Rfalconcam Forum

From Kate St. John's blog, Outside My Window

Recent Developments
A replacement female for Dorothy, known as "Hope," did not have to come from very far away.  She tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to nest at the Tarentum Bridge (about twelve miles away as the falcon flies) for several years.  Presumably, E2 somehow made his unmated status known--perhaps with conspicuous flight and vocal behaviors--and Hope decided to join him in Oakland at the Cathedral of Learning.  They have been seen courting numerous times on the nest cam, and viewers around the world are very hopeful that E2 and Hope will successfully pair-bond and nest this coming spring!

Cam link

http://aviary.org/PF-NestCam1 (http://aviary.org/PF-NestCam1)

E2 was at the nest this morning:

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-2a_zpsdnel8lly.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-2a_zpsdnel8lly.jpg.html)

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-4a_zpsmbyfl5xz.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-4a_zpsmbyfl5xz.jpg.html)

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-9a_zpsz9f6mg1p.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-9a_zpsz9f6mg1p.jpg.html)

How to look graceful while working on the scrape:

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-12a_zpsu2g33heb.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/December%202015%20-%20January%202016/pittsburgh-jan-26-12a_zpsu2g33heb.jpg.html)

Hope just laid her first egg!!!

 :yippee:

Sad news at the Pitt peregrine nest. E2 found dead in Friendship as reported by Kate St. John. He had a broken wing, leg and blood coming out his mouth. Presumed he was hit by a car.  :crying:

Oh no!!!  Poor Hope!!! Perhaps he's flying free with Dorothy somewhere.   :crying:

I was out and got the tweet from Pitts. I was shaking when I read this! So darn sad! Fly Free sweet E2. Poor Hope!!  :crying:

 :crying: :crying: :crying:

Fly Free E2.   :heart: :(

Hope another tiercel finds Hope soon.

Oh no!!!!! :crying: :crying: :crying:

Fly free, little sweetheart

Hope laid a third egg overnight, she's standing asleep by her 3 eggs this morning.  :(

                            :crying:

 :'(

We humans have been speculating about the peregrine falcons at the Cathedral of Learning — about E2’s death and Hope’s future — but the only way to figure out what’s really going on is to watch the birds’ behavior and write down the facts without speculation.

Using the facts, we can match what we see to typical species behavior and arrive at a general answer.  Long-time observers may also match facts to years of observing the individual birds, providing a specific answer based on the individual’s “personality.”  However, additional data may contradict our conclusions.  We must remain open to changing our minds. That’s how we learn.

Today I’ll tell you what I’ve seen at the Cathedral of Learning and will do some matching based on 15 years of watching the peregrines at Pitt and 8.5 years of knowing E2 as an individual.  Keep in mind that conclusions are always speculation, even though educated by long experience.

FACTS:

E2’s death and activities surrounding it:
E2’s last appearance on camera was at 12:37pm on Tuesday March 15.
Hope laid her second egg at 5:08pm on Tuesday March 15.
E2 always visited each egg as it was laid.  He did not visit Hope’s second egg.
E2 always brought food to his mates at dawn.  He has not been present at dawn since Tuesday March 15.
E2’s body was found on Wednesday March 16, perhaps at 4:00pm–5:00pm.  It was retrieved around 6:00pm.
E2’s body has a broken right wing and broken right leg and blood in mouth.  Blood in mouth indicates internal injuries.
When E2’s body was retrieved his wings could be opened, therefore no rigor mortis. Rigor mortis is temporary.  I am awaiting further data but the Backyard Chickens website says it sets in half an hour to 4 hours after death and ends 24-48 hours after death.  (Thank you, Donna Memon, for this link.)
Hope’s activities since E2 disappeared:
She has stayed close to the nest and laid a third egg.
This morning’s temperature dropped to 34 degrees F.  Under these circumstances peregrines cover their eggs to keep them from getting too cold.
Hope covered the eggs last night.
Yesterday afternoon when Hope was not on camera she was not at the Cathedral of Learning.  (I did not see her fly.)
Is Hope alone? Is there a new male present?
A second peregrine has not been seen on camera since E2’s last appearance.  An intruder male would begin courting immediately. There has been no courting at all.
Yesterday afternoon I observed off and on for 90 minutes from the ground at the Cathedral of Learning.  I never saw two birds — only Hope.
Hope and E2 were loud when they were near each other, lots of ee-chupping and calling.  I have not reviewed all of the audio archives but from what I have heard… there has been no peregrine noise since E2 disappeared.  (This may need to be corrected if additional data contradicts it.)
CONCLUSIONS (SPECULATION!) ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED:

