Monthly Archives: March 2017

Peregrine News, Western PA

Louie and Dori at the Gulf Tower nest, 28 March 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam)
Louie and Dori at the Gulf Tower nest, 28 March 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam)

It’s peregrine falcon nesting season in western Pennsylvania.  Here’s the latest news from our nine nesting locations.

1. Downtown Pittsburgh: This year at the Gulf Tower

Dori arranges 5 eggs at the Gulf Tower, 28 Mar 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam)
Dori arranges 5 eggs at the Gulf Tower, 28 Mar 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam)

This year we’re pleased that Dori and Louie are nesting at the Gulf Tower after two years at other Downtown sites.  Dori laid her first egg on March 8, her last on March 17.  With such a full nest it took us three days to notice she had five eggs.  Our best guess for Hatch Date is approximately 4/16/2017. Watch the Gulf Tower nest online on the National Aviary’s falconcam.

2. Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

Terzo and 4 eggs at the Cathedral of Learning nest, 28 March 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Terzo and 4 eggs at the Cathedral of Learning nest, 28 March 2017 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Hope and Terzo are incubating four eggs at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.  Hope laid her first egg on March 15 and her last egg on March 24 after an unusual four day pause.  (Eggs are usually laid 2 days apart.)  It’s hard to calculate Hatch Date under these circumstances but our best guess is 4/22/2017.  Watch this nest online at the National Aviary’s Cathedral of Learning falconcam.

3. Westinghouse Bridge, Allegheny County

Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Doug Cunzolo)
Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Doug Cunzolo)

Peregrines didn’t nest at the Westinghouse Bridge last year but at least one remained on territory.  On March 21 John English and Doug Cunzolo found this one, identified as George (Cobb Island, 2006). Neighbors on Elder Street say peregrines have been loud in recent weeks and favoring the area they used in 2014.

This site needs more monitors so please visit and report what you see.  Click here for a map of 3 viewing locations. The best one is Elder Street (yellow X).  Note: The railroad forbids access under the bridge.

4. McKees Rocks Bridge, Allegheny County

McKees Rocks Bridge with ALCOSAN in foreground (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
McKees Rocks Bridge with ALCOSAN in foreground (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

This bridge is so long and high that it’s very hard to monitor. Nonetheless a pair of peregrines has been seen twice in courtship flight:  by Leslie Ferree on February 25, and by John Flannigan on March 16.  Keep an eye out for peregrines if you’re in the vicinity.

5. Neville Island I-79 Bridge, Allegheny County

Neville Island I-79 Bridge (photo by Robert Stovers on Wikimedia Commons)

The peregrines at this bridge were identified two years ago as Magnum (Canton, 2010) and Beau (Cathedral of Learning, 2010, son of Dorothy and E2).  Anne Marie Bosnyak saw lots of mating and courtship activity, most recently on March 18 and 19.  It’s a good sign that this pair is probably incubating by now.

6. Monaca East Rochester Bridge, Beaver County

Monaca East Rochester Bridge, 2012(photo by PGC WCO Steve Leiendecker)
Monaca East Rochester Bridge, 2012 (photo by PGC WCO Steve Leiendecker)

I can’t find any recent reports of peregrines in the Beaver-Monaca area but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.  If you’re in the vicinity, check for peregrines near this bridge and near the big black railroad bridge that crosses from Monaca to Beaver.  Peregrines have used both sites. Note! See Cindy’s comment below. She’s seen peregrines at this bridge.

7. Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny-Westmoreland County

Peregrine falcons mating at Tarentum Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Peregrine falcons mating at Tarentum Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Steve Gosser)

The Tarentum Bridge has been very active in recent weeks.  Site monitor Rob Protz sees or hears a peregrine nearly every day and Steve Gosser photographed the pair mating on March 21.  Though we still don’t know their identities (the male is banded) we have our fingers crossed for a successful nest this year.

8. The Graff Bridge, Route 422 Kittanning, Armstrong County

Peregrine falcon at the Graff Bridge, Kittanning, 29 Mar 2017 (photo by Anthony Bruno)
Peregrine falcon at the Graff Bridge, Kittanning, 29 Mar 2017 (photo by Anthony Bruno)

Last year peregrines nested successfully at the Graff Bridge near Kittanning, PA and they’re present this year, too.  A few weeks ago they were seen copulating on the bridge and on Wednesday Tony Bruno found this one.  The birds are quiet now so perhaps they’re incubating.  Watch for more activity around hatching time in late April or early May.

