Sun rays through the mist, Schenley Park, 4 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
12 October 2024
This week’s biggest Seen event was the aurora borealis which I wrote about yesterday (Northern Lights Last Night in Pittsburgh), but there were also subtle changes in the landscape that prompted a few photos.
Cold weather brought foggy mornings and sun rays burning through the mist in Schenley Park, at top.
It’s a big mast year for Schenley’s red oaks. These shallow, tightly scaled cups are the easiest way to identify red oak versus white oak.
Closeup of two red oak acorns with caps, 8 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
It was hard to find two acorns that still had their cups. These two are intact because a worm drilled into the nuts. I searched through lots of cup-less acorns to find them.
Big mast year for red oaks in Schenley Park, 8 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
For decades I’ve walked past these trees without thinking about their odd looking trunks. The trunks have hips because …
Grafted cherry trees, Schenley Park near Westinghouse Memorial, 8 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
… these ornamental cherry trees were grafted onto healthy trunks of (probably) native trees. This is usually done because the non-native tree roots are likely to fail in North America.
Grafted cherry trunk, Schenley Park, 8 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
On Tuesday I saw a monarch butterfly fly past my 6th floor window on its journey south. Every night that butterfly it will rest in sheltering vegetation and feed on flowers the next day. But what if those amenities aren’t available?
On Wednesday I noticed landscaping staff clearing a garden in front of an Oakland office building. Monthly gardening schedules, sometimes based on pre-climate change temperatures, call for clearing the garden or changing the plants in October. Salvia looks “leggy” now. Perhaps they were going to plant chrysanthemums.
Fortunately Saving Monarchs sends this helpful Facebook reminder for all gardeners. Take a break and let your garden sleep in!
Some have messaged me asking if they can buy the sign, yes, they’re available for purchase. The large aluminum signs measure 18”x 12” are 50 plus shipping. I also make them in pvc size 9” x 11.5” and are 25 plus shipping. No extra shipping if you purchase more than 1. Obviously, due to shipping costs no posts are included, just the signs. Message [Saving Monarchs on Facebook] if you’re interested.
Read more about the benefits of leaving the leaves for insects, pollinators, birds, and even salamanders.
This month warblers are making their own long journey at night to Central and South America. When convenient they stop during the day in Pennsylvania to refuel on the fruit in our parks and gardens and on the insects that crawl on the fruit.
Seven years ago I wrote about what attracts them to stopover in our city parks. This vintage article is updated to reflect the real name of their favorite fruit in Frick Park.
Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) in Schenley Park, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
4 September 2024
Last weekend I noticed this group of tall plants in Schenley Park with a distinctly Christmas tree shape. They are certainly weeds and are thriving in an area where deer have eaten all the non-poisonous native plants. But they haven’t eaten these.
I took a closeup of the leaves and asked Picture This to identify it: Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), native to temperate Asia.
Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) in Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Deer in Frick Park, 17 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Some Artemisia plants also have medicinal properties. Sweet wormwood (A. annua) contains artemisinin which was discovered in 1972 and is used to treat malaria. Unfortunately the malarial parasite in Southeast Asia has developed artemisinin resistance so the drug can no longer be used alone to cure the disease.
Sweet wormwood’s close relative common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) also has a wide range of supposed pharmacological uses. These uses probably account for the plant’s presence in North America. The Pittsburgh area has plenty of it — another plant that deer don’t eat.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) at the Hays Eagle Watch site, June 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sweet wormwood may be thriving this year because its mature plants are fairly drought resistant — and we are in a drought.
Schenley Park outing participants, 25 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
26 August 2024
Yesterday morning 13 of us found 24 species of birds in Schenley Park plus flowering plants and insects.
Best Birds were the six+ ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) sipping nectar at orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) along Phipps Run and at Panther Hollow Lake. Between sips they chased each other everywhere.
Orange jewelweed, favorite of hummingbirds, Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
So many hummingbirds was a happy sign after 7-8 years without big numbers in Schenley Park. Orange jewelweed is their favorite food on migration but it was eradicated 7-8 years ago by Schenley’s overabundant deer population. This year jewelweed patches thrive in inaccessible places at Phipps Run and among the cattails in Panther Hollow Lake. If you want to see hummingbirds, pause here and watch the jewelweed. Also check the wires above the lake.
