2 June 2022
Activity is frantic at Pittsburgh area peregrine nests as the 2022 nesting season races to a close in the next few weeks. Here’s the news from all the nests.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh
Talk about frantic! Here’s yesterday in-a-minute at the Cathedral of Learning.
Two chicks in Downtown Pittsburgh, Third Avenue
On 29 May I viewed the Third Avenue nest from Mt Washington near the Mon Incline. My lousy digi-scoped photo does not capture the two chicks and one adult I saw roaming the nest. The chicks are younger here than those at other nests.
Four at Eckert Street
Jeff Cieslak counted four chicks yesterday at the Eckert Street nest. They’re just a little bit younger than the Pitt peregrines.
One at Westinghouse
Every time Dana Nesiti visits the Westinghouse Bridge he sees only one chick, as shown on 28 May.
Three at Clairton Coke Works
Aerial view of Clairton Coke Works (photo from gasp-pgh.org)
On 25 May, Dana Nesiti accompanied Game Warden Doug Bergman to Clairton Coke Works to view the newest and most industrialized peregrine nest in western Pennsylvania (slideshow above). I’ve added two views of the coke plant to show the quench towers where the birds are nesting (red arrow). Learn more about this nest in Mary Ann Thomas’s article at Trib-Live.
Three Fledging at Tarentum
On 30 May Steve Gosser found that one of the three youngsters had flown at the Tarentum Bridge. The next day Dave Brooke confirmed there was still only one, but by now there are probably more. Stop by the Tarentum Bridge to see three young peregrines learn to fly.
And just in case you prefer text to pictures, here’s the summary for southwestern Pennsylvania.
(photos by Steve Gosser, the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh, Kate St. John, Jeff Cieslak, Dana Nesiti, Mark Dixon)
Kate, if you saw chicks at Third Ave, does that mean Dori is raising them by herself? From your story a few weeks ago, it sounds like Terzo has abandoned her for a new, younger female. I guess now that the chicks are older, she could hunt and feed them. But it seems like that would have been difficult when they were newly hatched and still needed her body heat.
I forgot to mention that on the same day I went to Mt Washington I also went downtown and saw Terzo perched at the nest near Dori. So Terzo is helping.
I wonder if the pair at Clairton Coke Works is the pair that tried to nest on the Elizabeth Bridge. Not too far away, so it seems likely.