Category Archives: Schenley Park

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Schenley Park, Trees


Now that the birds are harder to find I’m noticing plants more than ever.

Last week my favorite shrub started blooming in Schenley Park.

Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) is a small buckeye that grows wider than tall.  Native to the southeastern US, it’s planted as an ornamental.  That’s why it’s in the park.

Because the tree is small its long, feathery flower spikes are spectacular just above eye level.  The spikes resemble bottle brushes and gave the plant its name.

If you’d like to see for yourself, visit the wooded trail next to the pond.  You’d better hurry, though.  The flowers won’t last long and I saw chipmunks climbing the shrubs and eating the blossoms.  Oh no!

(photo by Magnus Manske via Wikimedia Commons.  Click on the photo to see the original)

Becoming Silent

Bird Behavior, Schenley Park, Songbirds


Remember when the robins woke you up before dawn?  When they sang all night?  It was only last month.

Now that it’s mid-June there’s a lot less birdsong in the morning.  They still sing but they lack the frantic edge they had in May.

Their reason for singing is quickly disappearing.  They’ve established territory and found a mate.  They have eggs in the nest or babies to feed.  Some sing less when they have nestlings, perhaps to avoid attracting attention to their vulnerable family.

And if they haven’t nested yet, they’ve given up.

I noticed a gap last week in yellow warbler song when I suddenly heard them again in Schenley Park after a three week hiatus.  Why did they stop singing?  I don’t know, but their songs are half-hearted now.

The robins are half-hearted too.

By the middle of July the serenade will be over.

Alas.  Just as I got my ears in tune to identify birdsong there will be nothing to practice with.

(photo of a yellow warbler by Chuck Tague)

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch Update

Peregrines, Schenley Park


We’ve been having fun at Fledge Watch for the past two days, even though none of the youngsters has fledged as of noon today.

The juvenile peregrines have been easy to find and their parents have been putting on a show.  The youngsters flap and run on the nestrail, then sit and rest while Dorothy & E2 give flying lessons, demonstrate prey exchange, and circle over our heads.  Though we know they aren’t doing it for our enjoyment, we’re impressed anyway.

You’ll find five to twenty of us at the tent.  We often discover we know each other, even though we’ve never met.  For starters, everyone knows my name from this blog but you might know each other from the blog comments or the webcam chat.  If you’re on the chat, say your chat name and you’ll be surprised how many people know you.  Today I met mindysmom + dh, charliechaplin, cousin, whitch and thewildsow.  And I know I’m forgetting many names!

In the photo above I’m the one pointing up, describing where to find the peregrines on the Cathedral of Learning.  In the photo below we’re all gazing up to see them.

So come on down to the Schenley Plaza tent for Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch.  The new times are listed below, weather permitting.  Hope to see you there.

  • Tuesday June 1, very briefly 8:00-8:20am + noon to 2:15pm + 5:30pm until 7:00-ish.   Watch the skies!  If it’s raining I won’t be there.
  • Wednesday June 2, very briefly 8:00-8:20am + 1:00pm to 2:15pm.    None after work on Wednesday.
  • Thursday June 3, very briefly 8:00-8:20am + 1:00pm to 2:15pm + 5:30pm until 7:00-ish. 
  • There are also unofficial times:  I believe at least one young peregrine will fly this weekend so I’ll be stopping by briefly in the mornings and evenings every day, though my exact times are unpredictable.
  • And I will extend Wednesday lunchtime if Tuesday is rained out, so watch the blog for more updates.

News about the streaming cams:  It looks like the streaming cameras will be down until Tuesday.  Someone has to get into both the Gulf Tower and Cathedral of Learning to fix them and that’s not possible on this holiday weekend.  🙁

Special thanks to Jennie & Ken Barker (mindysmom + dh) for these Fledge Watch photos and to Mary DeV (wildSow) for bringing her high-powered binoculars and telescope.

A partial key to who is who:  In the first photo, “mindysmom” is in the yellow shirt, “whitch” is in the red shirt.  In the second photo “TheWildSow” is in the dark blue Tshirt.  Oh, and on the chat my name is “KPeregrine.”

(photos by Jennie and Ken Barker)

Meet Me At The Tent

Peregrines, Schenley Park

Come to the Schenley Plaza Tent at any of the dates and times listed below for the Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch.

It’s my favorite time of year when the nestlings learn to fly.  I’ll be at Schenley Plaza gazing at the top of the Cathedral of Learning, watching peregrines.

Want to see them too?  Come join me!

We’ll see them stand on the railing and flap like crazy.  If we’re lucky, we’ll see their parents give flying demonstrations.  If we’re really lucky, we’ll see a young bird make its first flight, just like this video from Stephen Tirone.

And no matter what we’ll swap stories and talk about peregrines.

Meet me at the tent at any of these dates and times, weather permitting.  (The peregrines won’t fledge in steady rain and I won’t be there either.)

  • Friday May 28, noon to 2:15pm. Kick off the Memorial Day Weekend with peregrine fun.
  • Saturday May 29, 8:00am to 11:00am.  I’ll stay until noon if I know you’re coming!
  • Tuesday June 1, noon to 2:15pm. This is the Rain Date for Friday May 28, but I’ll be at Schenley Plaza on June 1st even if it didn’t rain on Friday.
  • Wednesday and Thursday June 2 & 3, 1:00pm to 2:15pm.
  • I am likely to be at the tent after work on Tuesday June 1 and Thursday June 3.  Stay tuned for confirmation of the after-work times.

p.s. Check the newest Peregrine FAQ that describes what you’ll see — and not see — on camera as the young peregrines leave the nest.

