Yesterday, 5 June 2019 at around 4:20pm, Michelle Kienholz watched both young peregrines flying at the Cathedral of Learning. “Yellow” landed on the 30th floor balcony. “Red” flew so well that he chased his parents, trying to grab food from them.

Michelle noticed the birds because they were so vocal. If you hear squawking in the air near the Cathedral of Learning, look up and you may see the peregrines.

p.s. Michelle posted videos on Facebook, available to Pittsburgh Falconuts members at this link: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.kienholz/videos/10157333049422767/

(photo by Michelle Kienholz)

No Fledge Watch on Wed 5 June 2019. Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch has ended.

Yesterday at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch we were confused for about half an hour when we thought both youngsters had fledged. We saw one on Heinz Chapel steeple and another on the 16th floor at the Cathedral of Learning. It was the same bird. Red is flying so well that he fooled us.

His brother, Yellow, flapped from the nest rail and perched in the keyhole, below.

There will be no official Fledge Watch today though you are welcome to watch on your own. Leave a comment to let me know what you see.

Neville Island I-79 Bridge (also called the Glenfield Bridge), Ohio River

Laura Marshall reports that this year’s scrape is located under the first catwalk on the Neville Island side. Though she has seen only one chick being fed on the I-beam ledge there are probably more. Stop by here on Neville Island to watch them fledge. Let me know what you see.

Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River

Rob Protz reports that on Monday evening, June 3, he saw, “a downy feathered nestling on the pier exploring – mostly right in front of the nestbox. The nestling stayed out for quite a while, even went behind the box but when Mom flew up to the railing at 7:04 he was on the downriver side of the bridge foot and scrambled back behind the box.”

Ledge walking is a good sign that these chicks will fledge in mid-June. They’re easy to see from the Tarentum boat ramp. Stop by and let me know what you see.

(photos by John English. Neville Island I-79 Bridge from Wikimedia Commons)

UPDATE, 4 June 2019, 9:50am: For a short time we thought both had fledged. But only Red flew — back and forth to Heinz Chapel steeple. Yellow was still on the nest rail as of 1:15pm.

Yesterday at the start of Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch, we figured out that a youngster had flown because his parents were perching and flying to unusual places. About 10 minutes later Hope and Terzo flew together — kind of crazy — and John English saw a third bird flying with them. Alas, I missed seeing that third bird.

But I found him on the 25th floor corner in the shade.

Eventually the sun moved.

He warmed up and flap-walked to the corner of 25 (top photo) and then disappeared, probably down to the patio. His parents flew above and perched nearby to check on him.

Youngster #1 kept going. By 3:40p, Peter Bell saw him on the edge of 16 facing Heinz Chapel. He’d already completed the circle tour of the Cathedral of Learning.

Meanwhile his brother was still on the nest rail when Fledge Watch ended at 1pm. He will probably fly today.

Come on down to Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch today at Schenley Plaza, 11a to 1p. I predict this will be the best day to watch.

CANCELLATION UPDATE: We are canceling tomorrow’s Fledge Watch for Wed 5 June. Thunderstorms are in the forecast and the birds will be flying too well to find them. I chased ‘Red’ around the building twice today. This means that Fledge Watch ended today, Tues 4 June.

p.s. In case you haven’t noticed it’s All Peregrines, All The Time this week.

(photos by John English)

The peregrine family at the Cathedral of Learning was up before dawn this morning. By the time the sun rose at 5:50a, Hope and Terzo had already been gone 10 minutes to get food. The youngsters waited and watched for breakfast.

Above, a youngster watches the sky for incoming parents. Below, he climbs higher for a better view.

Then he hops over to the nestbox roof …

… and shows the red tape on his right legband.

We’ll have good weather today for Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza, 11a to 1p.

My hunch is that one of the young peregrines will fledge today. Let’s see if they prove me wrong. 😉

p.s. To see this wider view of the nest on the snapshot camera, click here.

(photos from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Yesterday at Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch we saw Hope and Terzo give flight demonstrations and perch up high. The youngsters ledge walked back and forth from the nest to the nest rail. Half the time they were up above, the other half they were out of sight.

Here are a few photos from Saturday June 1. The captions tell the story.

When they’re not on the nest rail they explore near the nest. Can you see both of them in these photos?

At this moment (6am on June 2) it looks like there will be a gap in the storms just in time for Fledge Watch. If so we’ll be there from 11a to 1p. We’ll cancel for rain or thunder.

(photos by Kate St. John and John English)

This year the PA Game Commission will track a few young peregrine falcons using nanotags and MOTUS technology.

Nanotags are very small transmitters that communicate with cell towers using MOTUS technology. The nanotags are so small that even a migrating dragonfly can wear one, shown below. Click here to read how the tags work and see one on a piping plover.

How will they attach the tags?

During the typical banding nest visit peregrine falcon chicks are not old enough to attach the transmitters — they need to have real feathers. Instead, PGC Endangered Species Biologist Patti Barber will attach the tags to healthy grounded fledglings that are rescued and about to be released by PGC Game Wardens.

As always, if you find a fledgling on the ground corral it to a safe zone and call the PGC “rescue” number: 724-238-9523. The Game Warden will contact Patti Barber and, if she’s in the area, she’ll come attach the tiny tracking device. The fledgling will be on its way … and we’ll know where it goes!

(photo of young peregrine by Nancy Weixel in 2011, screenshot of dragonfly from MOTUS website)

The peregrine falcon chicks at Pittsburgh’s two city nests were active yesterday, 30 May 2019.

In Downtown Pittsburgh Lori Maggio saw one of the four chicks at the nest opening before 8am. Their presence was variable, though. When Mary de Vaughn stopped by in the evening there was nothing to see.

Meanwhile at Pitt the chicks were very active. They spent most of the day ledge walking but came down to the nest for a variety of reasons.

At 7:13a one of them made a visit while Terzo was on the green perch.

… and visited the snapshot camera.

At 7:20a Yellow spent time “wing-ercising.”

This Day-in-a-Minute video shows how often they visited the nest yesterday (30 May 2019) — a lot more than we realize.

Come down to Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch at Schenley Plaza today, Friday 31 May 2019, noon-1p. Anne Marie Bosnyak saw a lot of activity last evening. I think we’ll have a good show today.

(photo of Downtown chick by Lori Maggio, photos and video at the Cathedral of Learning nest from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

We can’t see into the Downtown peregrines’ nest from the street, but we can from Mt. Washington, across the river from Downtown Pittsburgh.

On Memorial Day Lori Maggio took photos from the Mt. Washington overlook nearest the Mon Incline. Though these super-zoomed images are fuzzy, you can see three of four chicks and an adult flying from the nest (above), and four chicks in the photo below. The chicks are still white, clearly younger than the peregrine chicks at the Cathedral of Learning.

Yesterday the Pitt peregrine chicks walked off their nest and out of camera view (see They Walked Off The Nest). Though the youngsters may return briefly, you’re more likely to see their parents on camera.

This morning Terzo stepped into view for less than a minute, then paused on the green perch. The streaming camera is zoomed too close to see that perch but Terzo was visible on the snapshot camera at 6:11am. The screenshot below is from FALCONCAM – CL snapshots (listed in Resources on the righthand side of my blog). This link is the easiest way to see if anyone’s home.

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch Bonus!

Tomorrow, 31 May 2019, I’ll be at Schenley Plaza near the tent from noon to 1pm. Stop by if you get a chance. I’ll bring my scope so we’ll get the best possible view of the birds.

(photos of Downtown nest by Lori Maggio, Cathedral of Learning nest screenshot from FALCONCAMS – CL snapshot)