Dori laid her first egg of 2017 at the Gulf Tower this morning (8 March 2017) at 8:29am.
Hooray, she chose the Gulf Tower!
Click here to watch her on camera.
(photos from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
First Egg at the Gulf Tower, 2017
Outside My Window
A Blog of Birds & Nature with Kate St. John
Way to go dori.
Congrats Kate!!
Yeah! So excited to watch Dori and her chicks this year!!!
Wonderful! When were eggs laid the last time at the Gulf Tower?
Anne, last year they nested on Third Avenue.
That is great! Hopefully we’ll have at least one normal Peregrine family to watch this season. Has anyone seen Louie at the nest? I’ve been watching on and off yesterday and today (using the snapshot camera since I can’t watch video at work) and I’ve only seen Dori at the nest.
Mary Ann, Louie has been very present in the last two days. He brought Dori food at the Gulf Tower yesterday.
I have only been following since 2015 so this will be the first time to see this nest in action. This is so exciting for me! I hope we have a successful nesting season for both or our pairs. It has begun!
Around 5:30 PM Tuesday, there was a lot if chirping on & off camera, then I’m pretty sure there was a mating just off camera. Then Dori was back in the scrape looking very “eggy”. Not surprised she laid one this morning.
Welcome home Dori and Louie! Most excellent news!
The day started with a glorious sunrise http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m235/DutchEagleFan/2017/Slechtvalken/capture_08032017_124939.jpg
Louie brought an early breakfast and then there was this precious egg 😀 Can’t get any better
Have been waiting for this ! Hope for another egg soon !
Congratulations Dori and Louie!! So happy to see they are nesting at Gulf. Iam looking forward to more eggs, and hoping our Hope has a normal nesting season.
So happy to see them back at the Gulf Tower!!
Awesome news. Fingers cross for a healthy nest of chicks. Will enjoy watching this family. We could all use a relaxing peregrine watching season.
Such good news, Kate.
Kate, do you know if Hope has dug a scrape at pitt for the egg? Thanks
Janet, yes indeed she & Terzo have. When Hope & Terzo court they bow over the scrape. The high camera angle & lack of shadows in the gravel make it hard for you to see it.
Great news!!! Yesterday I noticed that when Dori was at the Gulf Tower when she was on the pillar or on the perch above the nest roof, she wasn’t really relaxed. She didn’t perch as normal; she seemed to be in more of a standing position. Usually when she was perched on those areas she was in more of a sitting position. I wondered if this meant something but maybe it was just a coincidence. So glad she chose the GT!
Is it a bad sign that no one has been sitting on the egg all day and night?
Jennifer, Unlike bald eagles, peregrines do not incubate the eggs until the female has laid the next to last egg. It is perfectly normal not to be sitting on the egg(s) yet. See this blog post for more information: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/peregrine-faqs/question-sitting-on-eggs-or-not/
Chances are Dori will lay 4 eggs, one every other day. If so, she won’t incubate until she lays the 3rd one which will be on Sunday or Monday.
Kate, thank you very much for your response. What a relief.. and what a fascinating and efficient way they go about their incubation.
I enjoy your blog so much and learn something new every single day.
Hurray!
Dori laid a 2nd egg today at the Gulf tower – noticed it at 15:42 on the camera
Dori laid another egg just now!
WAY TO GO DORI!!!
Is Dori incubating the eggs now?
3/11/2017 at 9:17am: Luann, I don’t know.
at 1:55pm: I’m beginning to think the answer is “yes, they are incubating” based on how tightly Dori &/or Louie are clamped down on the nest. But they could fool me…
3/12/2017 at 5:15am: maybe they aren’t incubating. Dori is standing above the eggs in the dark.
The reason we can’t know if the peregrines are incubating is this: We can’t see if they have opened their belly feathers and laid their brood patches against the eggs. It is possible to cover the eggs without opening the feathers to expose bare skin (and hence heat the eggs).
Are the Gulf peregrine typically ahead of the Pitt peregrines as far as egg laying?
gjlfdl, it varies from year to year
Hope is sleeping at the Pitt nest 21:30 Sat evening 3/11/17
Kate, when do you think Hope will lay her first egg? Any thoughts?
Some time this month, Janet
Hi Kate,
Since peregrines eat birds, have we seen a change in the pigeon population?
Yes we have seen changes in the pigeon population but it is influenced by much more than peregrines.
Humans generally increase the pigeon population by feeding them (directly or indirectly) and by (unwittingly) providing nesting areas on bridges, buildings and other man-made structures. The pigeon increase due to humans is often more than peregrines can keep up with. However peregrines like to live where the pigeons are plentiful … easy hunting.
Predators eliminate the old and weak and spare those who are good at evading predation. The biggest effect that Pitt’s peregrines have had on local pigeons is that the population as a whole is much faster and more skillful at flying than they were 16 years ago. (I’ve seen this!)
Looks like there is a third egg at the Gulf Tower nest…was this a recent event? The snapshot camera caught them both off the nest during an exchange.
Yes, this is a new development. I expected she’d lay her third egg on Sunday/Monday.
Is that Hope at the nest at Pitt? She has been very vocal lately. Some sort of altercation on Saturday @ 12:20. She also looks “puffy,”. different somehow.
I have seen her every night-late- sitting on ledge, maybe guarding?
Mary Kate, There was no altercation at 12:20 on Saturday – that was courtship & bowing between Hope & Terzo. Hope has always been very vocal. See this blog entry for the answer why Hope is spending nights at the nestbox: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/peregrine-faqs/question-start-of-egg-laying/
Thanks for the update, Donna. Yes, Hope is a very vocal bird. When she nested at Tarentum the monitor there (Rob Protz) often remarked on it.
Kate, thank you for your answer! I thought Hope was fending off an intruder. Terzo looked scared! I love watching, just am often puzzled by their behavior, especially Hope’s.
Kate,
I have a question also about Hope. I know she is a very vocal bird, but I’ve had he Pitt cam up all morning and she has been off camera “screaming” pretty much the whole time. It’s been hours now and I was just wondering if you had any ideas as to why she is doing that. Actually she’s been doing it for days, but today she seems to be doing it non-stop.
Thanks.
Carol D, I don’t know what motivates Hope. Her screaming is nothing compared to her other behavior. She is the only peregrine I know of who has killed and eaten her own children. See
http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2017/01/16/a-year-of-drama-pitt-peregrine-highlights-2016/
Looks like we have an egg at Pitt.. someone is in the nest this morning. Not sure who??
It was hard to see, but I think Dori laid egg #4 this morning! 10:22:34 on the timestamp.
Four eggs as of March 15.