Did you miss seeing some warblers this spring? Would you like to see some of your favorites again?
Steve Gosser posted a blog of his best warbler photographs from the past few months. Enjoy!
http://gosserphotos.com/blog/index.php/2017/06/07/the-warblers-spring-2017/
(photo by Steve Gosser)
Now that Peregrine Season is over I finally have time to visit other nests. Yesterday I stopped by the Hays Eagle Viewing Area on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and was happy to find Eaglestreamer (Wendy) on site. She filled me in on all the latest news.
The bald eagle chick, H7, walked off the nest on June 2 and has been branching ever since. In this June 4 video you can see both adults standing by while H7 does some wing exercises. Like all bald eagle chicks H7 is dark brown and hard to see with wings closed.
Meanwhile the adults are very attentive but have changed their behavior in small ways that are similar to peregrine fledge-time. For instance, they sometimes take more time to deliver food by flying past the juvenile with prey in their talons.
Very soon — any day now — H7 will fly for the first time. Eagle fans are on the trail every day, awaiting that exciting moment. Stop by and join them. Click here for directions.
If you can’t make it to the trail, here are some ways to enjoy eagle watching from afar.
Exciting days ahead!
(video by Eaglestreamer on YouTube, photo by Kate St. John)
All three Pitt peregrines were airborne yesterday morning (June 8) and flying so well that they’re hard to keep track of.
By day’s end they had visited several floors of the Cathedral of Learning (CL), Heinz Chapel roof and steeple, and Alumni Hall. Meanwhile their parents, Hope and Terzo, flew from place to place delivering food and watching the youngsters.
We could see one or two peregrines using a scope from Schenley Plaza Fledge Watch but Peter Bell got the best views by walking on the lawn near Heinz Chapel. Great closeups!
Here’s a video of one youngster on Heinz Chapel roof.
She and her sibling then perched on the Chapel’s ornate posts. Can you find two juvenile peregrines in Peter’s photo?
… and then to the steeple.
… and then to Alumni Hall’s roof.
Hope paused after delivering food to the Forbes Ave side of the Cathedral of Learning.
She and the youngster both had food on their beaks. This is the juvenile male, 09/AP.
The peregrines are hard to see from Schenley Plaza so PITT PEREGRINE FLEDGE WATCH IS OVER.
You might find a few of us wandering on campus with binoculars. We can’t get enough of the best Pitt Peregrine Season we’ve had since 2012. All three are airborne. Hooray!
(photos and video by Peter Bell, Pitt Peregrines on Facebook)
Best Since 2012: This is the first time in five years that we’ve had more than one juvenile peregrine at Pitt. In 2012 Dorothy and E2 had 3 youngsters, only 1 in 2013, none in 2014, one in 2015. Hope and Terzo had only one fledgling last year, 2016.
At Tuesday’s Fledge Watch we were very tired of waiting for the Pitt peregrines to fledge and someone joked, “They always fly when you’re not here, Kate. Don’t come to Schenley Plaza tomorrow.”
It worked. I didn’t hold a Fledge Watch on Wednesday June 7 and two of the three youngsters flew for the first time.
Kim Getz, who works at Pitt, was the first to notice. Just after lunchtime she saw lots of flying around the top of the Cathedral of Learning so she walked around the building and found two fledglings.
I alerted Peter Bell (Pitt Peregrines on Facebook) who sent me updates when he found them. Here are Peter’s photos of two fledglings flying and perching.
This one landed with talons outstretched. Grab that building!
The second fledgling perched near the northeast corner of the 30th floor. You can’t see this bird from any window.
Now that we had some action I went down to Schenley Plaza at 3:45p and stayed for an hour.
The third chick hadn’t flown yet — and still hadn’t as of 4:45p — but her parents really wanted her to. Hope carried food past her in the air as if to say, “If you fly you’ll get to eat.” Hope eventually gave up and dropped off the snack.
This morning at 7:25am Karen Lang saw two fledglings perched high on the Student Union side of the Cathedral of Learning. I plan to go to Schenley Plaza this afternoon to see what’s up.
