8 July 2023

This week on Fourth of July morning, the birds were pretty good at Frick Park but the flowers, insects and an amazing mushroom were even better.

Humidity beaded the edge of a leaf while a great spangled fritillary* (Speyeria cybele) fed on butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). (* see the comments. This might be a different fritillary than what I wrote.)

A spider hid among the wingstem leaves.

A Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) had woven itself through a chainlink fence. Despite its invasive nature, American goldfinches love its seeds.

This mushroom certainly caught our attention along the Nine Mile Run Trail. I think it’s a wood ear mushroom, Auricularia species, whose “ears” look like they are made of jelly.

If you know what mushroom this is — or if I’ve misidentified anything — please leave a comment with the answer.

(photos by Kate St. John)

24 June 2023

Two kinds of mullein are blooming now in western Pennsylvania. Both are native to Eurasia and northern Africa and are listed as invasive in some states, but not in Pennsylvania.

Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is hard to miss in late June, standing 5-6 feet tall with a spike of yellow flowers. This hairy biennial plant spends its first year as a rosette of fuzzy basal leaves, similar to the early stage of lamb’s-ear.

In the second year it sends up a tall shoot topped by a flower spike.

As the spikes go to seed in late July you can see why people used these plants as torches.

Moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria), like common mullein, is also biennial but its flowers are prettier and more delicate.

The basal leaves are hardly noticeable because the flowers draw so much attention.

The plant blooms from the bottom up …

… and goes to seed in the same direction. Each seed pod looks like a ball with a string on top.

Other than its beauty, moth mullein has an unexpected benefit. According to Wikipedia, it has “long been known to be an effective cockroach repellent, and it’s species name blattaria is actually derived from the Latin word for cockroach, blatta.”

Torches and cockroach repellent. Something to think of when you see these two mulleins.

(photo credits are in the captions)

13 May 2023

I’ve known for years that chimney swifts eat flying bugs as they zip around above us but I didn’t think about the variety of insects they encounter. Now that I live in a high-rise flying insects sometimes perch outside my window. This elegant bit of “chimney swift food” visited my window more than a week ago.

This week I spent four days birding at Magee Marsh, Ohio on Lake Erie’s shore where I saw 113 species including 20 species of warblers. See my eBird trip report here.

The warblers were on time but the plants were late compared to Pittsburgh. Places near the lake have a later growing season because water temperature changes more slowly than land and influences local weather. Instead of deep green leaves, the trees had tiny leaves and the oaks were still flowering.

Woodland wildflowers were also still in bloom. At Pearson Metropark in Oregon, Ohio I found wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), star-flowered lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum stellatum) and wild ginger (Asarum canadense).

Star-flowered lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum stellatum)

This blooming plant was new to me: American black currant (Ribes americanum)

On the subject of green things, last weekend in Schenley Park this small cascade pond on Phipps Run was too green with clumpy algae. Algae is unusual for Phipps Run. Something went wrong … but what?

(photos by Kate St. John)

29 April 2023

Tomorrow is the big Enlow Fork Extravaganza at State Gamelands 302 on the border of Washington and Greene Counties. Known for its wildflowers and birds, the site is called “Enlow Fork” because its defining feature is the creek that runs through it, the Enlow Fork of Wheeling Creek.

Though tomorrow’s weather looks like rain, my friend Barb Griffith and I had a nice day there on Wednesday April 26.

We saw 45 species of birds including First of Year gray catbird, Baltimore oriole and American redstarts (checklist is here). We were disappointed not to find any wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers or rose-breasted grosbeaks though we have seen them there in late April in years past.

Spring leafout at Enlow Fork was late compared to the City of Pittsburgh, even though Enlow is 40 miles south of town. The side-by-side photos below show leafout at Schenley Park and at Enlow Fork on virtually the same day. I didn’t expect our urban heat island to make that much difference.

Lack of leaves and much less deer browse made the wildflowers superb. Here are just a few of those we saw. As always, if I’ve misidentified any, please let me know.

(photos by Barb Griffith and Kate St. John)

22 April 2023

This week in Pittsburgh began 15 degrees above normal, dipped to freezing (10 degrees below normal), then soared back into the 80s. The flowers and leaves coped.

On Saturday 15 April I visited Harrison Hills Park and found busy insects pollinating Virginia bluebells, golden ragwort, spring beauties and garlic mustard.

Garlic mustard is in bloom everywhere right now but I rarely take a picture of it.

On Monday 17 April at Schenley Park, jetbead, greater celandine, and common blue violets were in bloom.

The poison ivy leaves were small on Monday but are much larger now.

By yesterday, 21 April, the redbud was seriously leafing out in Schenley.

These two photos show Schenley’s leafout progress: The first below is a yellow buckeye near Anderson Playground on 17 April. The second is the same yellow buckeye 4 days later! It’s hard to see Panther Hollow Lake through the trees.

New birds! Yesterday I saw my first of year house wrens and chimney swifts (my Schenley eBird checklist here). Today I’ll dodge the raindrops to find the wood thrush reported by friends near Circuit Drive / Serpentine Road.

Happy Earth Day!

(photos by Kate St. John)