Fifteen Mile Commute

Hope at Tarentum Bridge, Tuesday morning, 11/22/16 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Hope at Tarentum Bridge, 11/22/2016 around 10am, (photo by Steve Gosser)

On Tuesday morning, November 22, a beautiful female peregrine perched close to Tony Bruno and Steve Gosser at the Tarentum Bridge. Her close approach reminded Steve of the peregrine Hope who used to live at the bridge before moving to the Cathedral of Learning.

Steve was able to photograph her bands, black/green, 69/Z, and yes indeed she was Hope.

Hope's color band, morning of 11/22/16 at Tarentum Bridge (photo by Steve Gosser)
Hope’s color band at Tarentum Bridge, around 10:30am, 11/22/16 (photo by Steve Gosser)

 

Did she stay at the bridge?  No.

Steve saw her at Tarentum until he left at 11:00am.  Then at 12:12pm the falconcam caught Hope courting with Terzo at the Cathedral of Learning.

Hope and Terzo bow at the Pitt nest, 11/22/2016, 12:12pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Hope and Terzo bow at the Pitt nest, 11/22/2016, 12:12pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

She’s recognizable on the falconcam by her distinctive “muddy” gray face and her green right-leg band.  (It’s even greener-looking in subsequent photos.)

Hope at the Pitt nest, 11/22/2016, 12:15pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Hope at the Pitt nest, 11/22/2016, 12:15pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Below, her left leg band shows black/green as she leaves the nest.

Hope leaves the nest area showing her black/green color band, 11/22/2016, 12:15pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Hope leaves the nest area showing her black/green color band, 11/22/2016, 12:15pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

 

So … Hope is using both her old and new territories this fall.

It’s only a 15 mile commute … as the peregrine flies.

 

p.s. If you search the WildEarth archives for this footage, you’ll find it on 11/22/2016 at 13:12.  WildEarth’s archive clock remains on Eastern Daylight Time so it doesn’t have to be reset for the nesting season.

(photos at Tarentum Bridge by Steve Gosser. photos at Cathedral of Learning nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)

4 thoughts on “Fifteen Mile Commute

    1. Rob, actually it’s Hope. Terzo left the nest before she did. If you watch the archived video, stop the action and watch her walking. You’ll see that her right-leg band really is green, her left leg-band is black/green and her face really is not heart-shaped when seen in full. The photo I posted is the best I could obtain using copy-paste.

  1. I’ve spotted a falcon a few times recently on my morning commute, perched atop a lamppost on rt 28 at the Highland Park Bridge. I wonder if it’s Hope talking a rest.

    1. Paul, what color is the hawk? The lamppost thing is a very common habit of red-tailed hawks, not common at all for peregrines.

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