9. Erie, PA Waterfront, Erie County

View of Erie, PA from the Centennial Tower (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
View of Erie, PA from the Centennial Tower (photo from Wikimedia Commons).  A favorite peregrine perch is on the old smokestack at the left.

Mary Birdsong confirms that Erie’s peregrines are setting up housekeeping inside the Donjon Shipyard building again (shown below). Last year the pair was Nomad (Cleveland, 2008) and an unbanded female.   If you want to see peregrines in Erie, check the top of the old smokestack in the photo above.  Here’s a map.

DonJon Shipbuilding, Erie, PA (photo linked from donjonshipbuilding.com)
DonJon Shipbuilding, Erie, PA (photo linked from donjonshipbuilding.com)

(photo credits:
photos from the National Aviary falconcams
Peregrine at Westinghouse Bridge by Doug Cunzolo
McKees Rocks Bridge, Neville Island I-79 Bridge and Erie, PA Waterfront from Wikimedia Commons
Peregrines mating at Tarentum by Steve Gosser
Peregrine at the Graff Bridge by Anthony Bruno
DonJon Shipbuilding, Erie, PA, linked from donjonshipbuilding.com
)

Learn Warblers Online

Cornell Bird Academy, Be a Better Birder: Warbler ID class, April 6 - May 18, 2017
Cornell Bird Academy, Be a Better Birder: Warbler ID class, April 6 – May 18, 2017

March 30, 2017:

Warbler season is coming fast.  Are you ready to identify them?  Cornell Bird Academy can help.

I’ve learned a lot from Cornell’s online resources so when I saw they’re offering a brand new live online course in Warbler Identification — including song ID! — I thought I’d pass it along.

The class will be presented by one of my favorite bird experts, Kevin McGowan.  Here’s Cornell’s description:

Starting April 6, 2017 and running through May 18, this new series is composed of seven hour-long webinars held on Thursday evenings. The first three lessons cover the diversity of warblers and the best strategies to identify them.

This is the first group we’ve covered where song is really important, and we will spend almost an entire session on using your ears to identify warblers.

Then we will examine every one of the 50 common warblers found in the United States and Canada, species by species, over the next four weeks.

Each lesson will be presented twice, once at 7:00 p.m. EDT (New York time), then again at 9:00 p.m. EDT. You can attend either session without having to choose ahead of time. And, if you miss a live talk, no problem. We will make the recording of each week’s lesson available to watch at your leisure.

We are offering all seven lessons for one low price of $69.

If you’re interested, click here to read more and sign up.

 

p.s. In March 2017, every eligible ebird checklist you submit gives you a chance to win free access to this class. Only 2 days left to win!

(Cornell Bird Academy, Be a Better Birder: Warbler ID class, April 6 – May 18, 2017)

I’m Moving Northward

Carolina chickadee in North carolina (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Carolina chickadee in North Carolina (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Last week I wrote about Pittsburgh’s Puzzling Chickadees and promised to tell you why we have fewer black-capped chickadees every year.  The reason is: Our winters are getting warmer.

The Pittsburgh area is squarely in the contact zone where black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) meet and hybridize.  Black-capped chickadees can survive cold winters so they live north of the zone.  Carolinas cannot; they live in the south.

The contact zone snakes from New Jersey to Kansas, dipping south along the chilly Appalachian Mountains.  Studies by Robert Curry and his team at Villanova University found that the contact zone is located where winter low temperatures average at or above 14 to 20oF.

In 2010 David Sibley drew the contact zone for his Distinguishing Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees article. Click on the screenshot to see his original map and zoom it for your area.  The map is about 7 years old.

Screenshot of David Sibley's map of the black-capped and Carolina chickadee contact zone in 2010 (click on the map to see the original and zoom it in for your area)
Screenshot of David Sibley’s map of black-capped and Carolina chickadee contact zone approximately 2010. Click on the map to see Sibley’s original article and zoom the map for your area.

 

Seven years make a difference.  During that time the zone moved north almost 5 miles.  Here’s why:

Chickadees don’t migrate but young birds disperse to find a breeding territory.  The easiest territory to claim is an “empty” place where there aren’t competing birds of the same species.  For Carolina chickadees, that place is on the northern edge of the contact zone.

In 2000-2002 and 2010-2012, Robert Curry and his team measured winter temperatures and conducted DNA tests to identify chickadees in study plots north, south and inside eastern Pennsylvania’s contact zone.

