Meet at Duck Hollow parking lot at the end of Old Browns Hill Road. We’ll check the river for migrating waterfowl and walk the beginning of lower Nine Mile Run Trail watching for birds and many signs of Spring.
Duck Hollow can be excellent or just ho-hum. Yesterday, in addition to the usual suspects, I found one male blue-winged teal (similar to the one pictured above) and eight distant lesser scaup.
Next Sunday I’m counting on the male bufflehead who’s been hanging around for a couple of weeks to still be there in the distance.
St. Patrick’s and Ireland’s shamrock symbol is a leaf cluster of either lesser clover or white clover. We don’t see much lesser clover (Trifolium dubium) in the U.S. but we used to have lots of white clover. When I was a child our lawns were a mixture of grass and white clover (Trifolium repens).
The mixture worked well because clover sets nitrogen in its roots and naturally fertilizes the grass. As kids we used to search for lucky 4-leaf clovers in the yard.
But times changed. People didn’t want weeds in the lawn and the easiest way to remove them was to spread weed killer that targeted broadleaf plants. Clover is a broadleaf so it died and fertilizer had to be added to the chemical mix.
These neighboring lawns in New Jersey show both types of lawn treatments. At top is a chemically treated lawn without broadleaf plants. At bottom is an old fashioned grass-and-clover mix. If you can’t see the dividing line, click on the photo to see the divide.
Chances are you’ll have to search for lucky 4-leaf clovers in a photo instead of on the lawn. How many are in this photo? (Click on it to see a larger version.)
p.s. False Shamrock: The “shamrock” plant often sold around St. Patrick’s Day is not related to clover. “False shamrock” or “purple shamrock” (Oxalis triangularis) is native to Brazil.
Traditional bucket collecting maple sap for sugaring at Beechwood Farms, 3 March 2025 (photo by Kate At. John)
4 March 2025
This winter we’ve hated the cold weather but the freezing temperatures have been good for maple sugaring in March. Cold as it was, this winter was closer to what we had before climate change and the maples in Pittsburgh are happy about it.
Maple sap runs best when daytime temperatures are above freezing and nights are below freezing. When the nights don’t freeze the sap stops running, and the season is over. Last year the season ended early because it was so hot.
Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (ASWP) has used three methods to collect sap from sugar maples at several of their properties: traditional buckets, bags, and tubes. Yesterday at Beechwood Farms I could tell the sap was running because the bags were filling up.
Bag collecting maple sap at Beechwood Farms, 3 March 2025 (photo by Kate At. John)Tubes collecting maple sap at Beechwood Farms, 3 March 2025 (photo by Kate At. John)
All told, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make just about 1 gallon of syrup. The sap, which is 2% sugar and 98% water, tastes like lightly sweetened water, tasty and refreshing, but lacking in flavor. The boiling process reduces the liquid until the concentration is 65% sugar.
Maple for Scouts. at Beechwood Farms 3/8/2025, Succop 3/15, and Buffalo Creek Nature Park in Sarver 3/22
Hike Through Maple History: Maple Madness. at Beechwood Farms 3/15/2025 and 3/22
Sweetest Season
Maple Drink Tasting, Adults Only Happy Hours: Maple Madness. at Buffalo Creek Nature Park 3/6/2025 and 3/13
Sap collection will end when the maple buds open. (The festivities will continue with pre-collected sap.)
How can you tell that maple buds have opened? From the ground the twigs look thick with little lumps. This red maple was already flowering at Beechwood. Fortunately it’s not the species that produces good sap.
Red maple is flowering already at Beechwood Farms, 3 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Milkweed gone to seed, 17 Oct 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
28 February 2025
Spring planting season is coming soon so now’s the time to make plans for your garden and gather materials to make it a success. It’s the perfect time for a Seed Swap!
On Saturday 8 March, 10:00a to 2:00p, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will hold their annual Seed Swap and celebration at the Main branch in Oakland.
Celebration: Held in collaboration with Grow Pittsburgh and Phipps Conservatory, the 13th annual Seed Swap at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is a social and learning event featuring seed stories, conversations with gardening experts, hands-on activities for children and teens, and a selection of free seeds for the public.
Seed Swap: Gardeners are encouraged to bring their own untreated, non-GMO seeds to share, or pick up seeds donated by local gardeners, farmers and seed companies. A new batch of seeds will be released every half hour, and guests who bring seeds will be eligible to enter a raffle of fun items from Phipps Conservatory, Grow Pittsburgh and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Mother owl with two owlets at Schenley Park nest, 19 Feb 2025 (photo by Dana Nesiti)
1 March UPDATE: Yes this outing is happening as planned and yes it will be COLD. Dress warmly. Here’s some news:
One of the owlets fell from the nest on Thursday 27 Feb and was rescued by Sarah Mateskovich & taken by WIN to Tamarack Wildlife Center where they determined it has only a minor beak injury. The rescued owlet may be fostered at another nest since this bridge nest is inaccessible for her return.
As of 28 February there were still 2 owlets in the nest, apparently there were 3 to begin with!
23 February 2025
You’ve been hearing about them. Now come see them!