Time of E2’s death: My conclusion, based on knowing him as an individual, is that he died on Tuesday afternoon before 5:00pm.
Cause of E2’s death: Based on description of his injuries, my conclusion is that he was hit broadside.  These massive injuries cannot be inflicted by another bird.
Underlying cause of E2’s death: This is speculation on top of speculation!   My guess is that he was hit by a vehicle while swooping low over the road.  (I once saw him swoop low over Forbes Avenue. This 1 observation in 8.5 years merely means he was willing to swoop low over a road at one point.)
Did an intruder force E2 into a fight?  No. If an intruder had been involved, that intruder would be at the Cathedral of Learning and courting with Hope by now.
Is Hope incubating?  I don’t know Hope’s ways like I knew Dorothy’s so I don’t know.  I would have answered that question based on her continuous time on the eggs but Hope cannot incubate continuously because she must hunt for herself.
Is Hope hunting for her own food?  I don’t know.  I have not observed long enough on the ground.
Is there a new male at the site yet?   No.
As I said above, conclusions are always speculation.

Keep watching and learning.

 BY Kate St. John

http://www.wtae.com/news/cathedral-of-learnings-peregrine-falcon-eggs-in-potential-danger-after-bird-found-dead/38606898 (http://www.wtae.com/news/cathedral-of-learnings-peregrine-falcon-eggs-in-potential-danger-after-bird-found-dead/38606898)

Cathedral of Learning’s peregrine falcon eggs in potential danger after bird found dead

Pittsburgh's Action News 4

 :(  :crying: 

It is so sad to lose E2 so suddenly and unexpectedly. Poor little guy. From his injuries, it sounds to me as if he was hit by a vehicle.  :crying:  :crying:  :crying:

E2 was a great tiercel. He was loyal, faithful and completely supportive of Dorothy during his years at the nest. No falcon could ask for a better mate.

I feel bad for Hope, too. She spent last night on the eggs, and left a few minutes ago.

Nature can be so cruel at times!  :(

 :crying:

Male in nest box, male in nest box!!  Banded and the cutest little squeeks!!!  :bow: :bow:

Yeah!  Fingers and toes crossed that he and Hope are compatible. :clap:

We thought it was the male in box but people in the know say it's Hope - anyway there was back and forth chatting for awhile and now silence.  She's frozen by her eggs in the box...

Hope ‏@PittPeregrines  12m12 minutes ago
A second peregrine was heard off camera in the last hour.  Hasn't visited the nest yet.

Hope ‏@PittPeregrines  11m11 minutes ago
Hope was bowing and not in an aggressive posture.  Could be a male she's saying hello to.

From Twitter

I am so excited for her, I really hope it works out.  She's had such a challenging life so far.

 goodnews:

Oh, I hope it's a new male for her.   :clap:

http://wildearth.tv/videomark/hope-calling-another-falcon-pt2 (http://wildearth.tv/videomark/hope-calling-another-falcon-pt2)  Check it out!!!    Fingers crossed!!

From Kate this morning:

 Anne Marie reports that Hope & her new mate are flying around top of CL. Courtship flights!

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/24/high-hopes/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/24/high-hopes/)

What happened last night

UPDATE:

# Kate St. Johnon 24 Mar 2016 at 8:43 am
Need as of 8:42am. Using a birding scope from the end of my street I can see the CL. I saw them mate. :)

 :thumbsup:

So very happy and keeping my fingers crossed!   :2thumbsup:

Hope ‏@PittPeregrines  44s45 seconds ago
He's also gone into a stoop a couple of times in the last half hour...going to show he can provide for Hope.

 Hope ‏@PittPeregrines  2m2 minutes ago
Potential new mate is nearly constantly airborne, hovering around the Cathedral then a bit of territorial display.

So happy for Hope!   :2thumbsup:

 :thumbsup:

the @PittPeregrines twitter account just reported about 25 minutes ago that Hope and Mystery Beau mated on the Cathedral's lightning rod

 :cheerleader:  Thanks Pen!!!

Here's hoping they produce an egg in time to finish this clutch. Looking hopeful.

                           :2thumbsup:

Fantastic news!  :clap:

Sounds good to me!  :yes:

Hope's new Gentleman Friend brought her a Robin  :(  for dinner. She's still there with feathers flying everywhere.

