What now?

An hour later the resident male peregrine visited the nest and calmly surveyed the scene.  He had won the battle, but his long-time mate was dead and a new female was claiming the nest as her own. 

This peregrine nest at the Brandywine Building in Wilmington, Delaware has seen more than enough trouble in the past year.  Last May, two peregrine chicks were found dead and the other two leapt or were carried from the nest, though still unable to fly.  One chick was rescued and placed back in the nest only to disappear a few days later.  No young survived.

What danger would prompt the young to leap?  What would kill them without eating them?  Around that time, a second female peregrine had arrived and was harrassing the resident female.  On rare occasions an intruder will invade the nest and kill her rival’s young.  Is that what happened here?  No one knows because there was no webcam. 

But this year there is a webcam, installed by the Delmarva Ornithological Society, and it has already helped solve the mystery of the fight for this nest.  At the end of Monday’s fight, we knew the resident male had won — for now.

Is the fighting over?  Will the resident male and the new female peregrine be able to raise a family in peace?  We don’t know, but the webcam will help us find out.  Click on the photo above to visit the Wilmington falconcam.

In the meantime, see slides of Monday’s fight and read about it on Kim Steininger’s Wilmington Falcons blog.  Her March 15th entry includes a link to a 21-minute video of the fight. 

And don’t miss the rest of Kim’s Wilmington Falcons website.  You’ll really enjoy her photos!

(photo from the Delmarva Ornithological Society webcam at the Wilmington, Delaware peregrine nest)

We had lots of action at the Pittsburgh peregrine nests overnight.

Tasha2 at the Gulf Tower laid her first egg of 2010.  Click on her photo above to see a nighttime image of her with the egg, captured by Marianne Atkinson before 5:00am.  As Marianne watched, Tasha carefully moved the egg to the right and into the scrape.  In the nighttime image, the egg is the white circle and Tasha is bending her head down with her tail in the air.

Meanwhile at the Cathedral of Learning, Dorothy laid her third egg as shown below.  

The eggs are white in nighttime pictures because they’re made visible using infrared light.  In daylight the eggs are a deep red-brown color.  Yes, that’s the egg between Tasha’s feet.  

So why do Dorothy’s eggs look pink on the streaming cam at Pitt?  Because the infrared light is very close and the camera can see infrared, even during the day. 

Don’t miss the action!

• Watch the Gulf Tower streaming camera here,
• The Cathedral of Learning streaming camera here, and
• The snapshot cam at the Cathedral of Learning here.

Now that Dorothy has laid her third egg she will likely begin incubation.  See the Peregrine FAQs for more information.

(photos from the National Aviary webcams)

Wildearth.tv is archiving footage from the streaming cams so I found and marked the timeframe in which Dorothy laid the egg.  Then Bill Powers of PixController kindly posted it on YouTube here.  It’s amazing to watch.

Meanwhile, as of 8:45pm tonight Tasha2 at the Gulf Tower has not yet laid her first egg.  She’s not late though.  She usually lays on or before St. Patrick’s Day.

For more information on peregrines, see the Peregrine FAQs.

(photo from the National Aviary snapshot webcam at the Univ of Pittsburgh, and thanks to Nora’s quick reflexes)

I first saw the egg via infrared light at 6:16am when she left the nest.  Under infrared light the red egg looks white.  Click on Dorothy’s photo to see the first daylight image of the egg, alone in the twilight before dawn. 

More news – and images - as the day unfolds! 

Update: 

Nora at the CMNH Falcon Forums captured an image of Dorothy with her first egg at 1:29am today. Wow!

Check my Peregrine FAQs for questions, answers and information on peregrine falcons and their nests.

(photo from the National Aviary’s snapshot webcam at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning. To see the snapshot camera, click the link on the camera name.  To see the streaming camera click here.)

Pictured at left is Dorothy at the University of Pittsburgh before dawn this morning, illuminated by the webcam’s infrared light.  She was sleeping on her perch and woke to preen just as twilight began.  As the sky got brighter she called to rouse her mate, E2.  Twenty minutes later she left the perch even though it was still dark.  Perhaps she saw him fly away to get her breakfast.

Meanwhile, before dawn at the Gulf Tower, Tasha2 was puttering on the ramp in front of the nestbox when she heard her mate call to her.  She replied with faint “ee-chups” and Louie called again.  Soon she walked up the ramp and waited in the nest scrape at the back of the box.  She was waiting for breakfast.

As female peregrines approach egg laying time, their mates provide their food.  For the males this is a heavy responsibility that comes at the same moment when they must defend their territories against intruders.  Only a strong male peregrine can fulfill all these tasks — and this is only the start.  When the eggs hatch he provides food for the entire family until the chicks are beyond the brooding stage.

You, too, can see and hear Pittsburgh’s peregrines at their nests.  Click here for the Cathedral of Learning webcam and here for the Gulf Tower webcam.  Because there are infrared lights, you can watch them both night and day.

(photos from the National Aviary peregrine webcams at the Cathedral of Learning and the Gulf Tower)

p.s. If your computer can’t stream, watch the snapshot camera at Pitt that refreshes every 15 seconds.