Stop by Schenley Plaza for PITT PEREGRINE FLEDGE WATCH today, June 8, at 3:30PM.
(photos by Peter Bell, Pitt Peregrines on Facebook)
7 June 2017
Last week I got tired of seeing the same woodland birds so I drove north to the scrubby fields of Clarion County. Thanks to Tony Bruno’s photos I can show you what I saw.
Pennsylvania doesn’t have grasslands like the prairie states but we do have former strip mines planted in grass to recover the land. As soon as shrubs gain a foothold our grasslands turn into scrubby fields.
Piney Tract and the Curllsville Strips are two great places in Clarion County for grassland and scrub birds. Here’s my own photo of “the bowl” at Piney Tract, State Gameland 330. Tony was at Curllsville.
What can you see in habitat like this?
Yellow-breasted chats (Icteria virens), shown at top, are very fond of the thickets. Easier to hear than they are to see, Tony was lucky to see this chat at Curllsville. Click here for a sample of their loud song.
Henslow’s sparrows (Ammodramus henslowii) love wide open spaces where the shrubs are stunted. They perch on twigs so small that I tend to overlook the birds so I find them by tracking their songs. It’s amazing how far this simple “fish lips” noise can carry.
Northern harriers (Circus cyaneus) nest on the ground in the scrubby fields. The brown-colored female is camouflaged at the nest while her gray-colored mate harasses everyone in the area. A male harrier shouted at me at Piney Tract. Tony encountered this one at Curllsville.
I also heard three prairie warblers (Setophaga discolor) singing from the shrubs at Piney Tract, but I could not find them. Here’s what I would have seen if I’d waited longer. This is what I heard.
Now’s a good time to visit the scrubby fields while the birds are singing. Click these links for directions to Piney Tract and the Curllsville Strips.
(scenery photo of Piney Tract by Kate St.John; all bird photos by Anthony Bruno)
p.s. Why are there strip mines in Clarion County? There are three coal seams that tilt downward from north to south under western Pennsylvania. The seams touch the surface along the lacy yellow edges on this DCNR map. Clarion County is so lacy it’s hard to find it under the word “MAIN”.
Listen for whining and watch the parents. That’s how you’ll find peregrine falcon youngsters after they’ve fledged.
Lori Maggio has been tracking the Gulf Tower peregrines using those two clues and shared these photos from June 1 through 5.
Above, a youngster calls to her parents from a corner of the Federated Building. Here’s where the two birds were.
Look in unlikely places and you’ll find an adult peregrine perched inside the C of the UPMC sign on the US Steel Building.
The fledgling was on a ledge below.
And yesterday, a fledgling spent several hours on a 19th floor windowsill at the Gulf Tower. The lucky folks in that office had a nice close look at a peregrine.
PITT PEREGRINE FLEDGE WATCH: The weather looks acceptable today, Tuesday 6 June 2017, so I’ll be at Schenley Plaza from 11:30a to 1:30p.
No additional Fledge Watch days are scheduled but stay tuned, especially on Facebook and Twitter, in case I decide to go to the Plaza (maybe Friday Jun 9).
(photos by Lori Maggio)
Cathedral of Learning:
It looks like this young peregrine is about to take off but he was merely flapping. By the end of yesterday’s Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch none of the juveniles had flown.
When I arrived at Schenley Plaza I counted two young birds in view and walked around the Cathedral of Learning to listen for whining in case a bird had fledged. All was quiet but Terzo was perched on the Fifth Avenue side looking down. Was he watching over a fledgling? Perhaps.
For two hours we saw only two juveniles on the nest rail and assumed the third was elsewhere. Then he stood up next to his siblings. Duh! He was sleeping in front of us!
In the boring moments Terzo perched in the cache area on our side of the building.
Yesterday evening two youngsters appeared on the snapshot camera around 7p. The one on the left is walking up to the nest rail. The one on the right is perched on the nestbox roof. You couldn’t have seen either of them on the streaming camera.
