Kentucky coffeetree seed pod with penny for size comparison (photo by Kate St.John)
Last week I found these large, dull gray seed pods beneath a tree in Schenley Park with “coffee” beans inside.
The Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) is a rare tree with a wide distribution from Oklahoma to Ohio. It was planted in Schenley Park as an ornamental more than 100 years ago.
The tree earned its name because Native Americans used to grind the roasted beans to make a beverage like coffee. When coffee and chicory weren’t available the settlers drank this beverage, too, but they didn’t like it as well.
The pods are very tough and hard to open. I quickly learned that the flattest ones have no beans so I chose a broken one and pried it open with a knife.
Kentucky coffeetree seed pod opened, found in Schenley Park (photo by Kate St. John)
The beans are dark brown, round, and hard to photograph. I moved the biggest one so you can see it better.
Did a squirrel eat the other beans? If so, I hope he’s immune to the cytisine alkaloid inside them. When not fully roasted, these beans are poisonous to humans.
Want to try some Kentucky “coffee?” No thanks. I’m sticking with Starbucks.
On sunny days this eastern screech-owl perches motionless in an unusual tree opening. He’s not there every day in winter, but he’s never there when spring comes.
Though the range maps says eastern screech-owls live in Pittsburgh year round, this individual bird probably lives in Schenley during the winter and goes somewhere else to nest.
Range map of eastern screech-owl (linked from All About Birds website)
Sorry … I’m not going to tell you exactly where he is because too much public attention will scare him off. And if you find him, please don’t publicize his location for the same reason.
(photo by Kate St. John)
p.s. In January this blog has 400-700 readers a day. That’s a lot of public attention.
American crows coming in to roost near the Cathedral of Learning (photo by Peter Bell)
What species was the last bird you saw in 2016? Which one was your first of the new year?
Mine were the same species. Black birds in a black sky. American crows. Here’s why.
Yesterday was the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count. I counted birds in my neighborhood (best bird: red-breasted nuthatch) and gave tips to Schenley Park’s counter, Mike Fialkovich, on where to find the best raptors.
By noon, Mike had not seen the eastern screech-owl nor the merlins, and he’d only seen one peregrine at Pitt. Oooo! I carved out some time at dusk to run over to Schenley and have a look. Mike did too, but I didn’t know that.
Dusk came early. At 4pm I raced around by car and on foot to find the owl (yes!) the merlins (yes!! two!) and both peregrines (alas, none). Interestingly, Mike and I saw the merlins at the same time but did not see each other.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but see hundreds of crows coming in to Schenley and Pitt for the night, still flying after sunset. By the time I got home no other birds were out. Crows were my Last Bird of 2016.
This morning before dawn they flew over my house on their way from the roost. American crows were my First Bird of 2017.
Happy New Year!
p.s. When I stepped outdoors to hear the crows, I heard an unexpected Second Bird of 2017: an American robin singing his spring song, Cheerily Cheerio.
Range maps can obscure the seasonal movement of birds.
For instance, the range map for pileated woodpeckers, below, shows them in western Pennsylvania all year long but they’re not everywhere. There are none in Schenley Park in the spring and summer. (UPDATE in 2021: Pileated woodpeckers now nest in Schenley Park)
Pileated woodpecker range map. Green means year-round. (from Wikimedia Commons)
However, a male pileated woodpecker comes to Panther Hollow for the winter. He announces his presence when he sees me on the trail.
It’s a treat to see him as I walk through Schenley Park.
(photo by Dick Martin, range map from Wikimedia Commons; click on the map to see the original image)
Icy trail in Schenley Park, Feb 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)
Snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain.
From 5 degrees F on Thursday night to 53 degrees with freezing rain today, we’ve had it all. And there’s more to come. Tomorrow night will be 15 degrees.
This yo-yo weather reminds me of what we learned during the polar vortex in January 2014: Climate change is making the jet stream wobble so we get shots of very cold air and then warm air soon after, as shown in drawing(c) below.
Jet stream Rossby waves (graphic from Wikimedia Commons)
Be careful today! It’s variably icy out there.
p.s. I’ve used an old photo of ice because it’s too icy to step outside this morning!
(photo by Kate St. John. Drawing from Wikimedia Commons; click on the image to see the original)
Deer spooked near the road (photo by Mike Tewkesbury, Creative Commons license via Flickr)
27 November 2016
It’s that time of year again when cars and deer come into conflict.
From October to early December white-tailed deer hormones surge for the mating season. Males become aggressive, spar with their rivals, and challenge anything they see as a threat. Both sexes roam in search of mates and barely pay attention to their surroundings. Cars are the last thing on their minds.