Best insects were several red spotted purple butterflies flitting on the Lake Trail. Hailey Latona found one resting … but not for long. (Bug people: If I’ve misidentified this butterfly please correct me!)
Red spotted purple butterfly in Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (video by Hailey Latona)
We also found a Honeybee Heaven near the railroad tracks. I had never noticed Japanese hop (Humulus japonicus) growing there but yesterday I could hear the flowers humming and saw it swarming with honeybees.
A species of hops at Schenley Park. Is it Japanese hops? 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
By 10:30am it was getting hot but we found a chestnut-sided warbler so we paused to look harder. Alas, it was the only warbler species for the outing. Here’s our checklist.
Schenley Park, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US Aug 25, 2024 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Maybe 40 on Flagstaff Hill; evidence at Panther Hollow lake Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 4 Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 6 — Lots of chasing Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 3 Heard Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 5 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 6 Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 4 Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1 Heard White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 4 Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 3 Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) 1 Seen American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4 Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 9 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 4 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 10 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 8 Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 2 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) 2 Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
Stiltgrass carpeting the ground in Schenley Park, 16 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
25 August 2024
At this time of year the woods in southwestern Pennsylvania often look as if gardeners have removed all the underbrush and left a thick carpet of grass on the forest floor. The “gardeners” are overabundant white-tailed deer who selectively eat their favorite foods and leave behind invasive Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum).
Japanese stiltgrass came to the U.S. in packing crates in the early 1900s as padding to protect porcelain shipped from China. Of course we threw it out when we unpacked the crates. It took root and was discovered in Tennesse in 1919. More than 100 years later it blankets much of the eastern U.S.
Range map of invasive Japanese stiltgrass in North America (EDDMapS. 2024. Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System. The University of Georgia – Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Available online at http://www.eddmaps.org/; last accessed August 25, 2024.)
Japanese stiltgrass is easy to identify because it has a shiny midrib (topside) and the midrib is not in the middle of the leaf (underside).
Shiny midrib on topside of Japanese stiltgrass leaf (photo by Kate St. John)
Japanese stiltgrass mid rib is not in the middle. Back of the leaf: (photo by Kate St.John)
Amazing as it seems, Japanese stiltgrass is an annual that dies every winter and grows back from seed the next spring. Its thick green carpet in summer shades out native species.
Japanese stiltgrass carpet, Butler-Freeport Trail, July 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
After it goes to seed in early fall it dies and becomes a brown drape over the landscape in winter. This gives it the alternate common name of “Nepalese browntop.”
Japanese stiltgrass comes back thickly every year because it drops so much seed in the soil. It’s possible to get rid of it … eventually .. through hand pulling or goats. Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is using both techniques in Hays Woods this year.
Giant ragweed in bloom, Hays Woods, 20 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
24 August 2024
This week I encountered giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) along the trail at Hays Woods. Though the plant I photographed was still shorter than me it typically reaches six feet tall. The flower spikes are loaded with male pollen flowers, facing downward to dangle in the wind and spread the pollen that makes many people sneeze.
Giant ragweed in bloom, Hays Woods, 20 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
If you suffer from ragweed allergies your nose knows when it started blooming but you might not know what common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) looks like. What is making you miserable? Check out this vintage article.
Biennial gaura, Hays Woods, 20 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
21 August 2024
When I took this photo at Hays Woods yesterday, I knew the plant’s name — biennial gaura — but just for fun I asked PictureThis to identify it. It said “Biennial Gaura, a species of Evening Primrose.” Evening Primrose was a surprise. I didn’t think they were related.
Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) has four evenly spaced petals with stamens and pistil in the middle. Though the flower appears to be open here, it actually opens more widely in the evening.
Evening primrose, September 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Biennial gaura (Oenothera gaura) also has four petals but they are all on one side of the stem with stamens and pistil drooping below. The shape of the flower looks “irregular” to me and “evening” doesn’t seem to apply either. The flower looks like it stays open all day.
Biennial gaura (photo by Kate St. John)
However, studies of the former genus Gaura caused all of it to be absorbed into Oenothera (Evening Primrose ) in 2007. The reason I was surprised 17 years later is that my hardback copy of Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide was published in 1997. I should rely more on apps these days.
