Carla flies to defend her nest during Pitt peregrine banding on 21 May 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
19 April 2026
If my guess is right Carla and Ecco’s eggs will begin to hatch next weekend. While we’re waiting for that event let’s take a look at last year’s nesting season displayed in:
Slideshow of the 2025 nesting season at the Cathedral of Learning. Photos by National Aviary falconcams, Jeff Cieslak, Kim Getz, Mike Faix @National Aviary and Kate St. John.
Courting in January 2025: Carla arrives
Ecco and Carla bowing, Feb 2025
First egg, 16 March 2025
2nd egg, 18 March 2025
3rd egg, 21 March 2025
Surprise 4th egg, 25 March 2025
Incubation continues, 12 April 2025
Hatch Day for first two eggs, 24 April 2025
3rd egg hatches, 27 April 2025. 4th egg never hatches.
Chicks are growing, 3 May 2025
3 chicks stand up like Buddhas, 7 May 2025
17 days old, 11 May 2025
Nestlings snooze, unaware that banding begins soon, 20 May 2025
Patti Barber arrives at the nest to collect the chicks, 20 May 2025
Carla in attack mode, Banding Day, 20 May 2025
On Banding Day 20 May 2025
On Banding Day 20 May 2025
Patti Barber shows one of the three banded chicks, 20 May 2025
Chicks have been returned to the nest, 20 May 2025
Her chicks are back, but Carla shouts anyway, 20 May 2025
Eleven days later the chicks are fully feathered, 31 May 2025
Wingercise (wing exercise)
Two sisters near the launch point, 7 June 2025
Parent watches as juvenile walks the railing
A couple of weeks after everyone has flown, 23 June 2025, "Yellow" briefly visits the nest in case there's any food. No.
Pitt Peregrine Highlights, 2025
Ecco and Carla’s courtship began in January and continued through March.
Frostbite on the early leaves of Ohio buckeye in Frick Park
Urban wildlife … literally outside my window.
Lilacs blooming in the city, 14 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Leaf# 2, 3, 4 of red maple. First two leaves look nothing like a maple
Poison ivy is leafing out
Ramps
American elm leaves
Frostbite on early Ohio buckeye leaves
Urban Wildlife: Here’s what I saw, literally outside my window, in 10 minutes on Thursday 16 April.
That dot on Central Catholic High School’s cross is a red-tailed hawk. A pair is nesting within sight of the cross … but where?
Red-tailed hawk on Central Catholic cross, 16 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Three deer crossed the street outside my window and grazed next to the sidewalk as cars drove by. When people approached on the sidewalk and started taking pictures and video, the deer walked away.
Three deer browsing on Ascension Church lawn, 16 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
How urban is their habitat? Very urban.
Where the deer were browsing on Ascension Church lawn, 16 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Do you need a break from stress and pressure? This 4-minute video will sooth your day.
Listen to the special songs we hear in southwestern Pennsylvania in mid-April as migratory birds sing on their way north. Recorded by Lesley the Bird Nerd in late May or very early June 2025 in Ontario, Canada, the singers have arrived at their destination. (Note: American crow is always here; bluejay is silent in the video.)
I used Merlin to confirm the songs and listed the species’ current status in our area.
Black-throated green warbler (Setophaga virens) — early birds have just arrived
Ruby-crowned kinglet (Corthylio calendula) — they’re here and loud!
Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) — early birds have just arrived
Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) — all are gone, except for a couple of individuals
American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) — always here
Note that Merlin does not acknowledge songs that “cannot occur” at the location where it is listening so there may be additional birds that I cannot hear and Merlin is ignoring.
For instance, a study in 2022 investigated the effect of urban (traffic noise) vs. natural (birdsongs) soundscapes on mood, anxiety, paranoia.
295 participants were exposed to one out of four conditions for 6 minutes: traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes. Before and after the exposure, participants performed a [cognitive] task and filled out depression, anxiety, and paranoia questionnaires. The traffic noise soundscapes were associated with a significant increase in depression… Concerning the birdsong conditions, depression exclusively decreased after exposure to the high diversity soundscape. Anxiety and paranoia significantly decreased in both birdsong conditions [low and high].
Ruby-crowned kinglet showing his ruby crown, April 2022 (photo by Christopher T)
16 April 2026
Who’s singing now? In mid April we hear the usual suspects — American robin, northern cardinal, house finch, song sparrow — but there are new additions to the soundscape.