Last year, Pennsylvania won the “prize” for the most deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. According to a September 2015 article by Ad Crable at Lancaster Online, we hit 127,275 deer with our cars — and those were only the collisions reported to insurance. When compared to hunting season, which took more than 353,000 deer that year, we’re making a sizable dent with our vehicles.
A case in point is in Schenley Park where hunting is prohibited (*) as in all Pittsburgh City Parks. Deer used to be rare but they moved in about 10 years ago (perhaps longer) and their population has exploded in the past five years. I knew we’d reached a milestone when I saw a first ever road-killed deer in the Park along the Boulevard of the Allies, hit on November 5 or 6.
I’m sure the person who hit that 6-point buck was very, very surprised. So are those whose dogs are challenged by aggressive deer. Every year since 2015, a buck has killed a dog in the City’s east end parks.
So be careful out there, especially at dusk and dawn when deer are most active. Use your brightest headlights and slow down. Don’t become a statistic.
Reminder: Deer (rifle) season begins tomorrow, Monday November 28, in Pennsylvania. Wear blaze orange when you’re outside the city.
(*) Update on 6 September 2023: Due to the huge deer population in the City of Pittsburgh, City Council today passed two bills that begin the process of deer management. The first allows the Mayor and the head of the Dept of Pubic Safety to make an exception to the “no hunting” rule in the parks. The second allows the city to hire USDA to assist them with deer management. See the news at CBS Pittsburgh KDKA
More than a decade ago four merlins used to hang out at Schenley Park Golf Course every winter. They were often seen at dusk in the area near the club house just before they flew to roost. For a few years they were reliable every winter and then they were gone … until now.
Merlins (Falco columbarius) are small falcons that eat birds for a living, though they choose smaller prey than peregrines do. You could mistake one for an immature peregrine except for this: Merlins are smaller and darker, their malar stripes are less pronounced, and they are very fast in level flight, rapidly pumping their wings.
Most merlins nest in Canada and migrate south with their prey. Some go as far as South America. Others stay in the southern U.S. and a few, very few, spend the winter in southwestern Pennsylvania.
This month two merlins came back to Schenley Park. Just like those a decade ago, these birds prefer perches with long views in every direction. You can find them at dawn or dusk at the highest elevation of the golf course near Darlington Road at Schenley Drive. They perch on treetops or dead snags near hole #2 and the fairways of holes #3 and #4.
If you’ve never seen a merlin, watch this video of a falconer’s merlin on the hunt to get an idea of their size and flight style.
p.s. If you go look for the merlins, keep in mind that this is a golf course. You must stay out of the way of golfers and not tread on the tees and greens! Watch from the sidelines.
Participants in Schenley Park outing on 16 October 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
This morning it was jacket weather with lots of dew (wet shoes!) as 14 of us gathered at the Bartlett Shelter in Schenley Park.
We found plenty of birds — at least in terms of individuals. Not only were there many blue jays and robins but midway through the walk several hundred common grackles showed up to snatch the bread cubes scattered beneath the oaks near Bartlett Shelter.
A low-swooping red-tailed hawk kept the chipmunks and jays on their toes and a flock of cedar waxwings stopped in to eat porcelain berries.
Best Bird: Blackpoll warbler. Fall blackpoll and bay-breasted warblers have many of the same field marks — warbler size, thin warbler beak, wing bars, yellow wash on throat, faint eyeline, olive back with subtle stripes, faint stripes on chest — but blackpolls have orange feet and sometimes orange legs, too. This one was immature with black legs and and orange feet. Click here and scroll down to see an immature blackpoll up close.
Best mammal: We saw a very plump raccoon climb a tall tree and finally insert itself into a hollow space at the top. “Insert” is a good description. The raccoon was so plump that it took a while for him to ooze into the crack and disappear. Perhaps he exhaled to make himself thin.
Participants at Schenley Park outing, 25 Sept 2016 (photo by Kate St.John)
The weather was great this morning — cool and sunny — as 16 of us explored Schenley Park.
We started at the Westinghouse Fountain, checked the Phipps Run valley behind it and walked part of the Steve Falloon Trail but there were almost no birds except for woodpeckers and blue jays.
I extended the walk to the golf course road where we added mourning doves, Carolina chickadees and an eastern phoebe (Best Bird). Then to the Bartlett Shelter area where we added American goldfinches, common grackles and European starlings. Here’s the bird checklist.
Just a reminder that I’ll be leading this year’s final 