Canada geese at Southside Riverfront Park, 13 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
15 June 2026
On Saturday at Southside Riverfront Park I found many flight feathers on the ground and fifty Canada geese loafing on shore and in the water.
Molted flight feathers of Canada goose, Southside Riverfront Park, 13 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Molted flight feathers are the first big clue that these Canada geese are in the midst of their annual synchronous molt.
The second clue is their appearance. When Canada geese have all their primaries we cannot see their white rumps — the primaries cover them. These birds have visible white rumps though the bird on the right still has two lingering flight feathers (turquoise box). They’ll be gone soon.
Canada geese during synchronous molt at Southside Riverfront Park, 13 June 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
During their flight feather molt from mid-June to August in Pittsburgh, Canada geese make sure they are within walkable range of both food and water. Southside Riverfront Park is the perfect place where they can walk up on shore to eat and run back to the water for safety.
Read more about what is sometimes called a “catastrophic” molt in this vintage article from 2021.
Female (left) and male (right) peregrines at 62nd Street Bridge, 11 June 2026 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
13 June 2026
In 2024 and 2025 a pair of peregrines nested successfully at East Liberty Presbyterian’s church steeple where they fledged a total of four young. Nest monitor Adam Knoerzer named them “Libby” and “Dave.”
This March they were on their way to another successful year when a terrific wind storm blew away the sticks that supported the nesting zone. Here’s what it looked like before it disappeared. See more at East Liberty Peregrines’ Nest is Gone.
Former site of East Liberty Presbyterian peregrine nest in April 2025 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
That was in late March, egg laying season, so Libby had to find a place to nest very quickly. Together the pair looked around for available sites and came up with a plan. They nested at the 62nd Street Bridge.
We didn’t know there were peregrines at 62nd Street until Matt Jacob shared his June 4-5 photos. I wrote about them on 7 June: New Pair Found at 62nd Street. At the end of that article I wondered if this pair had come from East Liberty.
On 11 June Jeff Cieslak visited the bridge and produced the side-by-side photo shown at top.
As Kate StJohn reported last week , a pair of peregrines has appeared at the 62nd Street Bridge. Today, I went to see them, and one was under the bridge on the catwalk not far from Etna. We waited about 45 minutes to see if anything would happen, and at about minute 44 something did. Based on size, the image [at top] shows the female (L) and male (R). The male was actually on the far side of the bridge, but I scaled his image to show the difference.
Adam Knoerzer sent Jeff his photos of Libby and Dave. Jeff put them all together and their face and head features match. Ta Dah! This pair is Libby and Dave.
Libby (left) and Dave (right) peregrines at 62nd Street Bridge, 11 June 2026 (large photos by Jeff Cieslak, inset photos by Adam Knoerzer)
At 62nd Street Libby’s clutch is later than it would have been at the East Liberty because she had to start over. It will be a while — perhaps early July — before we know if they are successful.
This discovery also indicates …
If East Liberty Presbyterian’s steeple (ELPC) has a proper nesting zone, it is a preferable nest site to the 62nd Street Bridge. Peregrines very rarely use the 62nd Street Bridge. This is only the fourth time since monitoring began in 2007.
And yes, it’s possible to identify individual peregrine falcons using photographs. Chad+Chris Saladin have been doing this for years. That’s how they are able to name and re-identify peregrines at various sites in Ohio. See their work at C&C’s Ohio Peregrine Page on Facebook.
Juvenile peregrine flight practice, Downtown Pittsburgh, 2020-06-28 (photo by Lori Maggio)
12 June 2026
What’s it like to fly — and land — for the first time? While our young peregrines are fledging, so are those at the University of Leeds, UK where @LeedsBirder records their activities with his scope and iPhone.
On 9 June he captured slow motion of a young peregrine (banded ZBJ) flying and landing in the wind on his first day of flight.
Getting up on the wall: This juvenile peregrine struggled to get up on the wall so she used a little wing assist.
Unconventional way to get onto the wall… And she'd managed a jump a few minutes before. But if it works who are we to judge? ? pic.twitter.com/jUNM8VvFLJ
Birding at Presque Isle State Park, Charity Kheshgi , 15 May 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
23 May 2026
On May 15-16 I went birding with Charity and Kaleem Kheshgi at Presque Isle State Park where we saw many birds featured in Seen This Week: Warblers and Ducklings. It was chilly and cloudy when we paused at a lagoon on the lakeshore. Charity found no birds in the distance but it sure was beautiful.
At lunch we stopped at a picnic table near the rental boats and a red-winged blackbird arrived to beg for food. He stomped back and forth demanding a snack and landed so close on our table that I couldn’t take his picture.