Last month the National Aviary installed new webcams with streaming video, audio and infrared night vision at the Gulf Tower and the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nests in Pittsburgh.  Both cams are now live on their website.

At the Gulf Tower you can see and hear Tasha2 dig the scrape where she’ll lay her eggs.  Sometimes she stands on the nest, all puffed up, and chirps to tell Louie she’s there.

At Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning there are two cameras.  The new one broadcasts sight and sound when Dorothy or E2 arrives at the nest and calls to the other for courtship bows.  The original camera provides snapshots of the action on the same webpage at lower right. 

Both nests have infrared lights now and all three cameras can “see” it so you’ll be able to watch the birds day and night.  Wow!

This new technology was installed by PixController and streams from Wildearth.tv.  They’re the ones who set up the famous Lily the Bear webcam where viewers saw Lily give birth to a cub on January 22.  PixController is based near Pittsburgh and has lots of streaming experience including their own Pennsylvania Woodland Cam where you can watch deer, wild turkeys, foxes, squirrels and birds. 

The falconcams have been live at wildearth.tv for a week or two.  If you’ve been watching there you’ll be happy to see that the Aviary’s webpage images are a little larger.

So bookmark the pages below, click on the Play arrow and keep watching.  You’ll be glued to your computer – just like me – watching Dorothy and Tasha2 lay their eggs.

See the Cathedral of Learning webcams here (http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_cl.php) or click on the splash screen above.
See the Gulf Tower here (http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_gt.php).
And for quick reference I’ve posted the links as “Resources” in the left hand column of this blog.

It’s peregrine time!

(This photo of Dorothy by Pat Szczepanski is the splash screen for the National Aviary’s webcam at the University of Pittsburgh.)

No, it’s Rochester, New York where they got even more snow than we did during last Friday’s storm. 

This is Beauty at the Times Square nest box in Rochester.  She’s staying close to the nest because she’s facing stiff competition for this prime site and she’s determined not to lose it.  Beauty hatched at the University of Pittsburgh in 2007, daughter of Dorothy and Erie.  I’ll bet this box reminds her of where she was born.  

It’s easy to watch Beauty on the web this spring.  Rochester Falconcam has two cameras at the Times Square nest box and two at the Powers Building, an alternate nestbox nearby.  Read about Rochester’s peregrines and watch Beauty on camera at this link.  And don’t miss Carol Phillips’ photos of the peregrines in Rochester, NY.

Yes, peregrine nesting season is coming - ready or not.  The snow is already melting and by the end of the month there will be eggs in most of the nests.  Can you believe it!?!

(photo of Beauty from the Times Square webcam in Rochester, NY)

Despite deep snow in the nestbox Dorothy and E2 have been bowing and courting at Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.

The motion detection camera captured two of their visits last weekend: an extended one with lots of bowing on Saturday and a quick visit by E2 alone on Sunday.  Here, E2 seems to be saying, “What are you looking at?”  In fact he’s probably wondering why Dorothy did not answer his call at the nest box on Valentine’s Day.

Click his photo to see a slideshow of both of their visits.  (If you rest your mouse pointer on the slides, you’ll see the captions.)

(photos from the National Aviary webcam at University of Pittsburgh)

When peregrines court they are very noticeable.  Lone peregrines with a territory but no mate fly conspicuously to advertise their availability.  Peregrines with both a nest and a mate engage in dramatic courtship flights to signal that their site is taken.  In both cases they mean to be seen.

The best time to observe this behavior in southwestern Pennsylvania is during February and March so, despite the snow last Sunday, Steve Gosser went down to the Tarentum Bridge where he’d seen a pair of peregrine falcons a year ago.  And there they were.

According to Steve, “they both came perching on a beam practically right above were I was standing.”  He got some great photos (this is one of them) and confirmed that this is the same pair Dan Yagusic identified at the bridge on December 20.  Their continued presence is a good sign they intend to nest there. 

Conspicuous peregrine activity lasts until the female lays eggs (late March or early April).  Then they become quite secretive and if you didn’t watch carefully you’d think they were gone.

So make the effort in the next two months to watch for peregrine falcons near potential nest sites.  You won’t be disappointed.  The peregrines aren’t shy … for now.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

It was a daredevil move and it worked.  The pigeons loafing far below were shocked out of their daydreams and bolted off the window ledges.  Her new mate joined the fray in an impressive display of co-operative hunting.  What a team!

Teamwork is part of peregrine courtship because it takes the dedication of both adults to raise a brood of nestlings.  Before they nest, peregrines cement their pair bond and practice teamwork by chasing off threats (hawks, owls and vultures) and by hunting co-operatively. 

During the hunt, one member of the pair rouses the prey and the other helps chase for the kill.  Sometimes it looks as if they are herding pigeons.  On rare occasions I’ve witnessed this action at Pitt, but it’s difficult to see with limited sight lines among the buildings.  Chad and Chris Saladin were lucky to be there when SW and her new mate, Ranger, showed off their skills in Downtown Cleveland on New Years Day.

And what did it look like when the pigeons scattered?  Click SW’s photo to see.

Hey, you pigeons!  Watch out below!

(photos by Chad+Chris Saladin)