19 October 2024
This week brought:
- Fall colors and the first piles of fallen leaves
- Late flowers and insects
- “See Your Breath” cold mornings
- The first juncos … and …
- Several thousand crows in Oakland.
In photos, late asters attracted an insect at Toms Run and morning sun slanted through the trees in Schenley Park.
Many trees are changing color. The oaks aren’t there yet but they have dropped their acorns leaving empty acorn cups on the branches. It’s a big mast year for red oaks in Pittsburgh.
A rhododendron in Shadyside is confused. Is it spring?
This week crows were absent from Oakland during the day but arrived in huge flocks at dusk, staging on rooftops before flying to the roost. I fumbled to photograph them on the RAND Building last Sunday. This is only a fraction of the flock that flew away.
Obviously they’ve been roosting on Pitt’s campus. I found evidence below trees at the Pitt Panther statue. The Crows Slept Here Last Night.
I am so curious about the crow gathering near me in East Liberty… they gather in trees near the corner of Shady and Marchand streets and then fly overhead to the west, southwest… I love to watch them but I don’t know much about how they communicate to gather, who leads the flight out of the trees and so on. Fascinating beings!
Lorelli, after the crows leave your area heading west they fly over my North Oakland neighborhood, still heading west. I have no idea where they’re planning to stay for the night but I can tell you the characteristics of the places they choose: https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2023/12/10/where-do-crows-want-to-sleep-in-the-winter/ As for how they communicate when & where to go … Good Questions! I don’t know the answers.