The studies showed that over the 10-year period winter average low temperatures moved north 0.7 miles per year. They also found that female Carolina chickadees are dispersing further than their usual 0.6 miles.  They’re moving 0.7 miles northward in lock-step with climate change.

What does this mean for you?

If you live on the northern edge of the contact zone your chickadees can change in a year or two from 100% black-capped chickadees to a mix including Carolinas and hybrids.  On the southern edge it’s just as interesting as the black-cappeds disappear.

So don’t take Pittsburgh’s chickadees for granted.  The contact zone is moving northward.

 

(photo from Wikimedia Commons, map screenshot from David Sibley’s blog: Distinguishing Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees.  Click on each image to see the original.)

Now Blooming at Raccoon Creek

Harbinger of spring, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St.John)
Harbinger of spring, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St.John)

Last Sunday, 26 March 2017, I visited Raccoon Creek State Park’s Wildflower Reserve to see the newest flowers.

The woods were brown and the sky was gray so I had to look closely to find small signs of spring.

Raccoon Creek at the Wildflower Reserve, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Raccoon Creek at the Wildflower Reserve, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

(Winter floods scraped the creekside vegetation. Click on the creek photo above to see.)

 

Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa) was opening its tiny salt-and-pepper flowers, shown at top and below.

Harbinger of spring, just opening, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Harbinger of spring, just opening, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

 

It was fun to find blue flowers in the grass:  corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis), a non-native.  Our earliest spring natives aren’t this bright.

Speedwell blooming in the grass, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Creek State Park (photo by Kate St. John)
Speedwell blooming in the grass, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Creek State Park (photo by Kate St. John)

 

Snow trillium (Trillium nivale) was past its prime.

Snow trillium past its prime, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St. John)
Snow trillium past its prime, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St. John)

 

Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) was blooming everywhere.  This one is surrounded by garlic mustard. 🙁

Spring beauty, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring beauty, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

 

Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica nobilis) bloomed among old oak leaves.

Round-lobed hepatica, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Round-lobed hepatica, 26 Mar 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

 

And cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) was in bud on the south facing Jennings Trail near Shafers Rock.  I’m sure it will bloom this week.

Cutleaf toothwort, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St.John)
Cutleaf toothwort, 26 Mar 2017, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve (photo by Kate St.John)

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

Why Aren’t They Sitting On The Eggs?

Terzo and 4 eggs, Cathedral of Learning nest, 24 Mar 2017, 12:02pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Terzo and 4 eggs, Cathedral of Learning nest, 24 Mar 2017, 12:02pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

This year we have two peregrine nests on camera in Pittsburgh and both families are incubating right now.  At the Gulf Tower the adults are always covering the eggs, but at the Cathedral of Learning the peregrines sometimes leave them exposed.  Is this bad for the eggs? Will the eggs fail?

Don’t worry. The eggs will be fine.  What you’re observing is the parents’ response to different microclimates at the nests.

A microclimate is a small area with a different temperature and/or moisture than the larger region.  You’ve probably experienced this yourself.  When it’s 50 degrees at Pittsburgh International Airport it feels cold in the shade with a 20 mph wind.  Meanwhile, next to a warm wall out of the wind it can be 68oF.

The Cathedral of Learning nest faces south, is in full sun most of the day, and is sheltered from the wind by walls that surround it on three sides. The walls retain heat so the area stays warm and allows the adult peregrines to take a break from incubation.

The Gulf Tower nest faces northeast, has no direct sunlight, and is very windy on cold days (north winds).  The nest is so cold in March and April that the peregrines must cover the eggs almost constantly.

GulfTower nest incubation underway, 23 Mar 2017,12:19pm (screenshot from National Aviary falconcam)
Gulf Tower incubation in the shade, 23 Mar 2017,12:19pm (screenshot from National Aviary falconcam)

The heat at the Cathedral of Learning is an advantage in early spring but it’s bad news in May when the weather warms up.  The area becomes so hot that the parents pant and shade their young for fear the chicks will die of heat.  Below, Hope shades her chick on a hot day in early May 2016. The Gulf Tower never has this problem!

Hope shades her chick from the hot sun, 7 May 2016 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Hope shades her chick from the hot sun, 7 May 2016 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

 

So don’t worry when the Pitt peregrines take an incubation break.  They know more about eggs and about the temperature at their nest than we do.

 

(photos from the National Aviary falconcams at Univ of Pittsburgh and Gulf Tower)

p.s. Some of you were wondering if Terzo ever participates in incubation.  Indeed he does!  Yesterday, March 26, he spent half the day on the nest, 6.25 hours.  Here’s who was incubating and when on 26 March 2017.

