Eleven people joined me on Sunday July 29 for a walk in Schenley Park. The outing started from the Westinghouse monument and began with a surprise: a juvenile great blue heron was fishing in the ornamental pond.
Those who came early found the heron perched on top of the monument. (Sorry I missed that!) He caught and ate a small frog, then flew away.
There were still plenty of frogs left. Here’s one of many adult bullfrogs.
As the day warmed up the butterflies and moths came out. A silver spotted skipper landed on my hat and stayed so long that I tried to photograph it — but couldn’t. These photos are by Peter Bell.
We saw squirrels, chipmunks and young rabbits … and, yes, there were birds. Of the 19 species we saw/heard, we voted these the Best: (Click here for the complete checklist.)
- The juvenile great blue heron in the pond.
- Two young wood thrushes in a tangle of old branches.
- A male scarlet tanager in the trees above us and later a female as well.
- Beautiful American goldfinches eating thistle seeds.
At the end of the walk we stood by the pond and pondered the frogs.
(photos by Kate St. John, Peter Bell and Anne Marie Bosnyak)
What great fun!!! Thanks for sharing your day with us. I so wish I lived closer and could join you. LOVE the pic of the bull frog….AND….your hat.
Every year I have one of these butterflies by my deck. Last year I managed to get a picture of it when it landed on my forehead, lol. On a different subject, last night I distinctly heard two Great horned owl’s hooting to each other. This was up near New Brighton PA. Would have entered it on the Merlin app but it wasn’t a choice for that area. Just thought it was interesting, first time in my life I’ve ever heard them! Thank you for all the great info Kate.
Wow, my sister-in-law and I saw that Blue Herron also. It flew over our heads on Flagstaff Hill around July 7th!