American sycamore seed ball disintegrating at the end of winter (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
22 March 2025
As the weather warmed this month American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) seed balls disintegrated to disperse their wind-driven seeds.
On 16 March it was very windy when I visited Herr’s Island back channel. Sycamore achenes (seed packets) blew by me in the wind and piled up in the cracks like snow drifts.
A single American sycamore seed, 16 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sycamore snow.
Many sycamore seeds gathering like snow drifts, Herr’s Island, 16 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
They had come from seed balls like these that had waited all winter for spring heat to make them stretch and burst.
Sycamore seed balls hanging like ornaments, 3 March 2018 (photo by Kate St.John)
Not only do they disperse on the wind but the fluff-tops have a second mode of transportation. They float.
Sycamore seeds swirling in the Allegheny River in Herr’s Island back channel, 16 March 2025 (video by Kate St. John)
Water carries them to their favorite habitats.
American sycamore is found most commonly in bottomland or floodplain areas, thriving in the wet environments provided by rivers, streams, or abundant groundwater.
Great horned owlet on a branch, Schenley Park, 12 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
The owlet spent Thursday well camouflaged on an inaccessible-to-humans cliff ledge. On Friday she was in a tree, see photograph at top. Juvenile owls use their claws to climb trees. (Note: in case you hear people calling her Muppet, Tamarack gave her that nickname.)
Mercury and Venus
After sunset on 9 March I noticed a bright planet in the west with a divot out of the top of it like a phase of the moon. It was Venus about to set. How did I live this long without knowing that Venus has phases?
When I digiscoped Venus I saw a shadowy planet next to it. Mercury was also about to set, pinkish and to the left of Venus whose brightness plays havoc with my optics.
Mercury and Venus with a divot off the top, 9 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Here’s a view that shows Venus a bit better.
Mercury and Venus, 9 March 2025 (digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Incipient Spring flowers and leaves
Incipient is a good word to describe spring flower and leaf status this week. As of Thursday 13 March spring was “in an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop.”
Common whitlowgrass blooming in Aspinwall, 11 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Common whitlowgrass (Draba verna), a member of the cabbage family, blooms very early. It is native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa and is now spread around the world.
Honeysuckle leaves were just beginning to open on Thursday.
Incipient honeysuckle leaves in Greenfield, 13 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
And the Cornelian cherry tree near Panther Hollow Lake had a single tiny flower open in the bud.
Incipient Cornelian cherry flowers, Schenley Park, 13 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
All of these plants are from other continents and they start blooming sooner than our native plants.
After yesterday’s very warm weather everything else will speed up.
Woodland crocuses blooming in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
5 March 2025
The crocuses are blooming!
But of course they are. In yesterday’s sunny and unseasonably warm 67°F the woodland crocuses (Crocus tommasinianus) on Neville Street were in full bloom. I say “were” because today’s rain, clouds and wind will probably keep them closed.
The crocuses dotted the lawn, above, and opened their petals to the sun.
Woodland crocus blooming in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Honeybees came to take a sip.
Bee visits blooming crocuses in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Now that they’ve opened, how does this year’s crocus bloom date compare to those in the past? Is it later than usual because we had such a cold winter?
Surprisingly, this year is on the early end of the spectrum, based on my record of Crocus First-Bloom Dates in Pittsburgh’s East End since 2009.
I don’t have a crocus record but the date was probably March 7, 2016 based on temperature data, this post about coltsfoot, and feedback from Supriya in Squirrel Hill.
Plotted on the calendar it’s easy to see that the dates cluster and the outliers are early, not late. Repeated dates are circled twice. Interestingly, the dates in February become earlier each time they occur.
Honeysuckle leaves in a Too Early Spring, 20 Feb 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 February 2025
Yesterday I looked back seven years and found photos of honeysuckle leafing out! Obviously we’re having a very different February than we did in 2018 when it was hotter than normal.
How does this year’s Spring status compare to years past? Here are a few photos for comparison.
Maple tree flowers: 2023 vs 2025
Only two years ago the maple trees had started blooming by now. This week the buds are still slammed shut.
Maple flowers blooming on 17 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Maple buds slammed shut on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Tulip Garden: 2024 vs 2025
Last year the tulip leaves were standing tall. This year they emerged and stopped.
Tulip leaves standing tall a year ago, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Tulip leaves emerged and paused, 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Crocus Lawn: 2023 vs 2025
Two years ago this lawn on Neville Street was carpeted in blooming crocuses. This week it’s covered in snow.
The crocus lawn on 21 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday that lawn looked like this.
The crocus lawn on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
And here’s an interesting juxtaposition …
High water comes and goes: 2018 vs 2025
The Monongahela River at Duck Hollow flooded the parking lot seven years ago. This month the highest reach was well below the parking lot.
