The barred owl fledglings in Frick Park drew a crowd this week and prompted many questions including “How do you tell the difference between the youngsters and the adult?”
This photo from Wednesday includes the mother and four fledglings but the whole group looks pretty much the same because youngsters are losing their down.
Barred owl fledglings + mother, Frick Park, 11 June 2025 (photos by Charity Kheshgi)
In both immature and adult plumage barred owls have bibs. Below the bib is where they differ.
Immature barred owls have horizontal stripes, sometimes faint, below the bib.
Two of the 5 barred owl fledglings at Frick Park, 11 June 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
12 June 2025
When Charity Kheshgi and I visited Frick Park last weekend to see the barred owl fledglings we thought we saw three youngsters at the same time but we doubted ourselves. Barred owls (Strix varia) usually have only one or two youngsters per year. Yesterday we went back to see them again and saw FIVE youngsters, an unusually high number.
Charity arrived at the Hutchinson entrance ahead of me and saw five fledglings. By the time I arrived one had flown off but at the end of our stay the mother owl came in with prey and all five crowded round for a bite to eat. It was only a chipmunk, not a full meal for a family of five, so as soon as it was gone she left to find more.
Enjoy Charity’s photos and videos of the owl family. Eventually they attracted a crowd of humans.
Barred owl fledlging tries to cast a pellet, 11 June 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
"Who's that?"
Mother owl with 4 fledglings grabbing for prey
5th fledgling is just off camera. All 5 mob their mother!
One of the "kids" is about to grab and go
Five barred owl fledglings at Frick Park + mother, 11 June 2025 (photos by Charity Kheshgi)
Barred owl fledgling, Frick Park, 11 June 2025 (video by Charity Kheshgi)
Two barred owl fledglings look at the paparazzi, Frick Park, 11 June 2025 (video by Charity Kheshgi)
The family is hanging out near the Hutchinson entrance. Your best bet for finding them is to listen for upset songbirds.
Three pre-fledglings at Westinghouse Bridge, 8 June 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)
11 June 2025
By now most peregrine sites in southwestern Pennsylvania have fledged or are in progress. At East Liberty Presbyterian steeple the youngsters will fly next week. Here’s the news from the most active sites.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh
The young Pitt peregrines are really hard to find now. The best viewing I’d had in a few days was on Monday 9 June when I found 2 adults and 1 juvenile. Later a second juvenile flew off the Cathedral of Learning (CL) toward UPMC, circled back, and landed on the CL. Obviously they are flying so well that I cannot find them anymore. Except …
Yesterday Blue Girl surprised Ecco at the nest so she stuck around hoping he’d return with food. No chance. She bopped around in the nestbox pretending she was learning to fly. “I don’t wanna grow up!”
Peregrine chick looks out of the nest, East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 7 June 2025 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
The young peregrines at East Liberty Presbyterian steeple may be a week away from flying. Adam Knoerzer’s photos above and below were taken four days ago when the chicks were already exercising their wings.
Peregrine chick exercising its wings, East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 7 June 2025 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
Yesterday, 10 June, they were lying flat but looked browner than on 7 June. The edge of the nest reveals an unhatched egg.
Peregrine chicks lying flat plus unhatched egg, East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 7 June 2025 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
Stay tuned for news as they fledge.
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River
Gene Henderson has been visiting the Sewickley Bridge frequently in the past week and has watched the youngsters progress. From in the nestbox to ledge walking to fledged and begging\. Gene expects they will be flying so well in the next day or two that he won’t be able to find them.
On 3 June before they left the box.
On 10 June, ledge walking …
… and whining from the top of the bridge, “I flew, now feed me!”
Westinghouse Bridge, Turtle Creek near Monongahela River
Dana Nesiti stopped by the Westinghouse Bridge on Sunday and saw three youngsters. By now they’ve probably fledged. Dana’s video is 15 minutes long.
SUMMARY FOR SOUTHWEST PA
Southwestern Pennsylvania peregrine sites are listed in the table below. Help fill in the blanks ed below by visiting a site near you. Leave a comment if you find anything!
Barred owl fledgling “branching” at Frick Park, 7 June 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
10 June 2025
Great horned owls stole the show in Schenley Park from March into April. Now Frick’s own barred owl family has two fledglings branching and flying this month.
