Blue jay and chipmunk (photos by Chuck Tague and Brian Herman)
Fall officially arrived this week though it’s been in progress for a while. Trees and plants are gradually losing leaves, squirrels are storing food for the winter and birds are migrating. It’s a good time to be outdoors.
Join me for a bird & nature walk in Schenley Park on Sunday, 29 September 2019, 8:30a – 10:30a. We’ll meet at Bartlett Shelter on Bartlett Street because the north end of Schenley will be hard to get to. Forbes and Fifth Avenues will be closed for the Pittsburgh Great Race.
We’re sure to see birds, lingering flowers, fruits and acorns. Acorns are a big attraction for chipmunks and blue jays. Last week the number of blue jays exploded when migrating jays arrived in town. Will there be more blue jays than chipmunks? Come and see.
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them. NOTE that a fallen tree blocks part of the Falloon Trail trail so we’ll have to go off the beaten path. Be prepared to walk on dirt with roots and rocks. A walking stick may be useful.
Visit my Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations.
(photo credits: blue jay by Chuck Tague, chipmunk by Brian Herman)
Though the report was depressing there were two bright spots that provide hope and can guide us from grief to action. The report includes this happy news: Ducks increased 56% and raptors 200% thanks to our intervention.
Ring-necked ducks, March 2011 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Ducks were in such steep decline in the early 1900s that hunters banded together to reverse the trend. The main cause of decline was habitat loss — the disappearance of wetlands — so they worked to pass wetland protection laws in the U.S. and Canada and migratory duck protection in Mexico. People gave of their time and money to build wetland habitat for waterfowl, especially through Ducks Unlimited. Their effort paid off.
Female peregrine in flight, May 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)
Meanwhile, by 1970 peregrine falcons were extinct east of the Mississippi and bald eagle populations had crashed. The cause was a pesticide — DDT — that was outlawed in the U.S. in 1972. With Endangered Species Act protection and the work of recovery programs, peregrine falcons and bald eagles made a stunning come back.
The recent decline in North American birds has its root in the same problems we solved for ducks and raptors: habitat loss and pesticides. We solved it before, can do it again. We can turn our grief into action.
Our actions can be small scale or large — from our own backyards, to local schools and parks, to the national level.
On a personal scale, Cornell Lab of Ornithology suggests seven simple things. As part of their list, here are two questions to think about: Do you treat your lawn? Do you ‘fog’ your backyard to keep mosquitoes away? Reducing insects means birds and nestlings starve.
On a local and national scale we can work to restore habitat and reduce pesticides through conservation organizations and our local Audubon and birding clubs (see list at end).
And finally, we can work to change attitudes toward nature and we can vote. Wetland protection and pesticide laws were key to saving ducks and raptors. Every level of government — from school board to nation — makes decisions that affect birds.
After an interval of grief, we’ll have a lot to do. We can do it. We just have to try.
(red-winged blackbird photos from Wikimedia Commons; 7 Simple Things from Cornell Lab of Ornithology; click on the captions to see the originals. Ring-necked ducks by Steve Gosser, peregrine falcon by Peter Bell)
p.s. Pittsburghers, here are some land and bird conservation organizations, mostly local:
In the past several years my friends and I have noticed something strange. We expect to see a lot of birds at our feeders and on migration but something has gone wrong. We rarely see so many, sometimes almost none. There are fewer birds than there used to be.
The truth is worse than we thought. A report published in Science on 19 September 2019, shows that the bird population of North America has declined by 2.9 billion birds since 1970. Half of that decline occurred in the last 10 years(*). Indeed, we have seen Silent Spring happening before our eyes.
The declines are uneven across species and regions. Grassland species have been hit the hardest with more than half gone. Boreal forests have lost a third. 617 million wood warblers are gone.
The research team, led by Kenneth V. Rosenberg of Cornell University, analyzed many data sets including Breeding Bird Surveys, Christmas Bird Counts and US Fish and Wildlife Surveys. The most poignant proof came from a non-human counter — radar data of nocturnal spring migration. Across the U.S. from 2007 to 2017 weather radar saw a 14% reduction in our bird population.
The heaviest losses occurred in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways (blue and green on map).
Dry ground in Schenley Park, 19 Sep 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
22 September 2019
The ground in my neighborhood is parched dry and the leaves are wilting. It’s beginning to look like a drought in Pittsburgh. Is it so?
Leaves drooping on leafstem, Schenley Park, 19 Sep 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
As of this morning Pittsburgh’s September rainfall total was 1.39 inches above normal, a statistical anomaly. We had a record rainfall event on September 1 (3.38″) and nothing to speak of since then.
If we don’t include the deluge on September 1st, precipitation is 1.9 inches below normal.