NO Fledge Watch today, June 5. There’s an 60% chance of thunderstorms in the area. Even if the storms bypass Schenley Plaza it’s too iffy to hold a Watch.
Check the Events page for news of Fledge Watch on Tuesday and beyond.
Gulf Tower:
In the last two days both a juvenile and Louie have appeared at the Gulf Tower nest. They never stay long.
Other than that, all is quiet … and that’s good news.
(photos from Schenley Plaza Fledge Watch by John English. Nest photos from the National Aviary falconcams at Univ. of Pittsburgh and Gulf Tower)
Today … a plant.
Take a walk and you’ll find motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) blooming now in western Pennsylvania. Originally from Eurasia, this member of the Mint family is now at home on many continents because it’s useful as an herbal remedy for heart disease and childbirth.
Its flowers are furry dragon mouths arranged in whorls around the stem, similar in shape to purple deadnettle, a near relative. Its square stem gives us the hint that it’s a mint.
In full sun motherwort is knee high or even taller so you won’t miss it. Its opposite, toothed leaves look like paws but are sometimes confused with mugwort leaves.
I prefer to identify motherwort when it’s in bloom. 😉
(photos by Kate St. John)
News from four peregrine nests in the Pittsburgh area:
Cathedral of Learning:
We had a great time yesterday at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch because all three young peregrines were visible on the nest rail. They flapped, they walked, they rested, they nagged their parents.
Come on down to Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza today, Saturday June 3, 11:30a to 1:30p, to see what they’re up to now. Sunday’s Fledge Watch looks good, too. (The rain and storms will hold off until late Sunday.) Monday’s weather is not so promising. Always check the Events page before you come to Fledge Watch in case I have to cancel for any reason.
UPDATE, Jun 3, 10:30am: There’s a big event at Flagstaff Hill. Parking is hard to find. Some streets to Schenley Plaza are closed. Use Forbes and Fifth to get there.
Gulf Tower:
All three juveniles are flying and hard to keep track of but there was a young peregrine at the nest on Friday morning. She’s the one WCO Bergman of the PA Game Commission rescued from the street on Thursday evening. As is usual after such a rescue, the young bird stayed at the nest for a while. Her parents brought her food around 10am, she snoozed on the ledge for a couple of hours, and later flew away. All’s well that ends well.
Neville Island I-79 Bridge:
Anne Marie Bosnyak reported on Pittsburgh Falconuts on Friday June 2: “I saw 2 of the 4 peregrine falcon chicks tonight. They have come out of the nest area and were sitting on the beam. It will be difficult to see these kids fledge. I stopped under the bridge on the Glenfield side, but stood on the road outside of the welding company yard. Once they fledge I hope we’ll be able to see them from the other [Neville Island] shore (hopefully away from the water and the bridge deck!)”
Graff Bridge, Route 422 Kittanning, Armstrong County
Tony Bruno stopped at the Graff Bridge yesterday, June 2, and saw one juvenile peregrine. It’s good news that this nest was successful again this year.
(Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch photos by John English of Pittsburgh Falconuts, peregrine nest photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
News from the two on-camera peregrine nests in Pittsburgh:
Cathedral of Learning:
The Pitt peregrine youngsters began flapping this morning before dawn. Soon they’ll walk off camera and up to the take-off zone where they’ll spend a couple of days building their wing muscles. They won’t be visible on camera but you can see them from Fledge Watch– June 2 to 6.
Gulf Tower:
This morning at dawn I saw one peregrine youngster perched at the nest. She flew shortly after this snapshot.
Last night I was in a long meeting and didn’t see a comment posted to my blog until nearly 11p (4 hours after it happened). In the comment John wrote, “Right now there is a Peregrine on Grant street by the Federal building. Animal control is there. It is banded. This is as of 6:30pm 6/1.”
The young peregrine was probably standing on the sidewalk and needed human assistance to get up to a high perch and start over. The bird was already in good hands when John posted the comment so I’m not worried. I will hear more eventually and post the update here.
UPDATE, 8:15am: This morning Lori Maggio looked for the fledglings and says she may have seen all three, though she’s not sure.
(photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)