UPDATE as of 11 June: There are FIVE fledglings!
Barred owls (Strix varia) have lived in Frick Park for about five years and though they missed nesting last year they have two five fledglings this spring. On 7 June Charity Kheshgi and I met at the Hutchinson entrance to go find them.
The first clue for me were the sounds of upset robins and blue jays which we followed to the general area. Once there Charity and my Merlin app could hear the call of a barred owl juvenile. We waited for it to make a move.
Eventually one, then two, fledglings awkwardly flapped and branched from tree to tree.
Barred owl fledgling, Frick Park, 7 June 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
The youngster with the dark face perched where we could see it between the leaves.
Barred owl fledgling (dark face), Frick Park, 7 June 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Charity captured video of the youngster calling. Can you hear it? Because of upper-range hearing loss I cannot hear any of it but I can see the bird open its beak to make the call.
https://youtu.be/ctJ3MY0-okI?si=1In3tkWjF2j8QOYk
Barred owl calling,7 June 2025 (video by Charity Kheshgi, 7 June 2025)
If you go looking for these owls, listen for upset songbirds to “tell” you where the birds are hanging out. You’ll have a big advantage finding them if you can hear their high-pitched calls!
p.s. On 7 June Charity and I saw three owls at once but the third was very obscured by leaves. We thought it was a 3rd fledgling but was it an adult? A short time later we saw an adult and only two fledglings. Michelle Kienholz has watched this family for months and confirms there are only two youngsters.
Western goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) at SGL 117, 1 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
9 June 2025
While this blog has been All Peregrines All The Time for the past couple of weeks, I’ve neglected flowers and phenology. Today I’m catching up with a few June blooms.
On a visit to State Game Lands 117 (SGL 117) on 1 June we saw many flowers blooming by the gravel road. The most striking was a biennial Eurasian plant called western goatsbeard or yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius). A related species in the U.K., Tragopogon pratensis, is nicknamed Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon because it opens in the morning and closes by late afternoon. So does this one.
Western goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) at SGL 117, 1 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
This deep blue flower, Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), has a long blooming season. I saw it at Frick Park on 19 May and yesterday at Schenley.
Virginia spiderwort, Frick and Schenley, 19 May & 8 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Common nipplewort (Lapsana communis) is a Eurasian member of the aster family that’s become naturalized in North America. Its flowers look like hawkweed but not its leaves.
Common nipplewort, Frick Park, 7 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Also seen at SGL 117 on 1 June, a sometimes invasive plant called bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) or “eggs and bacon.” The first name describes its leaves, the second name its flowers.
Bird’s-foot trefoil, SGL 117, 1 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Topping off the invasive plants in Schenley Park is this Eurasian plant, goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) or ground elder. It was blooming yesterday in heavy rain.
Goutweed in bloom, Schenley, 8 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
2 sisters: Pitt peregrine fledglings Blue and Yellow hang out and whine on 15South at the Cathedral of Learning, 7 June 2025 (photos by Kate St. John)
8 June 2025
My husband walked over to the Cathedral of Learning (CL) yesterday and texted me before he went indoors, “Just arrived at CL. I hear lots of begging peregrine babies!” I was preparing to drive home from Frick so I detoured to Pitt and stepped out to look.
I got lucky. The young peregrines would have been impossible to find on their third or fourth day of flying but they were noisy.
The two sisters Yellow and Blue were whining on the 15th floor roof ledge facing Forbes Avenue. Slideshow above.
Carla was perched above them on 28th floor southeast (28SE) stone peak, inaccessible to begging youngsters.
GreenBoy flew around the top of the building with lots of flappy flight and settled at 38 southeast (38SE) roof ledge watching the sky for his father, Ecco.
Ecco flew by to check on the “kids” but he didn’t stop (no photo). More whining!
Carla at 28SE, 7 June 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)Green Boy at 38SE roof ledge, 7 June 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
In half an hour of watching yesterday I saw the entire peregrine family!
Eventually they will perch on other buildings but when they are on the CL they typically perch at the floors marked in this photo taken from the sidewalk in front of Phipps Conservatory.