Join me on a daytime great horned “owl prowl” in Schenley Park on Sunday 2 March 2025. Meet at 9:30am in front of the Schenley Park Visitor Center (40.438514, -79.946479). We’ll walk from there to the viewing area.
NOTE the time! 1 HOUR LATER THAN USUAL! 9:30AM
Dana Nesiti photographed two owlets in the nest on 19 February, above. Since this outing is 11 days after his photo I expect the owlets to be halfway to adult size.
Dress warmly in layers and wear comfortable WARM socks and boots. Bring binoculars, field guides and a scope if you have them. We probably will be standing still on frozen ground while we wait for the owls to move. This is a very cold activity so be prepared!
The outing will last 60+ minutes, depending on the weather.
And just to tantalize you, here’s what they looked like this morning
It’s easy to participate. Count birds at your feeders or anywhere outdoors … worldwide!
Spend time in your favorite places watching birds—then tell us about them! In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify them, count them, and submit your counts to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. If you already use eBird or Merlin, your submissions over the 4 days count toward GBBC.
Today is the celestial midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Halfway to Spring! In just six days Pittsburgh went from snow cover on 26 January to soggy grass on 1 February. And shadows on both days.
At sunrise Punxsutawney Phil was roused from his burrow to predict the rest of winter. The legend is that if he sees his shadow we’ll have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow we’ll have an Early Spring.
OK, so was it cloudy enough for an Early Spring? Here’s today’s sunrise in Pittsburgh, 100 miles away from Punxsutawney. Moments later the sun was quite bright.
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 2 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Up in Punxsutawney, Phil saw his shadow and predicted Six More Weeks of Winter.
Merlin! When I found this exuberant photo by Eric Ellingson I had to find a merlin.
Two days ago, just before sunset, I went looking for them at Schenley Park golf course where they usually hang out in winter. I spent 40 minutes waiting and watching from the highest lookout and walking past all their favorite haunts.
Nothing.
So I went back to my car and there was a merlin perched high in the tree above it. I told the bird “Don’t go anywhere!” as I ran to get my scope.
Merlin at Schenley Park, 30 Dec 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Soon a second merlin came in with an evening snack. Slight tussle between them and the newcomer claimed the perch and ate its meal.
Merlin eating its evening meal at Schenley Park, 30 Dec 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Then it turned to watch the waning light and left in a streak, flying low over the golf course to its roost.
Crows flying to the roost in Oakland, Oct 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
29 December 2024
We tried but it was daunting. Last evening Carol Steytler, Claire Staples, Lisa Kaufman and I counted crows coming into the roost near the VA Hospital in Oakland for the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count. 15,000 crows. More or less. Probably more.
For an accurate count we needed all these conditions to be met simultaneously and all of them are under the crows’ control. Last night the crows beat us with blobs and darkness.
Know where the roost is.
Know the flight paths they use to reach the roost.
Know the size in the sky of a blob of 100 or 1,000 crows and be able to see the blobs.
Darkness: Here’s what I mean. You can’t see the crow until I alter the photo (from Wikimedia Commons). Nor could we.
Crow in the dark -- photo adjusted so that you can see the crow
Crow in the dark, perched on a branch
Crow in the dark -- photo adjusted so that you can see the crow
The crows used the same roost site (sort of) that we found on Friday: the VA Hospital roof + nearby buildings. Miraculously they didn’t change the roost. However, the roof itself is too high to see so we used flight-path counting from the OC Lot parking deck. I’m sure some were hidden by buildings as they came in and weren’t counted.
Flight paths change day to day but Saturday’s was better than Friday’s from their pre-roost staging site in the west, backlit by the glow of sunset as shown at top. Very soon it was too dark to see black birds in a black sky. And the crows were frequently diverted by Stat MedEvac helicopters flying back and forth from UPMC Presbyterian.
Crow flock flight density — the blobs — changed all the time of course. We saw 100 crows in long strings, in very tight balls, and everything in between. Hard to count.
I’ve been counting crows for the CBC since 2018. It is always a challenge.
p.s. Lisa and I are thinking of practicing the blob-count next month while the crows are still in town. If you have a suggestion for counting you must first count with us this winter. (I’m not kidding!)
If you’re an experienced crow counter no need to join us; we welcome your tips.
Crows roosting near Thackeray Hall a year ago, in 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
26 December 2024
Two days from now, on 28 December, we’ll try to count all of Pittsburgh’s winter crows for the annual Christmas Bird Count. Unfortunately our efforts to find them have fallen quite short of the number we expect.
I believe there are 10,000 to 20,000 crows in the area but we’ve found only 2,000 to 5,000 in Oakland this week, even though I saw about 8,000 the week before. It is likely that the crows split the roost.
In prior years in Lawrence, Massachusetts their crow roost used to be in one place but this winter their crows have split into three locations. Lawrence Crow Patrol has found them all, as shown in this 14 December video. I wish we could say the same.
Have you seen crows crowded at the tops of trees at night? Have you found lots of crow poop in the morning — a sure sign that they were sleeping there the night before?
Let me know where the crows are sleeping by leaving a comment below.
