No. He could eat them if he wanted to but these barbell fish are his helpers. They eat ticks from his skin and food from his teeth. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
The hippo and the barbell fish are just one example of the unlikely partnerships animals make with other species. Watch the premiere of Nature’s Perfect Partners on Wednesday May 11 to learn about many more — lizards with lions, a fish with a blind shrimp, toads with tarantulas.
Tires in the woods, western PA (photos by Kate St. John)
There are tires in the woods nearly everywhere in western Pennsylvania. Singles, pairs and piles of tires. Tires rolled down the hillsides into the hollows. Tires dumped on top of trash. Tires too heavy to lift, left by the side of the road.
I’d say this is a uniquely Appalachian problem but it happens across the U.S. Dumping tires is illegal but people do it because they think it’s expensive to dispose of them properly. In fact it’s cheap — about $2 per passenger tire in PA — and it’s easy to find a disposal place that’s probably closer than the illegal dump site. Just type in your zip code at the Earth911 website.
Last month I listed outings for the last week of April and included May 1. Here’s a big list for the month of May.
Everyone is welcome to participate in these outings. Click on the links for directions, meeting places, what to bring, and phone numbers for the leaders.
Outing in Schenley Park, 24 April 2016 (photo by Nancy Hart)
The weather was sunny yesterday morning as 19 of us explored Schenley Park.
The City is warmer than the surrounding countryside so most of Schenley’s wildflowers are past their peak. However spring migration brought a whole new set of birds to the park. The juncoes are gone. Yellow-rumped warblers are here.
We didn’t count a lot of individual birds but we saw and heard some really good ones. Best Birds were three First of Year species: a green heron, the sound of a wood thrush that we couldn’t find, and a rose-breasted grosbeak.
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (photo by Chuck Tague)
The grosbeak is early but Schenley’s oaks are ready for him(*). They’re already flowering and leafing out ahead of schedule.
Northern rough-winged swallows courted over the lake and a northern flicker called from a superb nest hole with a shelf-mushroom roof. (I still don’t know what the flicker’s panting-in-hole dance meant.)
A few of us prolonged the tour with a view of the red-tailed hawks’ nest on Flagstaff Hill. Here‘s a complete list of birds seen/heard via eBird.
The last nestling at Pitt on June 4, 2009, just before she fledged (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
In case you missed it yesterday …
This week on The Allegheny Front radio show I talked about my addiction to nestcams and why you like them, too. Hear the broadcast, see some photos of Dorothy, and read the text at this link:
Great chickweed, Braddock’s Trail Park, 18 Apr 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
Flowers are blooming everywhere and trees will soon leaf out. Don’t miss your chance to get outdoors while the weather’s fine.
Join me for a bird and nature walk in Schenley Park this Sunday, April 24, 8:30am – 10:30am. Meet at the Schenley Park Visitors Center. Click here for information and updates.
Or join one of these many outings — April 23 through May 1.
Everyone is welcome to participate. Click on the links for directions, meeting places, what to bring, and phone numbers for the leaders.
p.s. The flower shown above is a member of the Pink family called star chickweed or great chickweed (Stellaria pubera). It looks unremarkable until you get close. 🙂
Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are understory trees in the Pea family that bloom in early spring. Native from southern Pennsylvania to eastern Texas, they’re cultivated for their beauty because their rose-pink flowers open on bare branches before the leaves.
Come to the Redbud Project’s Launch Event on Tuesday, April 19 at 10:00am at the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near the Mister Rogers statue. Students and volunteers will plant 60 trees along the riverfront. Attendees get a free redbud seedling. (Click here for more information, here to RSVP.)
Here’s a planting along River Avenue to give you an idea of the beautiful results.
Redbud trees along River Avenue, Pittsburgh, April 2016 (photo courtesy Western PA Conservancy)
More events and volunteer opportunities are coming in the weeks ahead. Click here for a list. Get a free tree!
Soon our Downtown and riverfronts will be transformed.
(photos: redbud flowers’ closeup by Dianne Machesney. Row of redbud trees on River Avenue, courtesy Western Pennsylvania Conservancy)