Ruby-crowned kinglets (Corthylio calendula) are passing through for a couple of weeks on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada.
They’re almost hyper-active as they flit and flutter to glean insects, making “jit” contact calls and pausing to belt out their rolling song. Sometimes they sing when challenging another kinglet, in which case they both raise their ruby crowns (photo at top).
Did you know that ruby-crowns are not closely related to other the kinglets? In 2021 they were moved to a genus of their own.
Chipping sparrows (Spizella passerina) are back in town and singing their dry, rapid trill from prominent perches in the trees.
When you hear the song, look for a sparrow with a rusty cap, eyeline and clear breast. He’s smaller than a song sparrow.
Eastern towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) leave southwestern Pennsylvania for the winter so it’s a sure sign of spring when we hear “che-wink” and “Drink Your Teaeeeeee” coming from the thickets.
The male towhee perches prominently when he sings. The female tends to skulk.
Their songs may have regional accents. The recording by Aidan Place in 2020, below, is typical of the rapid condensed song we hear at Frick Park. It’s different from the one in Ontario above.
Some northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) are here year round but they’re not noticeable until spring when they hammer loudly and call like a “Jungle Bird.”
Closeup of northern flicker, 2009 (photo by Cris Hamilton)
p.s. The flicker in the video looks different from ours because he’s the red-shafted subspecies found in western North America. (This one is in Vancouver, BC, Canada.) The top of the bird is similar to our yellow-shafted flicker except for face and red moustache. However the underside is red where ours are yellow. Click here to see.
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.
Elm tree with buttress roots in Schenley Park, 21 April 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)
14 April 2026
Most trees in western Pennsylvania have trunks that taper gradually from the ground to the first large branches. Some have a few lumpy above-ground roots but our tree trunks generally look like the white oak at left below.
Buttress roots — the vertical flanges on the tree at top — are so unusual in Pittsburgh that I take photos of them. In this case it’s an American elm in Schenley Park.
Base of a white oak and an American elm in Schenley Park (photos by Kate St. John)
In some habitats buttress roots are normal, such as on bald cypresses in swamps …
Bald cypress buttress roots and “knees” at First Landing State Park, Virginia, Nov 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)
p.s. The name for these root structures comes from the buttresses, best seen in Gothic architecture, that hold up tall heavy walls and high vaulted ceilings. The walls would collapse outward without the added support.
The buttresses on Heinz Chapel are so beautiful that we take them for granted. There are at least three in this photo.
You’ve probably heard of “Dress for Success” career advice. Today we’ll explore dressing for outdoor success to avoid Lyme disease.
This spring there are so many black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) that unless you are vigilant it’s very easy to get a tick on your body, be bitten, and quite possibly get Lyme disease. How vigilant do you have to be? It depends on what you wear.
If you wear summer clothes that expose your arms, legs and toes you’ll need to check frequently while outdoors and check very carefully when you come inside. Look at your ankles and between your toes. Look behind your knees … and in other places you don’t want to expose to the public. This chart does not check toes and ankles because it assumes you’ll wear socks!
How to do a tick check (image from PA Dept of Health & CDC.gov)
Light-colored long-sleeved shirt with collar. Ticks are trapped under collar!
Socks long enough to put over your pant legs.
Hat with brim. Good for sun, too!
Closed-toe shoes.
This 1+ minute video illustrates what to wear with extra tips. NOTE: The video says to spray your skin with DEET. Alas, no. DEET prevents mosquito bites but it does not repel ticks.
Former site of East Liberty Presbyterian peregrine nest in April 2025 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
12 April 2026
Adam Knoerzer monitoring every day. On 9 March he watched them fly around their territory and on 19 March he saw them bowing at the nest.
Peregrine flying around East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 9 March 2026 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
But on 2 April Adam wrote, “Dead quiet all week at East Liberty. Haven’t seen a single falcon the three times I’ve dropped by this week between 4-6pm.” It also looked like the sticks were gone.
Peregrine absence in those first days of April is not normal. In prior years the female laid eggs during that time. We wondered what was happening so Adam asked Ed Moore at East Liberty Presbyterian Church if he could check on the nest area.
On 8 April Ed sent the photo at right below and wrote, “Hi, Adam. Nothing up there. This pic is the ledge they were on last year. I checked all four corners and nothing.”
