Red oak acorns rained on us at Biddle’s, 4 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
9 November 2024
It’s an abundant year for red oak acorns, also called a “big mast year.” The acorns pictured above rained on us while we sat outdoors at a coffee shop. Their parent tree shades the tables in summer but is not much fun this autumn.
In two days at Schenley Park: Sun through yellow trees on Tuesday. Overcast skies and russet oaks on Wednesday.
Sun through the trees at Schenley Park on Tuesday 5 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Overcast sky, russet oaks and leafless trees at Schenley Park on Wednesday 6 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
I took a picture of a bird! An unusual, piebald pigeon.
Piebald pigeon from the side, 5 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The pattern extends to the back of its head.
Piebald pigeon from the back, 5 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
In an August article, Grass Carpet in the Woods, I mentioned that “After Japanese stiltgrass goes to seed in early fall it dies and becomes a brown drape over the landscape in winter.” Well, here it is draping part of Frick Park near Wilford’s Pines.
Dead Japanese stiltgrass draping the landscape at Frick Park, 7 Nove 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Fall color of pawpaw leaves, Schenley, 25 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
26 October 2024
Fall color is so spectacular in Pittsburgh this week that many of us have been snapping pictures everywhere we go. Here are just a few of the colorful leaves and trees I’ve seen in town.
Pawpaw leaves are turning bright yellow in Schenley Park while Virginia creeper is red along the Three Rivers Heritage bike trail at Herrs Island.
Virginia creeper at Herrs Island back channel, 22 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sunlight reflecting on the water made rippling lights in the trees on 22 October. It was so warm you can hear crickets.
Ripples in the trees, 22 Oct 2024 (video by Kate St. John)
Yesterday in Schenley Park the trees were yellow or red depending on species.
Scene on the Upper Trail, 25 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Scene on the Serpentine, 25 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Not to be outdone by autumn leaves, the sky turned orange at sunrise on Saturday.
Sunrise, 25 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sunrise is after 7am now. We’ll “fix” that next weekend when we turn the clocks back.
Insect on New York aster, Toms Run, 16 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
19 October 2024
This week brought:
Fall colors and the first piles of fallen leaves
Late flowers and insects
“See Your Breath” cold mornings
The first juncos … and …
Several thousand crows in Oakland.
In photos, late asters attracted an insect at Toms Run and morning sun slanted through the trees in Schenley Park.
Fall colors and fallen leaves, Schenley Park, 18 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Many trees are changing color. The oaks aren’t there yet but they have dropped their acorns leaving empty acorn cups on the branches. It’s a big mast year for red oaks in Pittsburgh.
Red oak leaves and acorn cups, 13 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
A rhododendron in Shadyside is confused. Is it spring?
Confused rhododendron blooming in Pittsburgh, 13 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
This week crows were absent from Oakland during the day but arrived in huge flocks at dusk, staging on rooftops before flying to the roost. I fumbled to photograph them on the RAND Building last Sunday. This is only a fraction of the flock that flew away.
Crows make a stop on the RAND building before sunset, 13 Oct 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Obviously they’ve been roosting on Pitt’s campus. I found evidence below trees at the Pitt Panther statue. The Crows Slept Here Last Night.
Evidence at Pitt that The Crows Slept Here Last Night, 17 October 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
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
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them. If it’s hot be sure to bring water, sunscreen and a hat.
Visit my Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations. The outing will be canceled if there’s lightning or heavy downpours.
Eastern bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) with tiny spider threads.
Pavement glowing in the sun? No, pond scum on Panther Hollow Lake.
Dead adult spotted lanternfly nose-down with legs flexed open. Shadyside, 18 July.
Oh deer … Details near their photos.
Feverfew, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Eastern bottlebrush grass with tiny spider webs, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)The surface of Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Dead adult spotted lanternfly, Shadyside in Pittsburgh, 18 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Oh deer. Yesterday I saw four deer in Schenley Park; three in this family. The two spotted fawns appear to be a month younger than this year’s cohort that were born in May. If so, it was because their mother bred later than the rest of the herd, perhaps because she was a fawn herself last year.
