Category Archives: Schenley Park

Spring is in the air

Peregrines, Schenley Park

Peregrine falcon visits her nestbox at University of Pittsburgh, 28-Jan-2008After two days of dreary overcast skies the sun came out on Monday and so did the birds!  It was an exceptionally good day for watching peregrines at the University of Pittsburgh.

I could tell the day was full of promise as I walked to work through Schenley Park.  Cardinals were singing and a peregrine was perched on the lightning rod at the Cathedral of Learning.

My friend Karen Lang called to say she saw both falcons at the building – the first time in weeks we’d seen more than one.

I checked the National Aviary’s webcam from my desk.  Woo hoo!  Footprints in the snow.  It could only have been a peregrine.  They won’t let any other bird near their nest.

And then I remembered the webcam has a motion detection feature.  Did it capture Dorothy’s visit to the nest?  Yes!  Here she is arriving at the perch.

She stayed only two minutes but she made my day.  Spring is in the air.

Unnaturally Warm

Schenley Park, Weather & Sky

Sunset at Schenley Park Jan 7, 2008 (photo by Kate StJ)For the past two days it has been “unseasonably warm” here in Pittsburgh, but to me it feels unnatural.  The highs have been in the upper 60s, warmer than we keep our house at this time of year.  This is even more remarkable because it was 13oF five days ago.

The weather reminds me of a comment made by a young Finnish friend of ours who visited Pittsburgh in July many years ago.  As we sat outdoors after dark watching a softball game under floodlights, Oüti said she had never been outdoors when it was both hot and dark.  The sun hardly sets in the summer in Finland so being warm after sunset was unusual for her.

Well, this weather feels the same way.  The sun set just after 5:00pm today but it feels like the end of March.  By that measure, the sun should have set after 7:30pm and it would not have been both hot and dark during rush hour when I took this picture in Schenley Park.

I do appreciate that it feels good to stroll outside and that the birds sing in the morning.  It just unsettles me a little.

Thousands of Grackles

Migration, Schenley Park

Brown-headed Cowbird flock (photo by Chuck Tague)

This morning outside my window I watched a flock of thousands of common grackles streaming toward Schenley Park.  The flock moved in a long thin line so it took several minutes for it to pass.  Just as I assumed they were done, even more appeared.

You can get an idea of it how they looked from Chuck Tague’s picture of a brown-headed cowbird flock.

 

What a difference a day makes

Schenley Park, Weather & Sky

Fall leaves and sky in Oakland (photo by Kate)No gray skies today!  I took this picture at lunch time.

With good weather today and a cold front coming tomorrow, the birds are quite active:  large flocks of grackles in Schenley Park, blue jays flying south, a red-tailed hawk hunting near Central Catholic High School (steeple in picture), and a peregrine falcon perched at the top of University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.