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Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:44 pm
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Location: Milton, Pa.
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PA.news
A new peregrine falcon frequenting the Tarentum Bridge is scaring the local pigeon population but exciting local wildlife watchers.
Local bird experts are hoping for a union between the new mysterious visitor and the jilted bachelor who is thought to be a year-round resident at the bridge, which hosted successful nesting in 2012 and 2014.
New couples and the fate of each bird is watched carefully because the peregrine falcon — the fastest animal on earth that can reach speeds greater than 200 mph — is still classified as endangered in the state.
There are only 46 known pairs in the commonwealth, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Although it is months before nesting begins in March, there seems to be a lot of flirting going on in Tarentum and another nest site, the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland.
Rob Protz of Brackenridge sits on a bench on the Tarentum side of the bridge greeting dog walkers and fishermen walking by, all the while taking notes on the raptors' comings and goings.
Last Monday, Protz watched a peregrine at 4:20 p.m. fly up Ross Street and scare the pigeons, then fly to a beam under the faded turquoise Tarentum Bridge.
“Then at 4:26, it did the same thing, and she's been sitting there ever since,” he said close to sunset the same day.
“That is — if she is a she,” he said.
The female peregrine is noticeably larger than the male, but it can be hard to identify the sex when there is just one bird.
Recent photographs of the bands on the bird's leg identify it as likely a female from either Neville Island or Philadelphia, according to Art McMorris, peregrine falcon coordinator for the Game Commission.
Wherever the birds are from, there is a pair spending a lot of time at the Tarentum Bridge. As recently as Friday, Protz and local photographers spotted two falcons at the bridge.
MEANWHILE, IN OAKLAND ...
Interloping female falcons at the Cathedral of Learning — at least four of them — are hard to miss as their presence has been captured on a webcam there.
They greet Terzo, the male peregrine partner of Hope — the former raptor queen of the Tarentum Bridge.
Hope left her Tarentum Bridge partner last year after the Cathedral's longest reigning queen, Dorothy, died, likely of old age.
The cathedral is prime peregrine territory because the tall building is much like the bird's natural nest sites on cliffs. It's a peregrine's dream, as it is protected from weather and predators and offers open space for hunting a bountiful prey base of pigeons and other wildlife, McMorris said.
Many inquisitive peregrines stop by.
“This is what we would expect to be going on,” he said.
Known as “floaters,” unmated peregrines are checking on potential mates, but more importantly, open territories, he said.
Without territories, there can be no mates.
“These birds at the cathedral were noted briefly and may have moved on; maybe they will be back,” he said. “It's all part of the natural process.”
The prevalence of these floaters was evident this spring when Dorothy's original mate was killed, and Terzo showed up quickly, McMorris said.
These floaters likely will even mate with the resident birds.
An unbanded female can show up close to nesting season at the cathedral, and the male would mate with her, according to McMorris.
“Hope will come back and say, ‘Get out of here,' and we won't see the unbanded female again. This happens commonly.”
HOPE VISITS TARENTUM
Back in Tarentum, Protz isn't sure what will happen with the new falcon at the bridge.
Of course the peregrine with the 69Z band number — Hope's band number — has been visiting the bridge even though she's still queen at the cathedral.
“She was just here Thursday evening,” said Protz. “She was all over the place, on the navigation light on the bridge, then she scattered pigeons in the marina.”
Two weeks ago, Hope was seen on the Tarentum side of the bridge as another peregrine was heard on the New Kensington side screeching at a passing bald eagle flying up river.
Expectations for 2017 nesting season?
“I have none,” Protz said. “That's why I sit here every night.”
_________________
"The time to protect a species is while it is still common"
Rosalie Edge
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Founder
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