  • Hope: overnight – 7:12a
  • Terzo: 7:16a – 9:46a
  • Hope: 9:47a – 1104a
  • Terzo: 11:12a – 12:37p
  • Hope: 12:42p – 5:37p
  • Terzo: 5:38p – 7:50p (It was getting dark by then.)
  • Hope: 7:55p – overnight

Look carefully!  Terzo is often on camera.  Use these tips to identify him.

Hays Bald Eagle Hatch Watch

Bald eagle near the nest, 25 Mar 2017 (photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA on Facebook)
Bald eagle near the Hays nest, 25 Mar 2017 (photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA on Facebook)

26 March 2017

Six weeks ago on February 13, the Hays bald eagle nest tree blew over in a storm while the female was incubating her first egg.  Within a week the pair built a new nest nearby and, though they can’t be seen on the webcam, observers on the ground can tell the eagles began incubation on a new egg on February 19.

Bald eagle eggs typically hatch in 35 days.  Today, March 26, is the 35th day.

Eagle fans don’t wait until hatch day to begin their vigil.  Yesterday Dana Nesiti (Eagles of Hays PA on Facebook) arrived before dawn and captured the photo above. I stopped by at 3pm and found Eaglestreamer and LFL on duty.

Eaglestreamer and LFL at the Hays bald eagle viewing site, 25 March 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Eaglestreamer and LFL at the Hays bald eagle viewing site, 25 March 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

Eaglestreamer has tracked the Hays eagles for years and told me that their first hatch date is often Day 37 so there’s still time to be there for the big event.  (See Eaglestreamer’s hatch website here.)

Even if you miss the hatch, the eagles will be exciting in the days ahead as they bring food to the nest.

Click here for directions to the Hays viewing area.  On Facebook, see Hays bald eagle photos by Annette Devinney, Dana Nesiti, Dan Dasynich … and many of their friends.

UPDATE MARCH 28: HATCHED!  Without a webcam on-the-ground observers look for parents-feeding-young behavior.  This behavior was confimed on 28 March 2017.  Eaglestreamer writes:  “2 fish delivered back to back as was finally able to get a peek at small bits of food being torn and offered with lowered beak.”

(bald eagle photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA on Facebook. Eaglestreamer and LFL photo by Kate St. John)

Face In A Twig

A face in a twig, Schenley Park, 23 March 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
A face in a twig, Schenley Park, 23 March 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

After more than a week of cold weather, the buds were not bursting in Schenley Park last Thursday as I walked around taking pictures of Spring.

Instead, I found this unopened bud that looks like a devil’s face.

It’s the bud of a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) a very common tree in southwestern Pennsylvania that tolerates pollution and thrives in the poor soil of old fields, disturbed woodlots and roadsides.

Though black locusts have devilish looking buds and twisted branches, they’re good trees to have around because they enrich the soil through nitrogen fixation.

Their roots have a symbiotic relationship with the Rhizobium bacteria. Rhizobium enters the root hairs, the plant makes tumor-like growths to surround it, then the bacteria takes in nitrogen and converts it into a form that fertilizes the plant.  Strange but true.

Look for these devilish twigs soon.  When the buds open they won’t look like faces anymore.

 

(photos by Kate St. John)

Birds Were On The Move Overnight

National Weather Service radar, 25 Mar 2017, 4:48am (screenshot from NOAA)
National Weather Service radar mosaic, 25 Mar 2017, 4:48am (screenshot from NOAA)

What are the blue dots in the eastern U.S. on last night’s radar?  Birds!

South winds overnight prompted songbirds to move north from Florida to the Great Lakes.  A storm front approaching the Mississippi River and rain from Chicago to Massachusetts brought them to a halt.

Today should a good day to go birding in the areas that have those fuzzy blue dots.  Get out there before it rains.

 

(screenshot from the National Weather Service full-res radar mosaic)

Pittsburgh’s Puzzling Chickadees

Black-capped chickadee (photo by Chuck Tague)
Black-capped chickadee (photo by Chuck Tague, prior to 2007)

24 March 2017

A PABIRDS discussion about chickadees in North Park reached this surprising conclusion:  If you think you’ve seen a black-capped chickadee in Allegheny County, think again.  They’re hard to find and there are fewer every year. The reason why this is happening makes our chickadees harder to identify than your typical backyard bird.

