7 June 2026

When Matt Jacob, co-author of City Steps of Pittsburgh, visited the 62nd Street Bridge on June 4 and 5 to take pictures for a new book about the city’s parks, playgrounds, and trails he found a surprise. There were two peregrines at the bridge and they were carrying food over the Allegheny River to a cubbyhole in the structure.

“Carrying food” means they have a nest somewhere between the center and City side of the bridge.

This isn’t the first time peregrines have nested at 62nd Street but they rarely choose this site. The last successful nest was discovered in early July 2019 when a parent and juvenile peregrine hung out at Tree Pittsburgh below the bridge. Fortunately the structure is beneath the deck so the young don’t fledge into traffic.

How old are the chicks at the 62nd Street Bridge? When will they fledge? We’ll have to watch and see.

Etna Riverfront Park and the riverbank below it are good vantage points for watching the peregrines.

The 62nd Street Bridge is one of three potential peregrine nesting bridges on the Allegheny River that are very rarely used. Sightings of juveniles in this area usually occur in July indicating the parents nested late, perhaps after failure at another site.

And so I wonder … is this where the peregrines from East Liberty Presbyterian steeple ended up after their nest blew away in late March?

p.s. Follow Matt Jacob’s photography on Instagram at @matt_jacob or @pghsteps.

5 June 2026

Last night we had a good turnout at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch from 6:30-7:30pm. We all hoped to see a young peregrine fly.

We had additional confirmation that a juvie had flown on 3 June when John Dzikiy showed me a video by Conor Tompkins, taken at 7pm Wednesday, of a juvenile peregrine flapping a lot as it flew out and back to the Cathedral of Learning.

The scene was set. All four chicks were on the nestrail — the Launch Zone — and both Ecco and Carla flew and sometimes soared together. The chicks were ready. Surely at least one youngster would fly while we watched.

But no. They sat around and waited for dinner. Sometimes one flapped a bit. One ran up and down the nestrail. But none of them got worked up enough to fly.

However, everyone got good looks at the juvenile peregrines and that’s a good thing.

Come on down to the last scheduled Fledge Watch is this evening, 5 June 6:30p-7:30p at Schenley Plaza.

After tonight I will still be watching but it will be a spur of the moment pop-up event.

You can always come down on you own and look in the sky near the Cathedral of Learning. Carla and Ecco live there year round. Their kids will leave town in July.

4 June 2026

Yesterday, 3 June, the Pitt peregrine youngsters were in and out of the nestbox … but mostly out. I walked over at 11:00am and saw three on the nestrail and Ecco high on the Fifth Avenue side staring intently at the likely location of the fourth. One had fledged, three to go.

This score was confirmed when someone at Fledge Watch remarked that she saw a peregrine in “flappy flight”(*) around the top of the building between 11:30a and noon, followed by an adult. Those are typical behaviors when a juvie flies. If only I’d looked up while I was walking home!

Fledge Watch at 4:30-5:30p was right next to a big event in the Schenley Plaza tent: AlphaLab Demo Day (AL26). Some of the participants stopped by to look at the peregrines.

We saw all four youngsters, three perched in the keyholes and one on top of the nestrail.

Here’s all four in one view.

Ecco (arrow at right) stopped by to check on the nestbox.

Adults on the nestrail are fair game for the kids to beg for food. When Ecco was on the left a juvie ran to get to him. Ecco waited until the “kid” was close and then effortlessly turned into the sky and flew away.

To see a longer version with music, click here for Charity Kheshgi’s TikTok.

By the time you read this the Fledged score will have changed. Are we at 2 Fledged and 2 To Go? 3 and 1? All 4 flown? Come on down to Fledge Watch this evening, 6:30pm to 7:30pm, to find out. Click here for event information.

p.s. (*) “Flappy flight” is the behavior of a newly flown juvenile. On their first few days of flight they are not skilled enough to soar. They flap a lot.

3 June 2026

Tuesday 2 June began with all four Pitt peregrine youngsters at the nest but their numbers fluctuated all morning as one or more left and returned. During the afternoon three left one by one. By the time Fledge Watch began at 4:30pm only Yellow was on camera. The rest were ledge walking.

These snapshots show how their day went, but only on falconcam. We have very few photos from the ground.

Fledge Watch officially ran from 4:30-5:30pm with a good turnout to watch the peregrines.

Our focus was on the nestrail where at one point was saw all three explorers.

One was perched inside the middle keyhole on the left side.

Two were at the far right of the nestrail.

And Yellow was alone at the nest.

Yellow left at 7:11pm and now the nest is empty.

Falcon Camera season is over but the youngsters haven’t left. All four will learn to fly in the next couple of days.

At this point the only way to see the young Pitt peregrines is from Schenley Plaza. Click here for the Fledge Watch 2026 schedule.

p.s. Fledge Watch will end when all four have flown.

1 June 2026

Yesterday was pretty boring at 11:00am Fledge Watch because the young peregrines slept most of the time (photo below). Five hours later they perked up and at 5pm “Blue” disappeared from camera view. Here’s where he went and a prediction for the days ahead.

Sleeping at 11:40am, 5/31 while we watched from Schenley Plaza. (boring)

Pitt peregrine youngsters perked up around 4pm. At 4:54pm Blue jumped up to the Nestrail, the 1st milestone, and made it to the Launch Zone.

Here’s how Blue’s exit looked on the streaming cam. He rev’ed himself up before he left.

The streaming view is not wide enough to see where Blue went but the snapshot camera saw it in this series of pre- and post-exit snapshots. At 9:08pm Blue returned to the nest for the night.

Photos of Blue’s exit and return:

Now that the first youngster has made it to the Launch Zone the others will follow as soon as they can.

Prediction: Fledge Watch

Fledge Watch is going to be much more exciting this week, helped by being scheduled during their most active time of day. I predict that at least one juvenile will be visible on the nest rail this evening, maybe two. The more the merrier!

• 1 June, 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Monday) –> 1 or maybe 2 on the Nestrail
• 2 June, 4:30pm to 5:30pm (Tuesday) –> Likely to be the best day to watch.
• 3 June, 4:30pm to 5:30pm (Wednesday)
• 4 June, 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Thursday)
• 5 June, 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Friday) — to be determined, depending on weather and whether they’ve all flown.

Prediction: When Will They Fly?

I may be wrong, but I think …

• Blue (male) will be the first to fly, maybe on Wednesday, certainly by Thursday.
• Carla’s youngsters tend to fledge close together even though they are different sexes and ages. I predict the rest of them will fly by Friday 5 June.

Stop by the Schenley Plaza tent for Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch. In fact you can watch while I’m not there. Here’s a visual guide on where to look for the peregrines on the Cathedral of Learning.