Monongahela River flood at Duck Hollow, 17 Feb 2018 (photo by John English)Monongahela River highest water in February 2025 (so far), 3 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
This map shows why we’re confused by this news. While most of the world and everything north of us was extra hot, the Continental US was unusually cold in January 2025.
Early morning sun and fog at Duck Hollow, 25 November 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
7 December 2024
This week the city received a light dusting of snow but the ground was not as beautiful as the sky. Two examples: Fog and sun at Duck Hollow before Thanksgiving, and a very red sunrise on 4 December.
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 4 December 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
What is this? An arrangement of black carbon.
Faulty oven creates black carbon, November 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
These were the unexpected result of a faulty oven thermostat that carbonized the Thanksgiving biscuits. Fortunately that carbon is only skin deep. My niece cut off the bottoms. The tops were yummy.
Rose blooming in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
30 November 2024
Even though it’s November and getting colder and darker by the day, I found some confused flowers this week. Imported trees and plants that should be dormant were in bloom.
A rose, above, and an ornamental cherry tree were beautiful in the rain.
Ornamental cherry tree blooming in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Moth mullein was battered but blooming on an almost sunny day.
Battered but blooming, moth mullein in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Northern magnolia buds were swelling in anticipation of spring … even though it was late November.
Fat buds on northern magnolia, 27 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Alas, these flowers will be no match for this week’s (finally normal) freezing temperatures.
“Monkey balls” = fruit of osage orange tree, Schenley Park, 20 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
23 November 2024
Now that the leaves have fallen fruits and seeds are prominent in the landscape.
Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) trees have prolific fruit this fall but nothing eats the “monkey balls” so they just lay on the ground to rot. If you crack one open it has sticky latex inside. Who would eat this fruit? The answer is in the video at the end!
The fruiting body of a shaggy mane mushroom (Coprinus comatus) poked up among the leaf litter near Five Points at Moraine State Park.
Fruiting body of Shaggy Mane mushroom, Moraine State Park near Five Points, 18 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Red fruits of oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) are a favorite food of migrating American robin, protected by a hard yellow-orange skin that pops off in sections. It looks like a squirrel gnawed off this branch and lost his meal.
Fruit of oriental bittersweet, 18 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Late boneset has gone to seed in Schenley Park.
Late boneset seeds surrounded by fluff, Schenley Park, 20 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Just a few trees still have leaves. I found this colorful sweetgum along a sidewalk at CMU. Someone ripped a piece off the yellow leaf.
Colorful leaves on sweetgum, 20 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Witch hazel, Schenley Park, 15 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
16 November 2024
This week I found witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooming in Schenley Park and was startled by a whoosh of wings that passed right in front of me below eye level. I was so startled that I screamed even though I knew that …
The whoosh was an immature red-tailed hawk zipping by to catch a mouse near the wall. In stealth mode the hawk did not flap his wings but he flew pretty close to me. If I didn’t like birds I might have been freaked out. He caught the mouse and I took his picture when he settled down.
Immature red-tailed hawk that buzzed past me in Schenley Park, 15 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
By now most oaks have lost their leaves so the predominant color in Schenley and Frick is brown. Brown on the ground and lots of bare trees.
Brown fallen leaves, Schenley Park, 15 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
In Schenley Park you can easily see through the woods at ground level because the deer have eaten all the thickets.
In Frick Park I spotted an unusual patch of green, probably an alien plant, so I went down there to check it out.
A green patch in the distance at Frick Park. What is it? 12 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sure enough, this is an alien — stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), native to Eurasia and Africa. Deer eat stinging nettle in spring and summer but are shunning it at this time of year.
A patch of stinging nettle in Frick Park, 12 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
By now the only place to find brilliant reds is in the sky.
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 10 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
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)
Ginkgo leaves beneath the trees, 6 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
8 November 2024
In Pittsburgh this week the ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba) began to drop their leaves. I found a cheerful yellow carpet under gray skies on Wednesday.
Ginkgo leaves coat the ground; still more to come, Schenley Park, 6 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Other trees lose their leaves gradually or in the wind, but ginkgos can drop them all at once on a single day of calm weather. I tried to capture the “snowing” leaves in this 2017 video. Not very many.
video by Kate St. John in Nov 2017
@MyDailyNature does a better job of showing them fall including slow motion.
Get out soon to watch the ginkgos before the leaves are gone.
p.s. Did you know that gingkos are living fossils? Here’s more:
Native to East Asia, Ginkgo biloba is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils very similar to the living species, belonging to the genus Ginkgo, extend back to the Middle Jurassicepoch approximately 170 million years ago. The tree was cultivated early in human history and remains commonly planted, and is widely regarded as a living fossil.