Pittsburgh’s chickadees are puzzling because we live in the contact zone where black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina (Poecile carolinensis) meet.  When the two meet they hybridize.  Females of both species prefer Carolina males for extra-pair copulation(*). The birds cross and back cross until the gene pool is really mixed up.  Though they can hybridize the species remain distinct.

Black-capped and Carolina chickadees are usually identified by range — black-cappeds in the north, Carolinas in the south — but in the contact zone they’re hard to tell apart and the hybrids have traits of both.  Some look like one species and sound like the other.  Robert Curry and his team at Villanova University study chickadees in eastern Pennsylvania’s contact zone and have found that the only reliable way to identify them is by DNA test!

Here’s a black-capped and Carolina chickadee side by side, linked from Robert Curry’s Lab website.  You can see that the black-capped is larger, more colorful, and has a relatively longer tail …

Black-capped Chickadee (left), Carolina chickadee (right). (Image linked from Robert Curry Lab Research website. Click on the image to see the original in context)
Black-capped Chickadee (left), Carolina chickadee (right). (Image linked from Robert Curry’s Lab Research website. Click on the image to see the original in context)

… but they don’t pose together in the field.  Use these tips from Project Feederwatch for identifying Pittsburgh’s chickadees.  Look and listen for more than one characteristic.  If you’re not sure, label the chickadee as Carolina/Black-capped in eBird.

So why are black-capped chickadees hard to find in Allegheny County?  Why are there fewer every year?  Because the chickadee contact zone is moving north in step with our warming climate! (more on that next week)

I used to assume that “north of the rivers” was reliable black-capped territory but not any more. In these maps from Neighborhood Nestwatch data, Bob Mulvihill plotted four years of banding black-cappeds (red), Carolinas (blue) and hybrids (green) within 50 miles of Downtown Pittsburgh.   Neighborhood Nestwatch didn’t use DNA tests; they measured the birds.

Map of black-capped, Carolina and potential hybrid chickadees banded at Neighborhood Nestwatch in southwestern Pennsylvania (map courtesy Robert Mulvihill)
Map of black-capped, Carolina and potential hybrid chickadees banded at Neighborhood Nestwatch in southwestern Pennsylvania (map courtesy Robert Mulvihill)

As you can see, the Carolinas and hybrids have (roughly) reached I-76 and jumped east of it in Monroeville.  Look at all the green dots — hybrids!  Click here for more of Bob’s chickadee maps including two zoomed in on northern Allegheny County.

Take care when you identify a chickadee in the contact zone that reaches from New Jersey to Kansas.    You can’t be lazy when identifying Pittsburgh’s puzzling chickadees.

(*) p.s. extra-pair copulation: Chickadees are socially monogamous but not sexually monogamous. In the hybrid zone, all the females prefer to mess around with Carolina males.

(photo of black-capped chickadee at top by Chuck Tague. Black-capped and Carolina side-by-side photo is linked from Robert Curry’s Lab website.  Map of southwestern Pennsylvania Neighborhood Nestwatch chickadees: black-capped, Carolina and hybrid-sized by Robert Mulvihill, used by permission.)

A Familiar Face at Tarentum?

Peregrine falcons mating at Tarentum Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Peregrine falcons mating at Tarentum Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Steve Gosser)

On Tuesday afternoon, March 21st, Steve Gosser was lucky to be near the Tarentum Bridge when a pair of peregrines showed up.  He was even luckier to photograph them mating.

This closeup shows that the male is banded, the female is not.

Closeup of peregrines mating at the Tarentum Bridge (photo by Steve Gosser)
Closeup of peregrines mating at the Tarentum Bridge, 21 Mar 2017 (photo by Steve Gosser)

No, we don’t know who the male is.  The photo is too distant to read his bands even when Steve blows it up.

But I have an idea about the female.  In the closeup you can see she has lots of stripes and speckles on her breast that are similar to the unbanded female intruder who’s been visiting the Cathedral of Learning for the past year.   Here are two views of that female from her March 16th visit.

Female intruder at the Cathedral of Learning,16 March 2017 (screenshot from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Female intruder at the Cathedral of Learning,16 March 2017 (screenshot from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Speckled female intruder at Pitt, 16 March 2017 (screenshot from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Speckled female intruder at Pitt, 16 March 2017 (This screenshot was enhanced using photo software)

Could the Tarentum female be the same bird that visits Pitt?

We need more photos and observers to know for sure.  If you’d like to help, click here for a map of the best viewing location for the Tarentum peregrines.

 

(photo by Steve Gosser)