http://www.wqed.org/birdblog A Bird Watcher’s View of the World Mon, 12 May 2008 00:07:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My friends will tell you this bird is a villain, a despoiler of songbird nests, a wrecker of warbler home life.  She refuses to raise her own young, foisting them off on unsuspecting foster mothers.  To make matters worse, she sneaks in and kills the foster mother's own young so that ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/11/cat-versus-cow/ I've watched the peregrines at University of Pittsburgh for many years and have learned something about Dorothy, the falcon who nests there: she is not the best of housekeepers. When she has chicks to feed, cleaning her nest is a low priority. This trait is individual to Dorothy's "personality." If you ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/09/messy-nest/ I saw a lot of birds in northwestern Ohio last weekend - in fact the count of species may have been a personal record - but the best bird by far was this beautiful prothonotary warbler.  He was so stunning he attracted a crowd.  This picture may make you think the prothonotary ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/08/best-bird-in-ohio/ It's been a week since 3 peregrine eggs hatched at the University of Pittsburgh and their parents have been feeding them frequently.  Have the nestlings grown?  Here's a visual comparison. At left are two photos from the webcam, exactly the same size.  The top photo shows the chicks on the day they hatched, ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/07/how-much-does-a-peregrine-nestling-grow-in-a-week/ Several people have asked me why birds of prey, especially red-tailed hawks and peregrines, would choose to nest close to humans. Isn't it unnatural? Doesn't it make them tame? Are the ones who nest on buildings already tame? In the case of peregrines, whom I know better than ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/05/why-do-they-nest-near-us/ For a peregrine fanatic this is a hard time to be away from Pittsburgh - what with baby peregrines in two nests and lots to watch - but migration is in full swing and the warblers beckon. There are lots of birds flying north, birds who barely stop to eat ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/05/03/birding-with-friends-friends-with-birds/ Now that the eggs are hatching at University of Pittsburgh, we have two sets of hungry baby peregrines. On the left: At Gulf Tower, Tasha2 stopped brooding the chicks long enough for Barbara Simon to capture two good photos. In the first picture, you can see the two unhatched eggs on the gravel ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/04/30/feeding-baby-peregrines/ This morning at 8:07am I got a call from my friend Karen Lang.  She saw an eggshell next to Dorothy so we knew the eggs had begun hatching at the University of Pittsburgh peregrine falcon nest.  Congratulations to Dorothy and E2! When Karen first saw the shell it was a perfect ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/04/30/today-peregrine-eggs-hatching-at-pitt/ I believe the peregrine falcon eggs will hatch soon at Pitt. Compared to last week, Dorothy is spending more time incubating than E2. In this picture she seems to be telling him, "Get up! It's my turn." She has years of experience hatching eggs while this may be his first ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/04/29/soon/ Last week the trees put on their best apparel, all decked out in flowers. The weather was fine - not cold like today. Here are some memories from last week's beautiful weather, captured on my cell phone camera. An apple tree in full bloom behind WQED's offices. It ... http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/04/29/decorations/