From FB 

At least he is trying, hope all goes well for her and her 3 or more  :devil:  eggs!!

New blog from Kate this morning, six of them were out observing the courtship yesterday!

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/25/exciting-peregrine-courtship-at-pitt/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/25/exciting-peregrine-courtship-at-pitt/?platform=hootsuite)

Just saw the tiercel at the nest-9AM-Black/red VID band

Nice looking bird!

http://youtu.be/huomAOQHL90

He's very handsome!  :yes:

He's N/29 Black/Red.  Kate has sent off for his ID as it's not in the database. 

The DEC used black over red on our birds until 2006. Rhea Mae and Sabrina/Valiant were the last two in Rochester to get those colors. Love how he is checking on the eggs and working on the scrape. :)

(http://i66.tinypic.com/2ronlts.jpg) and he has a  :heart: like DC

I was in Pittsburgh for a very short while today. Around 2:00p I spotted a pefa near the top of the Cathedral of Learning, on the southeast side of the building. It did not take flight and its back was to me so I was unable to see bands. Pretty bird with bright white side feathers and a very dark helmet. Pigeons flying across lower buildings a block away.

          Nice!   :2thumbsup:

Mystery solved on who the new tiercel is..Kate's Blog!

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/28/mystery-solved-2/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/28/mystery-solved-2/)

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/29/his-name-is-terzo/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/03/29/his-name-is-terzo/)

His name is Terzo! p.s. In Italian it’s pronounced tare-tzo. It rhymes with “scherzo.”

Hope laid her 4th egg today, her first with Terzo! Here's hoping it all works out well for them! :clap:

his afternoon at about 4:35pm, Hope laid her fourth egg of the season.

Her first three eggs were fathered by her deceased mate, E2, whose body was found on March 16.  This fourth egg arrived 15 days later and is undoubtedly fathered by her new mate Terzo.

Will she lay more eggs?  We don’t know.

Will she begin incubation now?  We’ll have to wait and see.

Only Hope knows the answers to these questions.

Stay tuned on the National Aviary falconcam at University of Pittsburgh to find out.

 (http://i68.tinypic.com/34j7zpd.jpg)

(http://i67.tinypic.com/2q351r5.jpg) Look who's on the eggs and it isn't hope!   :clap:

 :thumbsup: ;D

Saw Terzo take his turn incubating at least twice today:

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/April%202016/pittsburgh-apr-3-16a_zpsvdrrz2ml.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/April%202016/pittsburgh-apr-3-16a_zpsvdrrz2ml.jpg.html)

(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/April%202016/pittsburgh-apr-3-19a_zpsk9ygfll1.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/April%202016/pittsburgh-apr-3-19a_zpsk9ygfll1.jpg.html)

Terzo had some challenges getting them all under him when he turned around, but he figured it out   

:happy:

 :thumbsup:

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/08/juvenile-female-makes-brief-intrusion-at-pitt-nest/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/08/juvenile-female-makes-brief-intrusion-at-pitt-nest/) This afternoon webcam viewers were surprised to see a brown-colored falcon arrive at the Pitt peregrine nest and then bow and e-chup at Terzo as he was incubating.   :o (Not banded)

Juvenile Female Makes Brief Intrusion at Pitt Nest

http://www.wildearth.tv/videomark/2016-04-08-1510-juvenile-female-visits-nest (http://www.wildearth.tv/videomark/2016-04-08-1510-juvenile-female-visits-nest) here is the video

(http://i68.tinypic.com/14bns7.jpg) 1st hatch!!!

Happy news at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest.  The first chick has hatched!    Welcome to the world, “C1.”

From Twitter    :clap:

An E2 baby...isn't nature wonderful.   :notworthy:

 :clap:

 :wub:

 :hatch1: :heartspin:

         It sure is!  It's also great how Hope needed a mate and Terzo stepped right into the role so well!  :clap:

Tragedy on second hatch.  Apparently the baby was trying get out of egg, she  killed it and is now consuming it.  Thankfully I can't get the cam at work, BCAW is posting what's going on.  :(

Edit to add: she's feeding it to the other baby  :o

Edit to remove the 'stepping part' as the Pitt crew said she bit it (a bite to the head/neck) - no stepping.  I expect people watching were distraught so things got confusing.  Just wanted to set the record straight on that.

Apparently every time an egg hatches, she is pulling it away from the others and chaos ensues.  Thankfully the male took over when the first egg hatched this morning...cripes...

