If you drink beer you’re familiar with the flavor of hops which is used as a bittering, flavoring, and stability agent in beer. Depending on the variety, hops can also add floral, fruity, or citrus flavors and aromas.
The hops plant itself, Humulus lupulus, is a perennial vine (*) that vigorously twines itself around uprights and strings in the hopfield.
To do so it uses to a motion called Circumnutation.
Circumnutation refers to the circular movements often exhibited by the tips of growing plant stems, caused by repeating cycles of differences in growth around the sides of the elongating stem.
Leaf-out reveals the browseline, Schenley Park, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
11 May 2024
This week I photographed a few puzzling objects for the record.
When I took a photo of Full Leaf trees in Schenley Park on 5 May I noticed something newly visible in the presence of leaves. Can you see it?
Look at the center of the photo where the path disappears in the distance. Above the path is a gap that allows you to see further under the trees. The gap flows to the right and follows the contour of the hillside. That’s the browseline, the cumulative effect of too many deer eating at the same location over and over.
I saw a native(!) honeysuckle this week. Pink with fused leaves, it’s called limber or glaucous honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica).
Limber or glaucous honeysuckle, Moraine State Park, 7 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Was this a cattle egret at Moraine State Park? If so it was a rare bird! Nope. It’s a white bag.
Cattle Egret at Moraine State Park? (photo by Kate St. John, 7 May 2024)
On 3 May a leaf-footed bug appeared to walk across the sky.
Leaf-footed bug walks across the sky, 3 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
During the Pittsburgh Marathon Dippy the dinosaur watched near the halfway mark.
Dippy wears black and gold for the Pittsburgh Marathon, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Last Thursday four of us made our annual pilgrimage to Enlow Fork on the border of Washington & Greene Counties(*) to look for wildflowers and birds. We saw carpets of blue-eyed Mary as well as fire pink, wild geranium and dwarf larkspur in both blue and white. (Can you see the tiny spider on the fire pink petal, above?)
Hillside of Blue-eyed Mary and wild blue phlox, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)Wild Geranium, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Dwarf larkspur white form, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Record-setting rain in the beginning of April left flood debris in the valley. Donna Foyle photographed the fallen trees that nearly hit the pedestrian bridge.
Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
I tried to capture the water-swept mud and flood depth by photographing debris stuck in the trees. The high water mark here was up to my chin.
Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The floodwaters swept freshwater clams from their homes leaving their empty shells among the flood debris.
Dead freshwater clams were among the flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
We didn’t see many birds at first, perhaps because it was so cold. By the time we were ready to walk back it had warmed up enough to see my First Of Year Baltimore oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager deep in the woods.
Scarlet tanager First of Year, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
We also saw or heard seven warblers including Louisiana waterthrush, common yellowthroat, northern parula, redstart, Nashville, yellow and yellow-throated warblers.
At one point I put my bright hat (on top of my sun hat & headband) in case a distant wood thrush would notice. The thrush did not, but I earned the name “Golden-crowned Katelet.”
Golden-crowned Katelet, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
We had a great day among pale spring leaves and blue-eyed Marys.
Kate St. John, Donna Foyle, Donna Collett, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)
Next week will be much warmer. Bring on the birds!
(*) Where is Enlow Fork?
The Enlow Fork of Wheeling Creek forms the boundary between Washington and Greene Counties in southwestern PA. When we say “Enlow Fork” we are referring to the northern section of PA State Gameland #302 on both sides of Enlow Fork creek. The Gamelands (unpaved) parking lot is at this pin drop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uzw42KqYZexLP4AB6.
(credits are in the captions. Thanks to Donna Foyle and Barb Griffith for contributing their photos)
Wild blue phlox, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 April 2024
Do you ever feel frantic in the Spring?
This week in Pittsburgh the highs were always above 60°F and three days were in the low 80s. Migratory birds came in a rush midweek while early-blooming flowers went to seed. Spring came so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. It’s enough to make you frantic.
