn. They’re in a rush to be somewhere but I can’t tell what direction they’re going because it’s too dark to see. They’re easy to hear, though, even the distant crows. All of them have something to say. Maybe the message is, “See you next winter.”
It’s March! Yesterday was like a lion. How soon will March be a lamb?
(photo by Cris Hamilton)