Here are additional photos of both flowers for further comparison.
Biennial gaura, Hays Woods, 7 Sep 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)Common evening primrose near Herrs Island, 18 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Both plants are “weedy” species so they’re pretty easy to find in the field. Look for common evening primrose in sunny or mostly sunny places, often along trails. Biennial gaura wants full sun and dry, rocky soil. At Hays Woods it grows at the powerline cut.
Note that biennial gaura flowers are much smaller than evening primrose. Tiny but beautiful.
Black-throated green warbler, Frick Park, 14 Aug 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
17 August 2024
This was a week of still-nesting swallows, pretty flowers, migrating warblers, and many, many deer in the city parks.
Moraine State Park, 11 August. Charity Kheshgi and I were surprised to see cliff swallows still nesting on 11 August at the Rt 528 Boat Launch area. Parents were feeding young at four to five nests.
Cliff swallows with young in nest, Moraine State Park, 11 Aug 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Late summer flowers: Best photos this week are butter-and-eggs (non-native), spreading dogbane and blue vervain.
Butter and eggs, in the snapdragon family, Southside Riverfront Park, 12 August (photo by Kate St. John)Spreading dogbane, Moraine State Park, 11 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Blue vervain, Southside Riverfront Park, 12 August (photo by Kate St. John)
Warblers at Frick Park: On 14 August Charity Kheshgi and I saw a good flock of warblers on Trough Trail. Blackburnians were still considered rare on the 14th (too early for them) but we found five! Here’s one eyeing a bug on Japanese angelica, a devil’s walking stick look-alike.
Blackburnian warbler, Frick Park, 14 Aug 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
We recognized distinctive plumage on each of the 5 Blackburnians. As if to prove there were so many, three posed in one shot.
3 Blackburnian warblers in one shot, Frick Park, 14 Aug 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
We also saw one immature chestnut-sided warbler hanging out in the flock.
Immature chestnut-sided warbler, Frick Park, 14 Aug 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Deer: Schenley and Frick Parks, 14 and 16 August
It was a big week for deer in the city parks. I saw 10 in Frick on Wednesday, and 9 in Schenley on Friday. Of the 9, more than half were young or spotted fawns that were born this year. If my tally is representative, the Schenley deer population has doubled itself in just one year.
3 deer in Frick Park, 14 Aug 12024 (photo by Kate St. John)
I believe that the doe in this photo is shedding her summer fur (rusty color) to switch to her winter coat (gray-brown).
Spotted fawn with doe in Schenley, 16 Aug 12024 (photo by Kate St. John)2 of the 9 deer seen in Schenley on 16 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Why are deer so easy to see in Schenley Park? Because there is no underbrush to hide them. There are so many deer that they ate all the underbrush. So there’s nowhere to hide.
Cosmos in bloom, Shadyside, 5 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
10 August 2024
This week a flower garden caught my attention with bright yellow-orange cosmos flowers. The plants were in three stages: flowering, going to seed, and seeds formed.
Cosmos suphureus petals are quite showy to attract pollinators to the central disk. When the small flowers inside the disk are fertilized the petals fall off and the disk begins to develop into long thin seedpods.
Cosmos: A single flower going to seed, 5 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
When complete the seed pods resemble the hitchhiking seeds of beggar ticks (Bidens frondosa). Both are in the Coreopsideae tribe along with coreoposis, dahlias and many others.
Cosmos: Seeds maturing, 5 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Also seen …
It’s August and, as expected, deer are more visible in Schenley Park. Two does and two fawns approached Panther Hollow Lake on Friday. We can expect to see lots of deer lounging in the city parks in the days ahead. It is The Calm Before The Rut.
Four deer in Schenley Park, 9 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
On the cloudy morning of 6 August, daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus) was still opening its flowers in Frick Park. Fleabane petals respond to light levels. It’s part of Fleabane’s daily exercise program.
Daisy fleabane, still opening flowers, Frick Park, 6 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
After all these years I’ve just discovered that horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) is a fleabane. (That’s what comes of learning plants on the fly.)
Horseweed in bloom, near Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 8 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