Are we in a drought? Not yet, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It takes more than three weeks without rain to make a drought. Indicators include stream flow, ground water and soil moisture. With a year-to-date excess of 9.44 inches, our drought severity index is zero.
Shaggy mane mushrooms at Black Moshannon State Park, 11 Sept 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Last weekend my friend Debbie and I traveled to Williamsport for the annual Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) meeting. Along the way we stopped at Black Moshannon State Park where we found these mushrooms disintegrating near the parking lot. Mushrooms are a mystery to me. An expert at the meeting told us what they were.
Shaggy mane mushrooms, also called shaggy ink cap (Coprinus comatus), are a common mushroom in lawns and waste places. Their caps begin as white cylinders, turn shaggy and bell shaped, liquefy into black ink and drip from the edges, eventually disintegrating into an inky blob.
The shaggy manes at Black Moshannon were all dripping black ink so we had no idea they went through the life stages shown in the Wikimedia photo below.
When they’re disintegrating shaggy manes look very unappetizing but according to Wikipedia they are edible when young. However they are frequently confused with a poisonous North American mushroom called the ‘vomiter’ mushroom Chlorophyllum molybdites. Enough said!
p.s. PSO‘s annual September meeting is a great opportunity to go birding in a new-to-you place in Pennsylvania. The outings are led by local birders who know the area well. I visited Montour Preserve and Ricketts Glen State Park last weekend. It was well worth the trip. Next year’s meeting will be in Lancaster County.
In some plant species, bees must vibrate the flowers to shake pollen loose. The technique is called buzz pollination or sonication.
Buzz-pollinated plants have anthers with very small openings so the pollen stays inside unless the anther is shaken. To collect the pollen bees grab the flower and vibrate their flight muscles. This makes a buzzing sound.
In the photo above, a halictid bee is releasing yellow grains of pollen as she shakes. She collects it on her legs for delivery to the hive.
Most species in the Solanum genus, including potatoes, eggplants and tomatoes, have to vibrate to release their pollen. Strong wind can do the trick outdoors but greenhouse tomatoes are out of luck. That’s how bumblebees get an indoor job.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)
Tony Bledsoe was an instructor and lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh for 31 years and such an inspiring teacher that his students rated him “One of the best professors I’ve ever had.” In 2006 he won the Tina and David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award as Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher in Arts and Sciences at the University, voted by the students themselves.
Tony was a friend and a behind-the-scenes advocate for birds at the University of Pittsburgh. I first met him in 2001 when he offered to help me establish a peregrine nestbox at the Cathedral of Learning. Tony read my PABIRDS report about peregrines in courtship flight and knew there was no suitable location for them to nest. I wanted to install a nestbox but had no idea how to approach the University. Tony knew who to call. He worked behind the scenes to find people to champion the peregrines within the Administration. By February 2002, with Tony’s help, the nestbox was in place. Dorothy and Erie raised their first chicks that spring.
Dorothy with first nestling at the nestbox Tony Bledsoe helped establish at the Cathedral of Learning, Mothers’ Day 2002
Tony provided scientific background on peregrine behavior within the University and beyond. In March 2007, when Erie killed an intruder peregrine at the nestbox, he was interviewed by John Tierney of the New York Times for an article about the peregrine fight: Peregrine Smackdown: Stay Away From My Dorothy!
Last fall, as a member of the Board of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP), he worked behind the scenes to save migratory birds at the University of Pittsburgh. When he read my blog about the deadly attraction of Pitt’s Victory Lights, he called ASWP’s Executive Director Jim Bonner to urge this as a Board concern. Jim made connections so quickly that by that evening the University of Pittsburgh and ASWP were working together on the solution. (See Hooray! Good News For Birds!) This rapid response would not have been possible without Tony’s phone call.
Tony’s enthusiasm for science and for birds inspired those who knew him. The video below, probably from 2006, shows how committed he was to education and how he inspired students in every class.
Tony’s infectious enthusiasm will be sorely missed.
First year juvenile bald eagle near the Harmar Twp nest, July 2018 (photo by Annette Devinney)
Young bald eagles can be hard to identify because they don’t have white heads and tails. To complicate matters, our field guides show a very similar bird, the golden eagle. How can you tell if a large dark bird in western Pennsylvania is a bald eagle? Here are some tips, plus a comparison to golden eagles.
First, make sure the bird is not a turkey vulture. See V Is For Vulture for details.
Second, the location, time of year, and habitat are your best clues to its identity.
Location and time of year:
Bald eagles are year round residents of Pennsylvania. Their population is booming.
Golden eagles are rare in eastern North America and only seen at Pennsylvania hawk watches during fall and spring migration.
Habitat:
Bald eagles eat fish and are found at rivers and lakes. They are tolerant of human settlements and will nest in suburbs or towns near water.
