24 April 2015
Identifying this peregrine falcon at the Westinghouse Bridge is harder than we thought.
Thanks to Dana Nesiti’s many fine photographs, we were fairly sure in mid-April that the Black/Green bands were 66/C. If so, it meant Surprise! the female “Storm” from Canton, Ohio had re-won her old nest site.
On April 18 John English, Dana Nesiti, and Maury Burgwin made another visit to the Westinghouse Bridge armed with cameras. Using Dana’s new photos of the bands we were ready to declare this bird is 68/C, a female named Blaze hatched at the Bohn Building in Cleveland in 2005. However, Anne Marie Bosnyak’s online investigation found that Blaze died in a territorial battle in Michigan in 2008. This bird cannot be Blaze. The bands aren’t 68/C. (See the comments on who Blaze was probably fighting!)
So who is this bird?
We know that the 50-60/C series is a large band normally used on female peregrines so this bird is female … right?
Maybe not. PGC’s peregrine coordinator, Art McMorris, suggests the bands could be 58/C, a male named Mike hatched at the Mendota Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2004. Sometimes a male receives the large-size band on banding day.
The peregrines’ behavior at the Westinghouse Bridge says that incubation started on Easter Sunday April 5 so it makes sense that the male would be standing guard now (or sleeping) while the female incubates. The female could still be Hecla (Black/Red 68/H).
The plot thickens. We need more evidence.
As John English said on Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page, it’s “Curiouser and curiouser … Westinghouse Bridge continues to confound and really needs more than just three observers.”
(photo by Dana Nesiti)
Blaze was actually found dead in Macomb County, Michigan in 2008.
Anne Marie, that could mean she was trying to challenge Dorothy’s daughter Hathor. !
yikes!
I went back to the forum post with the info about Blaze. so here’s the scoop. At St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Detroit a new pair of peregrines arrived on the scene. Copulation was seen and identification was eventually made as Ihteram, daughter of Mariah and Kaver in Rochester. (didn’t Beauty succeed Mariah?)
However… later in the season.. excerpt from Macomb Audubon site:
St. Joesph’s Catholic Church site no nesting. Although it seems that our new potential nesting site has two adult Peregrines forming strong pair bond through several copulation attempts and showing nesting behavior by dropping into the bell tower frequently, no nest was observed the day we climbed the tower. We have an adult female banded, from Rochester New York and an unbanded male. Upon climbing the tower we discovered a dead female Peregrine who had been banded – Blaze 68/C (hatched May 8, 2005 at the Bohn Building, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio).
So Blaze was killed by a Rochester female & Dorothy’s daughter was not involved. In a way it’s a relief.