Here’s a sure sign of spring: American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) are turning yellow.
In winter both male and female goldfinches are dull. The males have citrine yellow faces, whitish chests, and black wings with white stripes. The females are dull olive brown with buffy stripes on brownish wings.
In February goldfinches begin to molt into breeding plumage but they’re in no hurry to finish since they won’t breed until July. At first the males have “dirty” foreheads and a few yellow patches (below). When a male is nearly finished he’ll have a few dull patches among yellow feathers (top).
Male American goldfinch turning yellow, 2006 (photo by Marcy Cunkelman)
Harbinger of spring, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 24 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
29 March 2021
For more than a week the temperature has not dipped below freezing in western Pennsylvania, providing a chance to watch spring unfold.
On 24 March at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve my walking route took me past harbinger of spring (top), hazelnut catkins, skunk cabbage, spring beauties and cutleaf toothwort.
Hazelnut catkins, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 24 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Skunk cabbage after the flood, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 24 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Spring beauty, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 24 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Cutleaf toothwort about to bloom, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 24 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
On 26 March my favorite northern magnolia in Schenley Park began to bloom.
Northern magnolia flower, Schenley Park, 26 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
The buds looked like this only three days before.
Northern magnolia bud, Schenley Park, 23 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
I also found spicebush in bloom, bottlebrush buckeye leaf out, and Ohio buckeye buds bursting.
Spicebush in bloom, Schenley Park, 26 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Bottlebrush buckeye leaf out, Schenley Park, 26 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Yellow buckeye bud, Schenley Park, 26 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Yellow buckeye bursting buds, Schenley Park, 26 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
The trees are still bare but European willows provide a spot of green and maple flowers add a hint of red and orange.
Bare trees lean toward the light at Pymatuning Lake, 27 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Flowering sugar maple, Pymatuning State Park, 27 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tonight the temperature will dip close to freezing in the city and will reach a low of 24 degrees on the night of April Fools Day. No fooling! Get outdoors before that happens. Many flowers will be brown on April 2.
A small wasp explores a daffodil, 23 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
24 March 2021
Spring has been popping out all over now that we’ve had a string of warm — even hot — sunny days.
Above, a small wasp checks out the daffodils at Carnegie Mellon. Below, coltsfoot is blooming in Schenley Park and cherry trees are flowering at Carnegie Museum.
Coltsfoot blooming, Schenley Park, 21 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)Cherry tree in bloom, Carnegie Museum, 21 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
The 23 March 2021 National Phenology Network (NPN) Spring Leaf Index indicates that Leaf Out hasn’t reached the bottom left corner of Pennsylvania. The map uses honeysuckle buds as the Spring Leaf Index gauge because, though invasive, the plants are everywhere.
When the big waves of migrating songbirds arrive in April and May we will be swamped with birdsong too numerous to list. That hasn’t happened yet so I can still tell you a few birds we’re hearing this week in Pittsburgh.
House finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), show at top, have been singing for a couple of weeks. The males prefer to sing close to their potential nest so it’s a good place to watch for a drab female house finch. The recording below begins with finchy call notes and changes to song.
Though common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) nest communally the males always challenge each other to win a favorite lady. You’ll see them puff their feathers and hear them “skrink!”
Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) returned to urban Pittsburgh this month and are claiming their favorite territories with mimicked songs. Though he sounds like a lot of other birds you can identify a mockingbird because he repeats the same tune three+ times before he changes.
Northern mockingbird (photo by Cris Hamilton)
Did you know … ?
Mockingbirds imitate other sounds they hear on their travels including backup whistles and cell phones. The mockingbird in the recording above imitates the Cope’s gray treefrog at 0:48 in the recording.
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) flower buds, 19 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 March 2021
Last Wednesday was gorgeous, Thursday was miserable with rain and wind, Friday was sunny but cold.
The Cornelian cherry tree (Cornus mas) next to Panther Hollow Lake in Schenley Park was close to blooming yesterday but the flowers remained cautious, above. Take a good look at this tree this spring. When the lake is re-done it will be gone.
Cornelian cherry in March 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)
Meanwhile Thursday’s rain had turned to ice by Friday morning. Notice the straight-edge and wavy lines.
Ice near Panther Hollow Lake, 19 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
The weather will be warmer this weekend so get outdoors when you can.