Bloodroot gone to seed, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
There were some stunningly clear days this week but the partly cloudy ones were more interesting, especially at sunrise: Duck Hollow on 15 April and Oakland on 19 April.
Sunrise at Duck Hollow, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
On Thursday 18 April Charity Kheshgi and I saw great birds in Frick Park.
The trees in town began the week with tiny pale green leaves; Some ended the week with large dark green leaves. American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) was blooming yesterday in Schenley Park.
American bladdernut flowers, Schenley Park, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Coltsfoot gone to seed, Frick Park, 9 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
16 April 2024
Last week was so full of news, from peregrines to floods, that I had to skip my usual “Seen This Week” report. Meanwhile Spring isn’t holding still. Wildflowers are blooming and the early ones have already gone to seed. Here’s a selection of my best photos from last week, April 8-11.
Above and below, three photos from Frick Park. All of these are alien and some are invasive but they are pretty.
Speedwell’s (Veronica persica) tiny flowers bloom in fields and lawns. A dewdrop dangled above this one from a blade of grass.
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) is abundant along creeks and river banks including Duck Hollow and Nine Mile Run. Very invasive, but pretty, which is why it was imported as a garden plant.
Eyebright, Frick Park, 9 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Lesser Celandine, Frick Park, 8 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Last Thursday I visited Barking Slopes for just an hour before the rain chased me away. Even though I didn’t have much time I saw more than 15 species in bloom including:
Large-flowered Trillium, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Spring Beauty, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Trout Lily, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Blue Cohosh flowers, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Large-flowered bellwort, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Star Chickweed, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring is here! Get outdoors so you don’t miss it.
Bloodroot blooming at Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 April 2024
This week March went out like a lamb and April came in like a lion.
After photographing garden flowers on Easter morning I traveled out to Independence Marsh in Beaver County. I did not find my target bird, rusty blackbirds, but I did find spring flowers: Dutchmans breeches, cutleaf toothwort, bloodroot (above) and the first tiny bloom on shooting star (below).
Early bloom on shooting star, Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
As soon as March was over, things went wrong. I should have known when I saw this troubled sky of mammatus clouds on Saturday, 30 March. Not a good sign.
Mammatus clouds presage a week of rain, snow and graupel in Pittsburgh, 30 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
It rained and rained and rained on April 1-3, setting a record of 2.68 inches on April 2. Streams and basements were hit hard while the rain was falling. The rivers rose, as shown at at Duck Hollow on 4 April with the Monongahela River at parking lot level. (more flood photos and videos here)
Duck Hollow parking lot — A River Runs Through It — 4 April 2024, 7:19am ET
Later that same day, Thursday 4 April, the temperature fell and so did graupel.
Graupel falls o n4 April 2024 (video by Kate St. John)
Today it’s cold but the precipitation has finally stopped.
Meanwhile ….Remember those beautiful tulips I posted last Sunday, Easter morning?
BEFORE –> Tulips on N. Neville St on Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
And remember the deer I saw between two highrises in Oakland on 24 March?
A deer browsing the garden at a highrise in Pittsburgh, 5:30am 24 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Well, the two met up and the tulips did not fare well.
AFTER –> Same tulips eaten by deer on N. Neville St as of 2 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
That was on N Neville Street. Here’s N Craig Street.
BEFORE –> Tulips in front of a highrise on N Craig St, Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)AFTER –> Tulips eaten by deer on N Craig St, 4 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tulips on Easter morning in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
31 March 2024
Easter is early and so is Spring. Tulips are blooming in my city neighborhood.
Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Blue-winged teal, Moraine State Park, 27 March 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
30 March 2024
A Wednesday trip to Moraine State Park was cold and gray but quite worthwhile. We saw 300(!) red-breasted mergansers, many ring-necked ducks, blue-winged teal and a rare bird — a trumpeter swan. Charity Kheshgi’s photos show off the teal and swan.
