All posts by Kate St. John

Barred Owl Identification: Juvenile vs Adult

Compare juvenile and adult barred owl (photos from Wikimedia Commons)

13 June 2025

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.

Young barred owl (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Adult barred owls have vertical stripes below the bib.

Adult barred owl (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

How old are the Frick Park barred owl fledglings? From the description on the Wikimedia fledgling photo below:

  • Barred owl fledglings leave the nest at about 4 to 5 weeks old
  • They begin short flights at about 10 weeks old … and …
  • Longer flights occur at about 12 weeks old.

I’d say the Frick fledglings were 12 weeks old last weekend, so they hatched in mid March.

p.s. It’s easy to tell the difference when the young are still downy but the Frick Park owls are way beyond this stage.

Barred owl fledgling on the ground, Mingo NWR, Missouri (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

FIVE! Barred Owl Fledglings at Frick Park

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.

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.

Peregrine Update Southwest PA, 11 June

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!”

photos from the National Aviary snapshot cam at Univ of Pittsburgh

East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh
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 Fledglings Branch & Fly at Frick

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.

June Blooms

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)

Pitt Peregrine Progress: Flying and Whining

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!

If you stop by the Cathedral of Learning in the next several days check out these tips for finding the young peregrines: Fledge Watch Tips: Have They Flown? And Where?

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.

Cathedral of Learning as seen from Phipps sidewalk (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Seen This Week: Heavy Rain and Flash Floods

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.

6 June 2025 video embedded from CBS Pittsburgh on YouTube

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.

All 3 Pitt Peregrines Have Flown

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.

Another Rarity: Beautiful Black Tern Stays Four Days

Black tern at Imperial Main Pond, 1 June 2025 (photo by Steve Gosser)

5 June 2025

Spring migration in Pittsburgh has been unusual this year. In Allegheny County at least four rare birds have stopped by on their way north.

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.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vY9PJ1ruWdk
video embedded from BirdWatchingSamsung on YouTube
video embedded from Scott Ramos on YouTube

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).

Black tern at Imperial Main Pond (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

He also had something to say…

Black Tern Vocalizing at Dusk

Because Allegheny County only sees black terns in migration it will probably be many years before another comes again.

Black tern range: blue=non-breeding, yellow=migration, orange=breeding (map from Wikimedia Commons)

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.

Black tern on fall migration, Sept 2014, Bethel, OH (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Indeed the bird was beautiful last weekend in Pittsburgh.

Mine! Mine! Mine! and Fledge Watch News

Mine! at the Pitt peregrine nest, 3 June 2025, 7:04pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

4 June 2025

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!

embedded video from the National Aviary falconcam at the Univ of Pittsburgh

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.

If they are in the nestbox you can watch them on camera at the National Aviary falconcam at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.