She isn't a first-time mom, is she?  I thought I read she's from another nest.  She is crazy-been following events on BCAW.

No she's had offspring before at the bridge, twice I believe.  No wonder only 2 times if she keeps doing that.  I hope no more hatch.

Oh no!  :(

  :o :(

WHAT???   :crying:

OK... As near as we can tell C2 was not completely well formed. I noticed a lack of down. So did the PGC and several of you. It's possible that Hope knew that it would not survive. She was observed poking and shaking it before she killed it and fed it to C1. Some of you mentioned another possible intruder around 11:00. We're checking the archives, but this would be an unrelated incident.
Thank you for not PMing me and my admins while we 1. Tried to figure this out; 2. Consulted with the pros; 3. Tried to take care of our non-feathered families.
Remember - we still don't know a lot. We're learning along with you.
And a huge THANK YOU for your patience.

FB

*sigh*   :rolleyes:

New blog up from Kate:

Yesterday morning we were excited that the first peregrine egg hatched at Pitt and looked forward to a second hatching later in the day.

At around 2:15pm the second egg hatched. Hope manipulated it, killed it, and fed it to the first chick.

This is not normal peregrine behavior.

Viewers were shocked and bewildered.  Many of you had questions but I was out of cell range for most of the day, unaware that it happened.

I have never seen this behavior before and don’t know why it occurred.  Here’s what we do know: Peregrines’ lives are very different from ours. Using our human yardstick to understand them — anthropomorphizing — really leads us astray.

I asked Art McMorris, the PA Game Commission’s Peregrine Coordinator, who viewed the archived footage and said the chick was alive but might not have been normal.  In all his years of dealing with peregrines, Art has never seen this before either.

Hope’s behavior was so unusual that there is no information on it.  Many of you speculated about it and asked “Is this why she did it?”  In almost every case my answer is “I don’t know.”

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/30/bewildering-birth-and-death/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/04/30/bewildering-birth-and-death/?platform=hootsuite)

2nd hatch (actually 3rd) happened during night!

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/01/third-egg-hatched-all-is-well/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/01/third-egg-hatched-all-is-well/?platform=hootsuite) Kate's Blog

Someone posted an interesting link on Kate's blog to this paper that discusses Brood Reduction by Infanticide in Peregrine Falcons.  Might be good to keep for future reference as well, worth a read.

http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic66-2-226.pdf (http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic66-2-226.pdf)

ps:  Warning, this is a scientific paper however the topic may be disturbing for some.

These birds know what they're doing even if we don't. We must take the bad with the good and keep learning. Sometimes we are too quick to judge what is happening before our eyes. I believe we shouldn't second guess nature as it does things differently than we do.  ;)

Viewers reporting the youngest baby has passed away.  :( :(    No official confirmation as of yet though.

Shepherd had posted early this AM that Terzo stepped on it.  This site has had more bad luck in past few years..how sad for that baby.  :crying:

So sad.  :crying:

I just read that the baby was out of the scrape when Terzo stepped on it and it did move afterwards but is apparently deceased.

Kate has a new blog up about it.

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/05/it-appears-that-c3-has-died/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/05/it-appears-that-c3-has-died/)

Awe, not another one!!  :(

I am sick!  Hope fed the dead baby to the surviving eyas yesterday and just read on BCAW that Terzo's egg starting hatching and she fed that one to the eyas too!   :o  :crying:  This Falcon isn't right..tragic!

This is a nightmare come true.   :(

I'm going to bite my tongue (for a change  :angel: ), cause you know I'll get in trouble ... but just wow.  I stopped watching after she offed the first one.  Too old, too emotional to see that through.  I feel for everyone, this is just tragic.

Today I am thankful we now have a stable nest with good parents in Beauty & Dot. There was a time that wasn't so certain.

I stopped watching there too. Very sad. All I can do is hope C1 thrives.

I got the tweet it was pipping, now this?? What is going on? She had babies before!! I don't watch either!

They say in several nesting years, she's only fledged 2 so you wonder how many others she's killed!

This is unbelievably sad.  I am trying to tell myself that she could tell there were abnormalities with the three, but Dorothy didn't give up on Silver last year!  I'd like to capture Hope and get her into a lab to be studied by some bird experts.

This afternoon as Hope and Terzo’s last egg began to hatch, Hope picked the new chick out of its shell, ate part of it, and fed the rest to her only remaining chick, C1.