A shagbark hickory lives up to its name in bright sunlight.
Shagbark hickory, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, 12 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
American basswood now has bright red buds that are still cautious about opening.
American basswood buds, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, 12 Mar 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Cultivated European white willows have bright yellow twigs in March.
Cultivated willows turn yellow in early spring, Homewood Cemetery, 9 Mar 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Non-native crocuses are blooming so I hoped to see native snow trillium at Raccoon Wildflower Reserve on Friday, 12 March 2021. I did not find any, not even leaves. Was I too early or did the deer eat them?
However I was rewarded with the sound of frogs! Spring peepers and a few wood frogs called from the first vernal pool.
Peepers calling at Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, 12 March 2021
Wood frogs quacked in the second pool joined by a few solo peepers (hear that slow “creeeek” sound). In the video you can see the surface of the water moving with so many wood frogs.
Get outside while the sun’s shining. There’s more spring to come!
Crocus blooming in Pittsburgh, PA, 9 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
11 March 2021
This week I saw my first crocuses of 2021 at Homewood Cemetery on Tuesday 9 March. This month we’ve had several days over 60 degrees F. Are we having an early spring? Let’s look at The Crocus Report.
Tiny crocus at Homewood Cemetery, 9 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Since 2009 my blog has kept a record of crocus first-bloom dates in Pittsburgh’s East End. At first it was accidental. (I was excited by flowers and had to write about them.) Now I am intentional though unscientific. I don’t view the same crocuses every year and I don’t look for them every day. However, my crocus records show these bloom dates …
I don’t have a crocus record but it is probably March 7, 2016 based on temperature data, this post about coltsfoot, and feedback from Supriya who lives in Squirrel Hill. See comments. (I usually photograph them at Schenley Plaza or Phipps.)
2021 calendar showing Crocus blooming dates in Pittsburgh’s East End, 2009-2021
It may seem silly to write things down but the records are useful later. The past illuminates the present and could help predict the future, though it’s harder in this topsy-turvy world of climate change.
p.s. Gardeners have more accurate records than I do. They watch the same plants every year.
Sap dripping from a fallen oak, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 March 2021
Flowers are pushing up their leaves and sap is rising in the trees.
On Friday the sap was rising so fast in this fallen red oak that it was dripping to the ground. The oak keeled over last year in Schenley Park leaving just one root in the ground. That root is still doing its job.
Sap rising in a fallen oak, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
With temperatures this week above freezing during the day and below freezing at night I imagine it’s still maple sugaring time in the Laurel Highlands. Sugaring ends when the buds open. They haven’t opened yet in Schenley Park (below).
Sugar maple buds are not open, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Other trees have swelling buds.
Trees buds are swelling, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Below, silver maple (Acer saccharinum) buds were about to burst when a squirrel gnawed the stems and they fell to the ground. Do squirrels nip off the buds to get to the sap?
Silver maple buds attempted to open, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Meanwhile daffodil leaves are turning green in Schenley Park.
Daffodil leaves, Schenley Park, 5 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tulip leaves emerged on a busy street in Oakland where the deer can’t get them. 🙂
Tulip leaves, Craig Street, 2 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
And there is mud.
The snow melted all at once last weekend and the Monongahela River rose high, flooding the Mon Wharf. On Wednesday 3 March it was sunny and 60 degrees, a great time for a walk … but not here!
Monongahela River receding from flood stage, Pittsburgh South Side, 3 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
When the river receded it left behind leafy debris and deep chocolate-pudding-like mud at South Side Riverfront Park. I tried to walk down there but I gave up before getting muddy. Others were not so careful. You can see deep footprints in the shade in the photo above (bottom left).
Closeup of debris and mud as Mon River recedes, 3 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Cold weather will end soon in Pittsburgh with a high tomorrow of 60 degrees F(!) but even if the cold returns we know spring is on the way by observing our starlings.
In February starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) start changing into breeding plumage from spotted brown with dark beak and legs (left above) into iridescent glossy black with yellow beak and bright orange legs (right). From what I’ve seen, the beak starts first.
Even now, before they change into breeding plumage, they start to sing their wiry song.
By the end of March they’ll be wearing summer clothes, singing and flapping to attract a mate.
How far along are your starlings? Do they have yellow beaks yet?
(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption links to see the originals)