(photo of the Schenley Plaza tent by Kate St. John)

Anatomy: Undertail Coverts

Bird Anatomy, Schenley Park
Gray catbird (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 April 2010

In this anatomy lesson we’ll move down the underside of the bird, past the belly and brood patch, and are the top of the tail where we find … undertail coverts.

Undertail coverts are the feathers that smooth the transition between belly and tail.  On most birds they’re the same color as the tail (see magpies) or the belly (as in most birds).

Gray catbirds are an exception that proves the rule.  The entire catbird is gray except for his rufous undertail coverts.  They’re so noticeable that I didn’t even draw an arrow to point them out.

And, good news!  You’ll be able to see this for yourself because gray catbirds have just returned from their wintering grounds in Central America.  Yesterday I saw my first of 2010 in Schenley Park.

(photo by Alan Vernon, from Wikimedia, Creative Commons license.  Click on the photo to see the original.)

Stunning

Schenley Park, Songbirds


Lately I’ve been getting an extra dose of bird life by walking through Schenley Park on my way to work.  The route takes longer but I’m rewarded by glimpses of birds before I have to sit indoors.

The other day I had more than a glimpse.  A male pileated woodpecker jumped and shouted among the trees below the Steve Falloon Trail, claiming the space as his own.  All he needed was a female pileated to make his life complete, but none had noticed him so he made a lot of noise and flashed his wings to attract attention.  He certainly got my attention.  He was stunning.

Eventually he also got the attention of a blue jay who considered him a threat.  The blue jay dove at the woodpecker with hardly a sound, though one of them make a “chuck” noise at each attack.

Pileated woodpeckers are much larger than blue jays (twice their size!) and they have long dangerous beaks.  The blue jay didn’t think about that, but he should have.  At one point he made a close pass at the woodpecker and the pileated closed his beak on the blue jay’s belly.  The next thing I noticed, the woodpecker had a tuft of blue jay belly feathers in his bill.

Ow!

The blue jay left quickly.  I’m sure he agrees that that woodpecker was stunning.

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Pawpaw in bloom

Phenology, Schenley Park, Trees
Pawpaw flower (photo by Marcy Cunkelman)

Here is a most unusual flower that hangs like a bell, sometimes in rows.

It has three deep maroon petals, three green sepals, and if you look inside three curled maroon petals surround the pistil.  The flowers are small when they first bloom, but grow to two inches long.

This is the flower of the Common Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba), blooming right now in western Pennsylvania.

Though named “common,” pawpaw is an uncommon understory tree that grows in hardwood forests and bottomlands.  I found pawpaw trees blooming last weekend in Schenley Park and at Enlow Fork.

Some people prize pawpaw for its 4-inch long lumpy fruit that has the consistency of mangoes and the taste of bananas.  I ought to like it, but I’m not fond those two tropical fruits.  If you try it, don’t eat the seeds (see the link above).

I was able to identify the flower because Marcy Cunkelman sent me this photo a year ago.  When I saw the pawpaw blooming I remembered her picture but not the name of the tree, so I looked it up when I got home.  Thanks, Marcy!

(photo by Marcy Cunkelman)

Signs of Spring: Redbud

Phenology, Schenley Park, Trees


It’s been a spectacular year for redbud in Pittsburgh.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is an understory tree whose flowers bloom in clusters from its leafless branches — even from its trunk.  Redbud is found throughout the eastern U.S. but hardly ventures north of Mason-Dixon in Pennsylvania.  Allegheny County is about as far north as it gets in the wild.  (See the Comments for more on redbud’s range.)

Redbud flowers are showy and attract bees who have tongues long enough to reach its nectar.  This floral strategy keeps carpenter and bumblebees very busy with a selection of complicated spring flowers: redbud, Dutchman’s breeches and Squirrel corn, to name a few.

After the flowers fade redbud’s large, heart-shaped leaves unfurl and long, bean-like seed pods form on the branches where the flowers had been.  By June the tree looks odd compared to its April beauty.

Take some time to look for redbud.  Right now it’s gorgeous in this too early spring.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)

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And on the subject of Too Early Spring:  I saw my first tent worms in Schenley Park last evening, three to four weeks earlier than they normally appear.  Tentworms coincide with black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoo migration, but the birds aren’t due back until early May.  Will the cuckoos have enough to eat if our tentworms are past their prime?

Lots of Sap Means…

Migration, Schenley Park, Songbirds

Yellow-bellied sapsucker (photo by Chuck Tague)
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (photo by Chuck Tague)

…a lot of sapsuckers?

The weather has been gorgeous lately so I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors.  Everywhere I go, every time I look around, I see a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

To me, this is unusual.  Yellow-bellied sapsuckers normally migrate through our area right now on their way to their northern breeding grounds and, yes, I usually see one at this time of year.  But do I see one every day?  No.  Do I see more than one a day?  Never.  Until this spring.

Why are there so many?  Did the sapsucker population explode last summer and now we’re seeing the results?  Did they change their migration route so that more of them are coming through Pittsburgh?  Are the early arrivals lingering as the later ones catch up to them?

I’ve developed a theory.

Yesterday morning in Schenley Park I watched a sapsucker move from tree to tree, drilling for sap.  Eventually it landed on a beech whose trunk was completely wet.  The sapsucker licked moisture from the furrows.

I didn’t think about where that much sap could have come from until a few steps later when I heard water dripping on dry leaves.  I looked down and found the wet spot, I looked up to see the snow-damaged crown of the tree where the main trunk had snapped off during the heavy snow we had in February.  So much sap was pouring out of the break that it dripped on the ground.

Lots of trees were in this condition.

So maybe the yellow-bellied sapsuckers are lingering here.  Maybe winter’s damage has a bright side and a lot of sap means a lot of sapsuckers.

(photo of a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Chuck Tague)