Join me on Sunday May 19 at 8:30am for a bird and nature walk in Schenley Park.
Meet at the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center where Panther Hollow Road meets Schenley Drive for this 8:30am to 10:30am walk. We’ll see flowers, late migrants and nesting birds. Red-eyed vireos, shown above, nest in Schenley Park. Will we see one?
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them.
Check the Events page before you come for more information and in case of cancellation.
Five of us went birding in Schenley Park on Saturday morning April 20. The weather was great! Blue sky and puffy clouds.
Our Best Birds were a yellow-rumped warbler and two ruby-crowned kinglets chasing each other and raising their red crowns. First-of-Year Birds were fun, too: Wood thrushes, house wrens, and a spotted sandpiper. We saw 29 species: ebird checklist S55174092.
Schenley Park has few wildflowers because there are so many deer. We saw three in broad daylight on Saturday (same location as this March 27 photo). I’ve seen a herd of 21 in the past month. The flowers don’t stand a chance.
Herd of deer in Schenley Park, distant photo, 27 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Fortunately the deer leave the trout lilies alone. Perhaps these plants are poisonous.
Trout lilies blooming in Schenley Park, 18 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Leaf Out is coming. The red oaks have very tiny leaves.
In case you’re curious, bird migration has picked up in the past two weeks. Here are the First-of-Year Birds I’ve seen in Schenley Park from April 10 to April 20, 2019.
Bluets at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 16 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 April 2019
Wildflowers are blooming, elms are setting seed, and some early trees are leafing out. Here’s a sampling of buds and blooms this week in southwestern Pennsylvania.
At Raccoon Wildflower Reserve on Tuesday our group found many flowers opening including bluets (above) and early saxifrage (below). Our complete list is at the end.
Early saxifrage at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 16 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
The trail at Racoon Wildflower Reserve was littered with the tips of sugar maple branches, chiseled off by squirrels. These Acer saccharum buds are opening to reveal new flowers.
Sugar maple bud opening at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 16 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Meanwhile in the City where it’s warmer …
This spruce in Shadyside was flowering, too. The pink buds will become cones.
American elms (Ulmus americana) have already set seed. You can tell this is an American (not slippery) elm because the samaras are deeply notched.
American elm samaras from Schenley Park, 16 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
In Schenley Park, invasive Norway maples (Acer platanoides) are leafing out.
Norway maple leaf-out in Schenley Park, 17 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spend time outdoors this weekend and see what’s blooming near you.
Here’s are list of flowers seen at Raccoon Wildflower Reserve on Tuesday 16 April 2019, in no particular order. Many flowers were only beginning to open. By now they’ll be in full bloom.
Redbud about to bloom, 23 April 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring is here! Let’s get outdoors.
Meet me at the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center for a bird & nature walk in Schenley Park on Saturday, April 20, 8:30a – 10:30a. (Note: Due to scheduling difficulties this walk is on Saturday.)
Trees and wildflower buds are bursting. New birds arrive on every south wind. I’m sure we’ll see redbuds. Will they be open?
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Don’t forget your binoculars! This event will be held rain or shine, but not in thunder. Check the Events page before you come in case of cancellation.
Male red maple flowers fallen from the tree, 10 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
This week the hillsides turned faintly red as red maples (Acer rubrum) bloomed across southwestern Pennsylvania. The city’s maples bloom sooner than the suburbs so I’ve had a preview of what’s to come.
In Schenley Park the ground under some red maples is carpeted with fallen flowers (above) while others retain flowers that are setting seed (below).
Female red maple flowers on the tree, developing samaras, 10 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
That’s because red maples are sexually complicated. They are polygamodioecious which means some trees have only male flowers, some have only female, and some have both (i.e. hermaphroditic). And they can even switch back and forth:
Under the proper conditions, the tree can sometimes switch from male to female, male to hermaphroditic, and hermaphroditic to female.
Hepatica at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
7 April 2019
What’s blooming in southwestern Pennsylvania this weekend?
Yesterday’s joint outing of the Botanical Society of Western PA and Wissahickon Nature Club found a lot of spring flowers at Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County, 6 April 2019.