High water on Monongahela River at Duck Hollow, 2 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
7 June 2025
When I stopped by Duck Hollow on Monday 2 June the Monongahela River was so high that the mud bar was totally submerged. If killdeer nested there this spring, the flood ended their breeding season.
At first the high water was a mystery because it hadn’t rained hard in Pittsburgh but this water came from last week’s heavy rain in West Virginia. It took a while to come downstream.
Pittsburgh is getting its own taste of flooding this weekend. Yesterday isolated thunderstorms dropped more than an inch of rain in some areas and caused immediate flash floods.
Much of the destruction will be cleared away today but it won’t be permanent. Tomorrow, Sunday 8 June, 1.2 inches of rain are predicted in intense downpours at 9am and thunderstorms at 1pm.
The weather will be challenging for Phipps BioBlitz tomorrow.
Peregrine juvenile, probably Blue, at 38SW under the (offline) CL Tourcam (photo by Kate St. John)
6 June 2025
When we arrived yesterday for Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza, we could tell that all three juveniles had flown(*). None were visible on the camera or nestrail and though I walked around the Cathedral of Learning looking for fledglings, none were visible anywhere. It was hot.
At noon we noticed a juvenile silently perched in the shade under the CL tourcam. It was Blue Girl. I saw her blue tape through my scope. She preened and sometimes opened her wings, a motion that says, “Here I am, parents, in case you want to bring food.” If she was really hungry she would have whined.
Peregrine juvenile grooming at 38SW (photo by Kate St. John)Peregrine juvenile, probably Blue, at 38SW under the (offline) CL Tourcam, 5 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
A few minutes later we saw Carla feeding a juvenile on the opposite corner at 38SE.
Carla feeding a juvenile at 38SW, 5 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Carla feeding a juvenile at 38SW, 5 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Now that the juvenile peregrines are hard to find, Fledge Watch is over.
(*) My guess on when they flew: One or two probably fledged on the afternoon of 4 June and the remainder yesterday morning 5 June.
And last weekend –> Black tern at Imperial Grasslands Main Pond, 29 May through 1 June, 2025. First reported by Mark Vass.
Black terns (Chlidonias niger) are gorgeous in breeding plumage with a black head and underparts and gray-white back and wings. In flight the bird is mesmerizing while it hunts over water for insects and fish or circles up to view the landscape. At any moment it changes its flight style to resemble a butterfly, a swallow, a nighthawk, a flycatcher or a tern.
Black tern at Imperial Main Pond, 1 June 2025 (photo by Steve Gosser)
These videos are not from Imperial but they show why black terns are so beautiful in flight.
During its brief stay in Allegheny County over 50 eBirders stopped by to see the black tern and many took photos.
Those embedded below from Macauley Library (Ezra White, Rob Hooten, John Drake,Phillip Rogers) show a sequence of black tern behavior as the bird catches a fish: hovering, diving, coming up with a fish, flying away, resting on the grass.
Black Tern Hunting Sequence, Catching a Fish at Imperial Main Pond
This black tern was the best I’ve ever seen, closer than all the others plus he stood on the ground for a while (a first for me).
We were lucky it visited in spring when it was beautiful. Black terns are not black in autumn as shown in non-breeding plumage in Ohio, September 2014.
The juvenile Pitt peregrines are maturing quickly. Yesterday morning Blue Girl lagged behind her brother (Green) and sister (Yellow) after those two left the nestbox the day before. By yesterday evening Blue had more than caught up.
Having spent most of her day outside the nestbox, Blue Girl jumped in at 7pm to snatch Yellow’s dinner. At the end, Green Boy stops in for a taste while his sisters are preoccupied. Mine! Mine! Mine!
Fledge Watch News from Tuesday 3 June, 11:30a-12:30p:
Fledge Watch on 3 June 2025 (photo by John English)
Yesterday was sunny and increasingly hot. At 11:30a the juvies walked the nestrail and flapped their wings but by noon two were snoozing on the nestrail while the third slept in the shade inside the nestbox.
It’s hot. Two juvies on the nestrail, 3 June 2025, 12:11pm (photo by Kate St. John)
Today will be even hotter — 88°F — which means the youngsters will probably be hiding in the shade during today’s Fledge Watch. Hmmm.
