8 March 2020
Yesterday was another quiet day at the Cathedral of Learning falconcam. Morela and Terzo courted for a few minutes at 8:18am and Morela lounged for two hours. Otherwise the nest was empty while the pair pursued other activities. Terzo is still in charge.
Quiet is good. The unbanded male peregrine that appeared four times between 27 February 3:44pm and 3 March 3:29pm has not been seen since. To be sure of that statement I reviewed every image (again) and learned that Terzo was present more often than I thought. I had misidentified him!
On the hotly contested day, 3 March, I saw Terzo’s silver band at 12:33pm after he jumped up from the gully but I wouldn’t believe it. Surely, Terzo would not be in the gully so I convinced myself it had to be the new guy. Wrong! Here are two photos — 3 March and 7 March — showing Terzo and his silver band. (3 March 12:33pm is just after he jumped up from the gully.)
I then found two snapshots of Terzo — a minute later on each day — showing his Black/Red band as he left the nest.
Therefore the sequence at the nest on 3 March was: Terzo / unbanded male / Terzo / unbanded male / Terzo. Terzo’s in charge.
The Lesson: It’s way too easy to see what you want to see and hear what you want to hear. The important thing is to be open to re-examining the data and changing your mind. I’m glad I did.
Watch the Cathedral of Learning peregrines on the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh.
(photos from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ. of Pittsburgh)
You’re the best, Kate!
Today, Thursday 3-12-20, at around 450pm, two were bowing. I assume the female was Morela, but I saw no bands on the male. I don’t think it was Terzo. I’m just putting that info out there in case someone wants to do some keeping track on Terzo and the unbanded male I was reading about.
Thanks for the heads up, Laurie.