It’s peregrine courtship season and we have a mystery on our hands.
Last year the Downtown peregrines, Dori and Louie, abandoned their nest at the Gulf Tower and made a new one at the back of a building on Fourth Avenue (facing Third Avenue). The new site was not as productive as the Gulf Tower, fewer eggs survived.
So the mystery is this: Where will Dori and Louie nest in 2013? Will they go back to Gulf? Will they use the Third Avenue site? Will they choose yet another place to nest?
Peregrine Watchers, we need your help Downtown to find out!
Keep your eyes peeled for the peregrines. Where are they hanging out? Report what you see as a comment on this blog or at the Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page. Their location is the clue to their chosen site.
LOOK AT PAST NEST SITES:
The Gulf Tower site is well covered by Make-A-Wish staff and the motion detection camera. Glance at the building if you happen to be passing by. Unfortunately peregrine visits have been rare here.
Vicinity of Third Avenue site: In 2012 Dori and Louie hung out in this neighborhood and on this building.
The neighborhood is Third Avenue. The building is Point Park University’s Lawrence Hall.
If you’re driving down Third Avenue from Grant Street to Wood, check the perches indicated by the red arrows. Is there a peregrine there?
If you’re walking down Third Avenue, glance at the perches on the back of the pink brick building on the right.
Note that Dori and Louie are not being seen in this neighborhood any more than they are at Gulf.
It is possible that they’ve chosen yet another place to nest.
So when you’re Downtown, keep looking up. Check the building edges for peregrines. Do this from Gateway Center to the Consol Center. You might find the clue to the peregrines’ mystery.
RESOURCE LINKS FOR THIS ADVENTURE:
QUESTIONS? Leave a comment and I’ll get right back to you.
(photo of Downtown Pittsburgh by Shane Cooper. Gulf Tower, Lawrence Hall and Third Ave photos by Kate St. John)
Sure do hope they are spotted!!! Wish I could help.
Is there any building which has a vantage point allowing a sightline to the 2012 nest location at 4th Ave?
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Rob
Rob, that’s the problem with the Fourth Ave site. There is no building with a vantage point that can see the nest. None. Wouldn’t you know that the birds would choose such an inaccessible place!
I monitored the Gulf site for 2 years & was in the group you sent e-mails to. I think you came to a Banding event, but I was busy taking photos & didn’t get the chance to meet you & express my admiration. Are the tenants at the Fourth Ave site receptive to having a nesting box, if that is possible? When I worked downtown, I was always looking for any peregrine activity & I miss it.