More Than Nine Inches

Birds of Prey, Schenley Park, Weather & Sky
City lights glow on the snow and clouds, Pittsburgh at dawn 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

18 December 2020

It began snowing here in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning, 16 December 2020, and didn’t stop for 17.5 hours. By 7:30 the next morning there were 9.25 inches of snow in Oakland. City lights glowed against the snow and clouds.

9.25″ of snow in Oakland, 17 Dec 2020, 7:30am (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday I took a long walk to Pitt’s campus, Carnegie Library and Schenley Park to appreciate the beauty. Here are a few of the scenes I encountered.

Red Euonymus leaves peek out of the snow, Univ of Pittsburgh, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
White trees frame the Cathedral of Learning, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Bach, Shakespeare, and Dippy wear snowy blankets at Carnegie Museum, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Richard St. John)
This meadow near Schenley’s Westinghouse Fountain offers seeds for sparrows and juncos, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sweetgum seed balls wear snowy caps, 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

On my way home I found one of Santa’s elves near the Library!

Santa’s elf or fire hydrant? 17 Dec 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

Though the snow didn’t melt it did compress in 24 hours. Here are two snapshots of the Pitt peregrine nestbox at 7:30am on Thurs 17 Dec and Fri 18 Dec. Though there is still a lot of snow it is not as daunting, even if it hasn’t been shoveled.

No peregrines visited the nest yesterday but I know they are present. I saw Morela perched on a gargoyle.

UPDATE 18 Dec 2020, 4:08pm: Morela examines the snow.

(photos by Kate St. John; statues photo by Richard St. John)

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