All four of Hope’s eggs hatched but there is only one chick to show for it. On April 29 she killed and ate the second chick (C2) feeding part of it to C1. C3 hatched on April 30 but he never thrived. (Some of you speculated that she didn’t fed him adequately even though there’s enough food.)

Hours after C3 died Hope fed him to C1. And now she has killed and eaten C4, again feeding him to C1.

We don’t know why Hope is doing this. Perhaps her situation will inspire biologists to study her case.

In the meantime we can only wonder.

Needless to say her actions are distressing, so turn off the nestcam if it upsets you.

This is very abnormal behavior!!

 

p.s. I have no predictions on what she’ll do next. I have no idea how the season will end.


Kate's Blog

 :wow:

This whole situation is very sad.  :(

I've read that Hope is around 8 years old, nested at the Tarentum Bridge for a few years but only fledged 2 plus the mates she had, abandoned her.  It was posted on FB that Hope was born at a Super Fund site along the James River and it's something the PGC is looking into.  Maybe this explains what's wrong with her?

I expect it does explain a lot.  I am doing some googling on it this morning and here is just once excerpt from an article I found where they actually did extensive research on the effects of birds breeding at Superfund sites:

Tissue samples taken from birds in these areas contained enough Aroclor 1268 to cause a number of adverse effects, including lower egg production, physical and physiological abnormalities in offspring and immune system disorders.

Am currently browsing an article I found that talks about 'aberrant' parenting behaviors - I got 104,000 hits on my search and these are just first two I've opened.  

And if this has caused such things in the avian population, what about the human one?

We certainly live in a 'toxic' world and effects on humans is also not good.  When I was in University, one of the environmental courses I took went into the adverse effects of toxins on humans and it was quite enlightening to say the least.

In spite of it all though, humans populations have grown beyond what the planet can naturally sustain.  Other species unfortunately are declining and many are going extinct.  I think the effects on them have been far more harsh than on us.  We soldier on but they continue to die out. 

We can prevent humans from being exposed to Superfund sites by isolating the area and educating people to stay away but the other species don't know and understand that they shouldn't be nesting there. 

 

Thing is... some humans MUST have known what the results would be. But they chose to ignore them, in favour of quick money. We see it everywhere. We can no longer say: "We know not what we do". Because we DO know.

Have just read about these Super Fund sites. I imagine that is what the problem is with the parent.Very tragic indeed!!Thanks for the info. :rain:

 :crying:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2016/05/10/Peregrine-eats-its-young/stories/201605100086?utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1462855678 (http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2016/05/10/Peregrine-eats-its-young/stories/201605100086?utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1462855678)

Peregrine falcon feeds some of its young to one of its chicks.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

More email from Art McMorris, PGC. "As many of you know, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has been experiencing severe budget stresses. Last year there were deep across-the-board budget cuts, and this year there have been additional, deeper, across-the-board cuts, affecting all programs in all parts of the state. My hours have been cut in half (and everyone else in positions like mine has been laid off entirely), and I have been authorized to make banding visits to only a minority of the peregrine nests in PA. Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that I will be able to band the nestlings at the bridges in the greater Pittsburgh area this year. This includes the Glenfield/Neville Island I-79 bridge, McKees Rocks Bridge, Monaca East Rochester Bridge, Tarentum Bridge and Westinghoiuse Bridge. The Graff Bridge in Kittanning, Armstrong County, is also affected, as would be the Johnstown area in Cambria County, if that falcon were to be found nesting. The only Pittsburgh-area nest where we will be able to band is the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning... As you know, the Gulf Tower birds have relocated to an inaccessible site downtown, so banding at that nest is moot.
So, that will mean your observations will be even more valuable than they already are, because that’s the only way we’ll be able to confirm nesting success and the number of young at each of those nests. But it means that we won’t be able to do the other things we do when we visit the nest: health checks, medical treatment if necessary, collect unhatched eggs for contaminant analysis, etc.; and of course, banding to determine movements, longevity, etc. Thanks again for all your generous help."

 :(

Pittsburgh chick banded today just after 10:00 am

I hope this chick remains healthy, has a good fledge, and exhibits normal parenting habits in the future.  Do we know its gender?

       It's a girl!

Saw on FB..Videos!  Turn down your speakers..she's a loud one!

http://youtu.be/Ei7vV9qKnYo (http://youtu.be/Ei7vV9qKnYo)

http://youtu.be/u3ezM2y8ct4 (http://youtu.be/u3ezM2y8ct4)

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/27/shes-a-healthy-girl/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/05/27/shes-a-healthy-girl/?platform=hootsuite)

At today’s banding we learned, first and foremost, that C1 is a healthy female and Hope and Terzo are devoted parents.