Two photos below show Before and After. At left is the nest with young in 2025. Notice the substrate that’s almost like mulch. At right is the same area now, circled in blue. It is completely empty.
East Liberty Presbyterian peregrine nest formerly on steeple: nest in May 2025, nothing in April 2026 (photos by Ed Moore)
What happened? My guess is the Wind!
The peregrines were using the remnants of a former red-tailed hawks’ nest which was built on the sloped steeple and held up by big sticks rimming the outside. The nest was located on the northeast corner which provided the best protection from Pittsburgh’s prevailing southwest winds as well as strong west winds.
In this Google satellite screenshot the steeple has a yellow arrow pointing to the nest location and green arrows for west winds. Unfortunately the nest was not protected from strong north winds, turquoise arrows below.
March was a stormy month with at least two storms that took down trees that blocked the roads. Statistics from one of those storms shows how bad the wind was.
On the night of 31 March a thunderstorm began with strong west winds at 43mph gusting to 58mph at 11:45pm. Five minutes later the wind had switched to the north gusting to 52 mph for another five minutes. The north wind is certainly a threat to the nest … if it was still there by that point.
Late in March or early April the East Liberty peregrines became homeless and had to find a new nest site because the female was ready to lay eggs. They could see a prime nest site not many miles away — the Cathedral of Learning — but it was already occupied. What to do? Harass the current residents to make them leave.
Apparently that harassment is in progress but it isn’t working yet. Over the past two weeks I’ve seen Carla and Ecco both step away from the eggs for a few moments to check the sky. Sometimes the parent on the eggs leaves the nest and the other one arrives. At one point when it was quite warm they were both gone for about an hour.
Carla checks the sky, 28 March 2026 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)Carla checks the sky, 31 March 2026Carla checks the sky, 5 April March 2026
For Carla and Ecco retaining the nest site is more important than anything and they will put their all into it. Ideally the former East Liberty peregrines will find a nearby bridge to their liking.
Henbit blooming along Nine Mile Run Trail, Frick Park, 5 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
11 April 2026
Despite temperatures that dipped into the upper 20s on Wednesday, spring is still making progress in Pittsburgh. This week I found more flowers and leaves.
Though they don’t look like flowers these yellow-orange structures are the inflorescence of bear corn (Conopholis americana, formerly squaw root), a underground non-photosynthesizing plant that is parasitic on beech and oak roots. The literature officially says “oak roots” but I always find bear corn under beech trees.
Bear corn in Schenley Park, 10 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
The pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) are blooming in Schenley Park. Their dark brown flowers have a faintly stinky smell to attract flies and beetles as pollinators. Pawpaw’s success is a good sign for zebra swallowtails (Eurytides marcellus). It is their only host plant.
Pawpaw flowers, Schenley Park, 10 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
This week I finally noticed that the flowers on henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) and purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) are nearly the same unusual shape — like the mouth of a tiny cave with a double landing pad at the opening. Duh! Of course they are similar. Both are in the Lamium genus, native to Eurasia.
In a patch of flowers along the Nine Mile Run Trail I found both plants in close proximity. The first photo has henbit in focus, the second focuses on purple dead-nettle so you can compare them.
Henbit (and purple dead-nettle) blooming along Nine Mile Run Trail, 5 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)(Henbit and) Purple dead-nettle blooming along Nine Mile Run Trail, 5 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Jetbead (Rhodotypos scandens) has both flowers and leaves this week. Native to China and Japan it was planted in Schenley Park as an ornamental. Unfortunately it is invasive.
Jetbead in bloom, Schenley Park, 10 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Ohio buckeyes (Aesculus glabra) in Schenley Park have gone from merely leaves to blooming flowers in just one week. This tree had mild frost damage. If you look closely you’ll see a few dark green, shriveled leaves.
Ohio buckeye in bloom, Schenley Park, 8 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
And yet, despite all the greenery the woods are still mostly bare. Sunlight reached the forest floor yesterday prompting woodland wildflowers to bloom.
Shadows and pale green leaves, Schenley Park, 10 April 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
By 5 May all the trees will be leafed out and the spring wildflowers will have gone to seed.
Red-tailed hawks are the most common hawk in southwestern Pennsylvania with at least three territories in Schenley Park, one of which is Dana’s favorite pair. On 3 April he visited them to see how their nesting is progressing.