One-year-old mother (probably) with two spotted fawns, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
In the photo above, notice how little food there is on the ground. Without much to eat, deer in Schenley Park browse on foods they don’t like, such as the Japanese knotweed below.
Japanese knotweed browsed by deer, Schenley Park, 28 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Neighborhood gardens have a lot more food, so guess where the deer go. Last month I saw two in a garden with plants up to their shoulders. Not for long, though. As I watched one of them opened its mouth to take a large bite.
Deer eating in a garden on Ellsworth Ave, Pittsburgh, 17 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Female red-winged blackbird scans the sky while collecting nesting material, Schenley Park, 18 May 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
19 May 2024
The pouring rain ended yesterday morning just in time for our walk in Schenley Park.
Outing at Schenley Park, 18 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
From midnight until 8am 1.16 inches of rain fell. All the streams were rushing and Panther Hollow Lake was muddy and full. It looked as if the lake had risen 8-12 inches since I saw it the day before.
Among the cattails we found busy red-winged blackbirds including a female gathering nesting material who scanned the sky for predators (at top). The last time I saw red-wings building nests was in mid April. Was this a second nesting? Or had high water flooded nests that now were being rebuilt?
Female red-winged blackbird collecting nesting material, Schenley Park, 18 May 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Why was the female blackbird scanning the sky? She probably saw a red-tailed hawk shuttling food to three youngsters in their nest on the bridge.
3 youngsters in red-tailed hawk nest, Schenley Park, 18 May 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
All told we saw 27 species of birds plus one doe, five bucks and an active beehive.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
15 April 2024
Twelve of us gathered in yesterday’s perfect weather for an outing in Schenley Park.
Schenley Park outing, 14 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
When I announced the outing, I said we had a good chance of seeing yellow-bellied sapsuckers and indeed we did — at least four plus an interesting interaction between a male and female.
Was this pair migrating together? Birds of the World says Not likely. Male yellow-bellied sapsuckers migrate first, the females follow later. When the males reach the breeding grounds they drum and squeal to establish territory and attract a mate. There was no drumming and squealing in Schenley (they don’t breed here) but the two birds followed each other from tree to tree. One of them seemed annoyed. Was the other “stealing” sap from his/her holes?
There were plenty of holes to choose from. The sapsuckers redrilled old rings on shagbark hickories and made new rings on tuliptrees.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker sipping sap from a tuliptree, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
We also saw nest building among blue jays (a pair) and red-winged blackbirds (just the female) …
Blue jay carrying nesting material, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
… and a pair of red-tailed hawks incubating eggs in last year’s successful nest under the bridge.
Red-tailed hawk on nest under PH Bridge, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
There aren’t many wildflowers in Schenley Park because of abundant hungry deer but we saw a few foamflowers (Tiarella sp) in an inaccessible spot.
Foamflower in bloom, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Can you see the flying honeybees and honeycombs in this photo? The hive is so high up (20-30 feet) that we wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t been looking for birds.
Honeybee hive way up high in a hollow branch, Schenley Park, 14 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
In all, we saw 33 species and lots of breeding behavior. Our last sighting was a surprise: two bald eagles, an adult and an immature, circling northward in Junction Hollow. I wondered if one of the Hays eagles was escorting an immature intruder away from the Hays nest.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Frick Park, 6 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
8 April 2024
Surprise! Instead of an outing on the last Sunday of the month, let’s go birding next weekend. Join me at the Schenley Park Visitors Center for a bird & nature walk on Sunday 14 April, 8:30a – 10:30a.
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers migrate through Allegheny County in April so mid-month is the best time to find one in Schenley. Charity Kheshgi and I saw this one at Frick.
We’ll also see trees in bud, in bloom, and with tiny leaves. Ten years ago the redbuds had not opened yet. Will they be blooming next Sunday?
Redbuds in bud, Schenley Park, 18 April 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
April showers won’t stop us. This event will be held rain or shine, but not in downpours or thunder. Check the Events page before you come in case of cancellation.
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Don’t forget your binoculars.
Hope to see you there.
p.s. If the birding is good I’ll give an option to continue until 11:00am.
p.p.s. Don’t expect a big show of spring wildflowers like we used to see several years ago. Pittsburgh’s overabundant deer have eaten everything except the toxic flowers.