Kate's Blog

 goodnews:

C1 fledged this AM!  :2thumbsup:

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/06/14/it-worked/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/06/14/it-worked/?platform=hootsuite)

As it turns out, C1 probably flew last night around 7:30pm.   :2thumbsup:


By Kate

 :2thumbsup:

http://youtu.be/M-fJN4IbOkU (http://youtu.be/M-fJN4IbOkU)  New female, Magnum 62/H

What the heck happened to Hope?? Sheesh, the baby just fledged!!

# Megan  on 22 Jun 2016 at 9:33 pm
Kate, did you see that Terzo has a new “visitor” at the nest? I saw her on the camera today (6/22) at 3:58 PM. At first, I thought it was Terzo because she also has a black/red band, but the band numbers didn’t seem familiar so I checked the video archives later. The bands are black/red, 62/H on her left leg and purple on her right leg. Your peregrine history pdf says that this is Magnum from the Neville Island Bridge! Later at 4:40 PM, Terzo was in the nest, he called her in, and they bowed and chirped at each other. I went back farther in the archives, and she was on camera last night (6/21) at 18:58. If you have any thoughts on this development, we’d love to hear them! It seems strange that Terzo would be courting a new female so soon after C1 fledged, but after this year, I guess we should expect the unexpected! Do you know if there were any chicks at the Neville Island Bridge this year?

# Kate St. John  on 22 Jun 2016 at 10:09 pm
Megan, I went back through the 3:58pm archives & see that two are bowing. Unfortunately I can’t get the archive to play the exact moment when the female shows her bands. I’ve set my Archive Wizards on the case & they’ll gather evidence.

Thoughts on this development: A prime nest site like the Cathedral of Learning can change hands at any time. If Magnum has indeed claimed the Cathedral of Learning, it’s fortunate this happened after C1 fledged. (It’s not good to have a major change when nestlings are still in the nest.)

The Neville Island Bridge had 2 fledglings this year. One died (hit by a car on the bridge) & the other hasn’t been seen since the day after it fledged. Site monitor Anne Marie Bosnyak hasn’t been able to re-identify the female so she doesn’t know if Magnum was there this year.

I am not surprised she was displaced given her age.  This new one is 6 years old.  I expect a 2 year old will be there come next Spring - it's prime falcon real estate and needs a really strong female like Dorothy was to hold it.  Both these 2 females likely were displaced from their old sites so they're likely not strong enough to hold a site like the Pitt.  I expect more turmoil to come.

Hopefully C1 gets to learn to hunt from her dad before Magnum chases her out.

 :wow:

Matrix just posted on BCAW that Magnum is Midnight's sister (our female at MEC) - that puts a different spin on things.  Their father was the famous Maverick...  :notworthy:

I don't like this change when they still have a kid to teach, feed and become independent!! Grrrr!

I 'm reading up on Magnum - she was previously nesting with Beauty's brother (!) at the Neville Island bridge.  I wonder if she left on her own?  or she was displaced.  She's still listed as being there back in April of this year. From the sounds of this banding article, she was quite the fierce female.  

Link to article: http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2015/06/02/pitt-peregrine-discovered-at-neville-island/ (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2015/06/02/pitt-peregrine-discovered-at-neville-island/)

Reports are that Hope has been at the nest and bonding with Terzo in the past couple days so whatever happened with Magnum entering the picture is a mystery.   :sherlock: The juvie, C1, is being seen by watchers and is doing well!

What the.....   :stupid:

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/07/05/hopes-in-charge-for-now/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/07/05/hopes-in-charge-for-now/?platform=hootsuite)   Hope’s in Charge For Now

By Kate

Peyton Place over there since Dorothy has been gone!  :(

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/08/03/another-female-visitor/?platform=hootsuite (http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2016/08/03/another-female-visitor/?platform=hootsuite) Another female
bowing with Terzo!!

Apparently, Hope just isn't committed to this site as of yet!! Will be an easy take over in the Spring!! Dorothy would have NONE of this nonsense!!

Cute little female juvie though!

Perhaps this cute little juvie can take the nest.

I followed this nest for many years with Dorothy and Erie, then Dorothy and E2. All great peregrines.

Since the happenings earlier this year, I check the site only rarely.