Deborah Weisberg

Two bald eaglets died in recent weeks in their tree nest in Pittsburgh, and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is the presumed cause.
Six-week old GH4 and GH3 began exhibiting signs of illness, including lethargy and weakness, several days before they passed on May 17 and 18 in the city’s Glen Hazel section, according to PixCams, which has live-
streamed the nest for 14 years and had never before recorded such a loss.

A massive turnpike modernization planned for the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel in southwestern Pennsylvania is drawing strong opposition.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission plans to build a 1,000-foot wide, 250-foot-deep highway through the Allegheny Mountain in Somerset County to bypass the existing twin-tube system, claiming it is needed to replace aged infrastructure, accommodate greater traffic volume, and provide for trucks carrying hazardous materials.

A bald eaglet from a nest at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh was recovering from surgery on April 18 to remove a fish hook from its gut.
While it took a collaborative effort by arborists, wildlife rehabilitators and a West Virginia veterinary team to pull off the risky operation, the raptor – then just two weeks old and weighing 2 pounds – came through with flying colors, and was returned to its parents.

A suburban Pittsburgh family on a mission to visit every Pennsylvania state park is one destination away from completing their six-year adventure.
Marlin and Barbara McMonigal and their two children have logged time in 124 parks and all 20 state forests and are planning to see Laurel Caverns when it opens as Pennsylvania’s newest – and only underground – park on April 22. Their odyssey began during the stir craziness of COVID in 2020.