Trumpeter swan, Moraine State Park, 27 March 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) are “the heaviest living bird native to North America and the largest extant species of waterfowl.” They were nearly extinct in 1933 — only 70 remained in the wild — but several thousand were then found in Alaska. “Careful re-introductions by wildlife agencies and the Trumpeter Swan Society gradually restored the North American wild population to over 46,000 birds by 2010.” The trumpeter at Moraine is one of their descendants. (quotes from Wikipedia)
Comparing two springs, yellow buckeyes’ early leaf-out, Schenley, March 2012 and 2024 (photos by Kate St. John)
Early spring is the hungriest time of year for deer in Pennsylvania because they’ve already eaten all the easy-to-reach food. When the deer population is greater than the area’s carrying capacity they seek out food in unusual places. Thus I was amazed but not surprised to see a deer browsing the bushes next to our highrise at 5:30am. There is nothing to eat down there. There is nothing to eat anywhere near here.
A deer browses at a highrise in Pittsburgh, 5:30am 24 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Saucer magnolia bud about to bloom, Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
23 March 2024
This week non-native flowering trees put on a show in the city of Pittsburgh. Originally from China and Japan their growing season is earlier than our native trees.
Star magnolia in bloom, Pittsburgh, 15 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
This month’s three-day spurts of highs in the 60s and 70s prompted the red maples to flower and start producing seeds.
Red maple already gone to seed, Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Last Saturday I visited Wolf Creek Narrows, almost an hour north of Pittsburgh, where the growing season is later than at home. There we found an interesting jelly fungi called witches butter (Tremella mesenterica) …
Witches butter fungi, Wolf Creek Narrows, 16 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
… and a decapitated skunk cabbage that allowed us to see the spadix inside. The hood usually covers this structure but something ate the hood. What animal could put up with the odor to eat that hood? And then the animal would vomit because the plant is toxic.
Skunk cabbage spadix revealed, Wolf Creek Narrows, 16 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
I promised you an owl.
Inspired by Steve Gosser‘s photo of an American woodcock at North Park Upper Fields on 4 March, two of us stood out in the cold on Thursday evening waiting for sunset and for American woodcocks to make their twittering courtship flights. The sky was clear and the moon was so bright that we had moon shadows. It was also 5°F colder than at home in the city and I brought the wrong gloves. Brrrr!
Despite the cold it was worth the trip. Half an hour after sunset three American woodcocks put on a show and two flew right past us on their way to the sky.
American woodcock, North Park Upper Fields, 4 March 2024 (photo by Steve Gosser)
But the big surprise of the evening came before the woodcocks. Karyn saw a great-horned owl fly out of the pines and land on top of a brush pile. The owl was hunting while the voice of a youngster begged for food from pines.
Meanwhile a second adult owl flew to a bare tree at the other end of the field where we could see its silhouette against the glowing sky. Though my cellphone is not good at distance photos, you can faintly see the ear tufts that prove that this second bird of prey is a great-horned owl.
Great horned owl, North Park Upper Fields, 21 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Daffodils in Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
21 March 2024
After a slow start to spring in the southern part of the U.S., spring is spreading more quickly now across the central part of the country. Des Moines, IA is 20 days early, Detroit, MI is 23 days early, and Cleveland, OH is 16 days early compared to a long-term average of 1991-2020.
Though it’s only 23°F this morning in Pittsburgh we, too, are having a very early spring. Just three days ago I photographed daffodils and many flowering trees in my neighborhood.
Flowering Callery pear in Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Today’s low temperature feels like an aberration compared to what we’ve come to expect this “winter” with highs in 60s and 70s. Dark red on the map below shows how early spring is across the continental US. In Pittsburgh it’s 20 days early.
Do you see the reddish dot on Detroit? March has been insanely warm for them (see below). Pull the graph for your zip code at NPN’s Visualization Tools.
Accumulated Growing Degree Days in Detroit, MI for 2024 as of 21 Mar 2024 (graph from USA NPN Visualization Tool)