Hepatica was blooming in shades of white, pink and blue. In the photo above, the leaves aren’t visible so I can’t tell if this plant is round-lobed (Anemone americana) or sharp-lobed (Anemone acutiloba) hepatica.
Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) was blooming along the valley trail. Did you know this plant is in the Carrot family?
Harbinger of spring at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Snow trillium (Trillium nivale) covered the hillside beyond the last bridge …
Snow trillium at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
… and spicebush’s (Lindera benzoin) tiny yellow flowers were a nice surprise.
Spicebush at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Most of the spring beauty was not in bloom but we found Carolina spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), a specialty at Cedar Creek shown below.
Spring Beauty at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
This bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) was bright white by the bike trail. Its leaves are barely visible, clutching the stem, while a garlic mustard leaf tries to photo-bomb the bottom corner.
Bloodroot at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yellow buckeye buds, starting to unfurl their leaves in Schenley Park, 5 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
CORRECTION ABOUT BUCKEYES: Last week Stephen Tirone investigated the buckeye buds in Schenley and Frick Parks and learned that these are yellow buckeyes (Aesculus flava) not Ohio buckeyes (Aesculus glabra). Though Ohio buckeyes are more common in the wild, Pittsburgh’s parks are not “wild.” Schenley and Frick Parks were landscaped with ornamentals when the parks were established more than 100 years ago. Yellow buckeyes are often planted as ornamental trees and may be hybridized to produce showy flowers. So, yes, these are yellow buckeyes.
Yellow buckeye buds about to burst, 1 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday I found these buds about to burst in Schenley Park.
Yellow buckeyes (Aesculus flava) are one of the first trees to leaf out in the spring, unfurling their dramatic palmate leaves. They’re such a welcome splash of green that I photograph them nearly every year. This is the first time I noticed the bud at this stage. I didn’t expect it to be red.
Over the years my buckeye photographs have documented the vagaries of spring in Schenley Park. In cooler years — such as 2015 — the buds weren’t this far along in mid-April. Here’s a closed bud on 15 April 2015.
Closed bud on 15 April 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)
In hot years — such as 2012 — the buds opened weeks ahead of schedule. This buckeye was completely leafed on 19 March 2012.
Yellow buckeye tree 19 March 2012 (photo by Kate St. John)
This year appears to be a “normal” spring … whatever that means these days.
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Garlic mustard and goutweed leaves, 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Early blooming coltsfoot, 17 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Hairy bittercress, purple dead nettle and garlic mustard leaves, 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Forsythia beginning to bloom, 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Honeysuckle leaves, 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring is coming at a good pace this year. Unlike hot years, such as March 2012, there’s time to appreciate each new leaf and flower before the next set appears.
My photos above show a selection of leaves and flowers at Schenley Park this past week. Most were taken on March 28 but the real surprise was coltsfoot blooming on St. Patrick’s Day. That flower hid for ten days and appeared again last week.
Unfortunately, all of these plants are alien and some are invasive. Their ability to spring ahead of the local plants gives them an advantage all year long.
Click here for that same honeysuckle branch, bud-to-leaves on March 11, 16.
Weeping willow turning yellow, Schenley Park, 15 Feb 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
Weeping willows (Salix babylonica) are popular landscape trees that were brought here from Asia. They’re easy to notice at this time of year because their drooping stems turn yellow in very early spring. From a distance you see a splash of yellow.
Imported species, especially those from Europe, grew up in a steady climate with few spring surprises so they’re quick to bloom in the spring and late to drop their leaves in autumn.
Meanwhile our native trees are still brown, conservative about producing tender shoots because they know that volatile spring weather can bring a killing frost in April.
Are you tired of winter? Watch for the weeping willow’s hint of spring.
Frozen sap of red oak, 10 Feb 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)
The weather this month has been up and down like a yo-yo: A low of 6oF on February 2, highs in the 50s and 60s for six days, then a low of 14oF on February 9. During those warm days the sap started running in the trees. I wouldn’t have noticed except …
On February 10 during a walk in Schenley Park I found flash-frozen sap on the damaged trees. At top, a fallen red oak made a red-orange waterfall. Below, a small amount of sap in a fungi-encrusted tree dripped like orange ribbons.
Sap runs and freezes inside healthy trees, too. We just can’t see it.
