‘Tis the season to count birds.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is an annual year-end tradition of tallying birds, now in its 117th year.  Each count is a 15-mile diameter circle manned by volunteers who count the birds they see in a single 24-hour period.

There are 14 counts planned for the Pittsburgh area between now and early January.  See the table below for the list and click here for a map of the local count circles compiled by Bob Mulvihill at the National Aviary.

It’s easy to participate and no experience is necessary!  You can count at your own feeders or go out in the field, paired with another birder.

Call the compiler ahead of time to let him know you’re coming, especially if the count will be held over the holidays.  The Pittsburgh Count on December 31 has so many participants that each section has its own compiler.  Click here for the sections and contacts.

I’ll be counting in the Pittsburgh circle.

I hope to see you in the field.

UPDATE on 12/5/2016!  The Imperial CBC is on Sunday 12/18/2016, not on 12/28.  The table below has been corrected.

2016 Christmas Bird Counts in the Pittsburgh Area

Read more about the Christmas Bird Count here at audubon.org.

(photo by Gary Peeples www.fws.gov/asheville/ via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)

6 November 2016

Tomorrow Outside My Window will be nine years old.

On anniversaries I like to look back at the past year’s high points.  There were quite a few.

• Three posts, written in prior years, continue as perennial favorites.  Search engines must be sending folks to these articles when they ask questions such as:
  • Have You Seen Any Blue Jays Lately? written on 26 Feb 2012 has attracted 165 answers.
  • Glow In The Dark from 8 October 2011 answers the question: What is that glowing green color in the wood? 94 comments.
  • Falcon or Hawk? from 19 April 2011 tells the difference between red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons, a useful thing to know.  65 people have commented.
• Dorothy, the much loved Peregrine Queen of the Cathedral of Learning, reigned from Spring 2001 until late November 2015.  News of her death and the video tribute to her life brought nearly 6,000 visits to the blog.  If you missed the tribute, here it is: A Tribute to Dorothy.

Spring 2016:  Drama at the Pitt peregrine nest kept thousands of you glued to your seats, checking in frequently, and commenting on the latest twists and turns.  The new female peregrine, Hope, surprised us several times.

• In March the male, E2, died in a car accident and Hope attracted a new mate, Terzo, bringing 10,400 visits to the blog.
• From April 29 through May 6, hatching and deaths at the nest brought 19,580 visits because:
  • The first chick, C1, hatched successfully.
  • Hope killed and ate the second chick just after it hatched.
  • The third chick, C3, hatched successfully but never thrived and died a few days later. Hope ate it.
  • Hope killed and ate the fourth chick before it hatched, Very Abnormal Behavior.
• In August Hope wandered back to Tarentum and other female peregrines checked out the nest.  Even in the “off season,” this activity attracted over 3,000 visits.

Since 2007 I’ve written 3,265 articles and you’ve commented 15,246 times.

Thank you, my readers, for 9 years together at Outside My Window.

You keep me going every day!

(painting of Enfant écrivant (A Girl Writing) by Henriette Brown, c. 1860-1880 from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original.)

p.s. The bird in the painting is a European goldfinch.

Most of the year pumpkins are hard to find but on Halloween they’re everywhere.  Why do we carve them and why are they called jack-o-lanterns?

The answers combine swamp gas, a holy day and a New World squash.

Swamp gas:

At night in the peat bogs there’s an ephemeral light caused by the oxidation of swamp gases phosphine, diphosphane, and methane.  Called will-o’-the-wisp (William of the Wisp) or jack-o’-lantern (Jack of the Lantern) it was thought to be the light of a trickster who lured people to follow him into the swamp. The flickering light would go out and those following would be lost.

A Holy Day:

In the 9th century the Roman Church moved All Saints’ Day (also called All Hallows’ Day) to November 1 as the day to remember and pray for the dead.  This happens to coincide with the Celtic holiday of Samhain (sunset October 31 to sunset November 1) a harvest festival with visits from the souls of the dead and propitiation of malevolent ghosts and spirits.

Samhain celebrations included costumes and pranks. At night the pranksters carried lanterns carved from turnips called jack-o’-lanterns, named for the spooky lights in the swamp.  Here’s a turnip jack-o’-lantern.  Scary looking!

Since All Hallows’ Day celebrates the dead at the same time as Samhain, Samhain traditions became part of All Hallows’ Eve (Hallow’een).

A New World squash:

Europeans brought Halloween traditions to North America where they found a New World squash, the pumpkin, that’s easier to carve and light than a turnip.  Ta dah!  The pumpkin became a jack-o’-lantern.

Back in the peat bogs, will-o’-the-wisp is rarely seen anymore.  Wikipedia says that may be because the swamps were drained.  My hunch is that light pollution also makes will-o’-the-wisp too hard to see.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the original)

It’s a great time to get outdoors before the weather changes.  Here are just a few of the many things to do — including indoor and outdoor fun.

Oct 16, Tonight:  Full Moon Hike, two locations: Boyce Park and Harrison Hills Park, 8-10p.  Free.  Hike by the light of the moon, led by Allegheny County Park Rangers.  Click here for more information.

Oct 22: Acorn Harvesting and Processing Class, at North Park, 1:00p-4:30p.  Cost=$45.  Learn about acorns and how to make acorn flour. Registration + fee required:  Acorn Harvesting And Processing Class & Autumn Foraging Walk

Oct 12 – Dec 3:  Project Owlnet banding northern saw-whet owls, at Sewickley Heights Park, Wed,Fri,Sat; Oct 12 to Dec 3, sunset to midnight.  Free.  Be sure to read the details here.  Weather is a factor!

Oct 27:  The Great Texas Birding Trail, Rio Grande Valley presented by Jeffrey Hall, at Wissahickon Nature Club, 7:30p.  Free.  The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas teems with unique birds.  Program here.  Location here.  Arrive early to share coffee and snacks.

Oct 30: Annual Outing and Picnic of Three Rivers Birding Club, Moraine State Park, 8:00am. Free. Bring a lunch.  Late October is a good time to see ducks and sparrows.  Details here.

Nov 4-6: Wings and Wildlife Art Show, at National Aviary.  Cost=Aviary Admission; free to members. 34 wildlife artists from five states exhibiting and selling their art. Click here for more information.

Nov 5:  Joint Outing of Three Rivers Birding Club and Todd Bird Club, at Yellow Creek State Park, 8:00a.  Free.  Yellow Creek’s large lake attracts waterbirds and occasional rarities. Details here.

Nov 5-6: Hawk Mountain Outing with PSO (Penna. Society of Ornithology), at Hawk Mountain, Kempton, PA.  Free. Watch hawks migrating at one of the best sites in eastern North America.  Details here.

Nov 10:  Gardens Around the Globe presented by Judy Stark, at Wissahickon Nature Club, 7:30p.  Free. Special features of five gardens: Longwood (PA), Stan Hywet (OH), VanDusen (Vancouver,BC), National Botanic Garden (HI) and Powerscourt (Ireland). Program here.  Location here.  Arrive early to share coffee and snacks.

Nov 18-19, Sign Up Now: Pennsylvania Botany Symposium, at Penn Stater Conference Center, State College, PA. Registration required + cost starts at $100.  Brings together amateurs, academics, and those interested in the natural world to share our work and celebrate our botanical heritage. All invited speakers are experts with reputations for being engaging and entertaining. Click here for pricing and registration.

(photo by Kate St. John)