Golden eagles eat meat and are found in open country such as mountains, cliffs, tundra, grassland and deserts. They avoid human settlements.
Third, you’re ready to look at plumage with this caveat: I am not an expert at aging immature bald eagles. If you have tips, photos or corrections please leave a comment.
BALD EAGLE FIRST YEAR PLUMAGE: (“first year” and “juvenile” are synonymous)
In their first year of life juvenile bald eagles have dark gray beaks, dark brown feathers overall with variable white mottling under their wings and tails. The photo at top by Annette Devinney shows the white mottling seen in flight.
Hays juvenile bald eagles before they fledged, June 2014 (photo from that Hays Bald Eaglecam)Hays juvenile bald eagle, H8, June 2018 (photo by Annette Devinney)Harmar’s juvenile bald eagles playing in the sky, July 2018 (photo by Annette Devinney)
SECOND AND THIRD YEAR PLUMAGE: (called “immature” birds)
In their second year bald eagles turn whiter with additional mottling on their backs, bellies and wings. Still mottled in their third year, their bodies darken while their heads and tails turn whiter.
Second year birds may show uneven trailing edges on their wings because first-year flight feathers are longer than those of older birds. This bird shows a mix of old and new feathers.
Immature bald eagle, second year (photo by Steve Gosser)
Immature bald eagle (photo by Steve Gosser)
FOURTH YEAR PLUMAGE: (nearly “adult,” may nest at four years old)
Bald eagles complete their adult plumage in their fourth year. Their heads and tails have a slightly dirty appearance due to a few dark feathers. In 2013 the new Harmar female had some dark tail feathers, below. She was probably only four years old.
Harmar bald eagle, 2013 (photo by Steve Gosser)
FULL ADULT PLUMAGE: (fifth year and beyond)
Adult bald eagles with white heads and tails cannot be mistaken for any other North American bird. In the photo below, the Hays female carries a fish to her young.
Mother bald eagle carries a fish to H7 at Hays, 2017 (photo by Annette Devinney)
COMPARING GOLDEN AND BALD EAGLES:
Juvenile bald eagles resemble golden eagles in size and coloration. However …
Golden eagles are dark brown with golden feathers on the nape of the neck. Adults have completely dark underwings and tails. Immatures have a white band at the base of the tail and dark underwings, not mottled, with either a white line down the middle of the wing or a white half moon at the wrist (see below). Golden eagles’ heads look smaller than bald eagles’ because their beaks are smaller. Here are two photos of golden eagles in flight at the Allegheny Front by Steve Gosser.
Golden eagles at the Allegheny Front (photos by Steve Gosser)
Finally, golden eagles are extremely rare in Allegheny County, even as flyovers, while bald eagles are resident year round if the rivers don’t freeze. An all-dark eagle near Pittsburgh is most likely a juvenile bald eagle. It may have been born here.
Learn more about aging bald eagles and comparing them to goldens at these links:
An object at rest tends to stay at rest (photo of Emmalina asleep by Kate St. John)
Today’s post was inspired by my cat Emmalina (Emmy) and a Twitter video.
My cat demonstrates the everyday meaning of “inertia” all the time. She has a tendency to rest and do nothing.
In fact the real meaning of inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its motion, including a change in direction. It applies to both motion and rest.
Inertia in motion explains how our bodies move when we ride in a car.
When the car is going in a straight line at constant speed on a smooth road it feels like we aren’t moving. (No change in motion; no resistance to change)
Going around a curve, our bodies lean toward the outside of the curve. (Inertia resists change in direction)
When the car stops our bodies keep on moving ahead. (Inertia resists change in speed)
This Twitter video shows an object at rest — a dinosaur toy — staying at rest in mid air after the trampoline surface goes down. Then gravity takes over. Pretty cool.
Most owl species have camouflage-colored bellies, but most barn owls (Tyto alba) do not. Though their backs blend into their surroundings, the majority have brilliant white faces, bellies, underwings and legs. The rest are better camouflaged in rusty red, below.
The white color stands out in moonlight but is this visibility a disadvantage? Does the white owl’s prey see it coming and escape? Are reddish owls more successful on moonlit nights? Researchers ran tests to find out.
In a barn owl study in Switzerland, scientists have been tracking plumage, prey availability, moon phases and breeding success for over 20 years. When they correlated moon phase with hunting success, they found that reddish barn owls have lower success on full moon nights than white ones.
This seemed very odd so they set up an experiment with full moon lighting and two taxidermied owls posed in flight — one white, one reddish. When a vole was placed in the “moonlit” room and presented with a flying (stuffed) owl, it froze in place for an extra 5 seconds when it saw the white one. Those 5 seconds were just enough time for the white owl to pounce. The reddish owl was out of luck. Apparently the glowing white plumage has its advantages.