Starry false lily of the valley, 16 May 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
This week at Schenley Park I photographed three alien plants that deer don’t eat because they are toxic — which is why it’s easy to find them at Schenley.
Jetbead flower and fruits, Schenley Park, 21 May 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus). If you break a leaf or stem it “bleeds” bright orange latex sap. This makes it easy to identify the plant. Read more at Orange Juice in The Leaves
Greater celandine, Schenley, 21 May 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sandhill crane parent with two colts, Magee Marsh, 7 May 2026 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
8 May 2026
Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) hatched a few weeks ago at Magee Marsh in northwestern Ohio. We found two colts following their parents on Thursday 7 May.
Sandhill colt watches its parent find food, Magee Marsh, 7 May 2026 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
“Colts?” They’re called colts because they’re born with long, strong legs and able to walk within 24 hours of hatching.
Two sandhill crane colts following a parent, Magee Marsh, 7 May 2026 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Watch how one walks in this slow motion video from Jocelyn Anderson.
Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) are the blackbird we love to hate. The female never builds a nest but instead lays her eggs in the nests of smaller birds who feed her hungry chick while their own eggs and chicks die.
This nesting strategy evolved from the cowbirds’ historically close association with grazing herds on the Great Plains. Since the buffalo were always on the move, so were the brown-headed cowbirds. Without a home to build a nest, they use the nests of other birds.
Their nomadic existence also affected their courtship behavior. Male brown-headed cowbirds do not stake out a physical territory where a single male perches to sing. Instead males gather and loudly display to attract females. Their display is like a lek except that it is always on the move.
Watch as one male cowbird displays to a female at the feeder. When he first arrives she makes her rattle sound. Another male shows up and they both display.
This month you’ll see male cowbirds displaying together in the trees to attract more females to join them. At the end of this video another female arrives.
On April Fool’s Day 2008 the BBC published a tongue-in-cheek video about the “discovery” of a flock of flying penguins who migrate to the rainforests of South America.
Notice how the background documentary-type music sucks you in to make it more believable. This has gotta be real, right? The music says it is. 😉
Simultaneously the BBC also published The Making of Penguins April Fool that shows how the spoof was made using top notch production techniques and the latest special effects of 2008. They recorded the narrator on green screen, created physical models of penguins in flight, and used animation to bring them to life on the screen.
To our 2026 eyes it all looks so old. It was only 18 years ago but for this type of video it is ancient history. Nowadays it would be generated by AI.
Bird Bonus Fact:
In the “Making of” video they say they modeled the fictitious flying penguins on a similar bird that actually does fly. The common murre (Uria aalge), called a common guillemot in Eurasia, lives on northern oceans in the sub-Arctic and low-Arctic zones. I have seen them nesting in Newfoundland. Their body shape and lifestyle make them the Penguin of the North.
Here’s a short flight video with a tufted puffin in the mix.
As Ecco watches, Carla steps into the nest to take her turn at incubation, 27 March 2026, 6:01pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)
29 March 2026
When peregrines have eggs both parents incubate. The female incubates all night. The male takes turns with her during the day. This trading of incubation duty is called a nest exchange.
On Friday 27 March Carla and Ecco made eight nest exchanges from pre-dawn to evening.
1. Ecco arrives
2. Carla
3. Ecco
4. Carla
5. Ecco
6. Carla
7. Ecco
8. Carla
takes her time
Carla will incubate all night
6:58 am — Ecco relieves Carla. He brought her breakfast.
8:45 am — Carla’s turn
10:55 am — Ecco
12:45 pm — Carla’s turn
3:14 pm — Ecco’s turn
3:49 pm — Carla
5:05 pm — Ecco takes over so Carla can eat dinner.
6:01 pm — Carla arrives to spend the night on the nest
The amount of time the male incubates each day mostly depends on the female. If he arrives to relieve her and she says “no,” he leaves.
Tom and Azina at FaB Peregrines in the UK (Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham) are an extreme case. On 27 March she spent almost 23 hours on the eggs and only let him incubate for about an hour.
Day I-20 Poor Tom was denied four times this afternoon… but this means that Azina has been incubating since 9:31 this morning! It's going to be her longest shift. And it's not like she'd let Tom do much incubating before that. Totals: Tom: 1hr06, Azina: 22hr54 pic.twitter.com/5UfDoaN27A
Most peregrine couples have a more equitable arrangement. In their heyday, Dorothy and E2 often waited after the first “no” to see if the answer would change. For example, when Dorothy came to relieve E2, sometimes he would not make eye contact, signaling that he wanted to stay. Dorothy would stand near him and wait patiently, sometimes for an hour, until he was ready to get up. See one of these episodes in 2012 at Reluctant Changing of the Guard.
