Lesser purple fringed orchid, Jennings, 26 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
27 July 2024
At yesterday’s annual Wissahickon Nature Club outing at Jennings Prairie we found many familiar plants in the expected places, but some that should be at peak in late July were already past their prime, probably due to this year’s heat. We found some other surprises as well.
We usually have to search with binoculars to find a lesser purple fringed orchid (Platanthera psycodes) nestled in the distance but yesterday we saw this one near the trail.
Hairy willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) was exactly where we expected it in the valley under the footbridge, but we also found some in the woods.
Hairy willowherb, Jennings Prairie, 26 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Jumpseed (Persicaria virginiana) flowers are usually white but these were pink as well.
Jumpseed with unusually pink flowers, Jennings, 26 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Jack-in-the-pulpit fruit is still green. It won’t turn red until next month.
Jack-in-the-pulpit fruit, Jennings, 26 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Here’s a two-step lesson on how halberd-leaf tearthumb (Persicaria arifolia) got its common name.
Halberd-shaped leaves. Jennings, 26 July 2024
These hooks could tear your thumb. Jennings, 26 July 2024
Eastern bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) with tiny spider threads.
Pavement glowing in the sun? No, pond scum on Panther Hollow Lake.
Dead adult spotted lanternfly nose-down with legs flexed open. Shadyside, 18 July.
Oh deer … Details near their photos.
Feverfew, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Eastern bottlebrush grass with tiny spider webs, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)The surface of Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Dead adult spotted lanternfly, Shadyside in Pittsburgh, 18 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Oh deer. Yesterday I saw four deer in Schenley Park; three in this family. The two spotted fawns appear to be a month younger than this year’s cohort that were born in May. If so, it was because their mother bred later than the rest of the herd, perhaps because she was a fawn herself last year.
One-year-old mother (probably) with two spotted fawns, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
In the photo above, notice how little food there is on the ground. Without much to eat, deer in Schenley Park browse on foods they don’t like, such as the Japanese knotweed below.
Japanese knotweed browsed by deer, Schenley Park, 28 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Neighborhood gardens have a lot more food, so guess where the deer go. Last month I saw two in a garden with plants up to their shoulders. Not for long, though. As I watched one of them opened its mouth to take a large bite.
Deer eating in a garden on Ellsworth Ave, Pittsburgh, 17 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sunset in Pittsburgh, 10 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
13 July 2024, Pittsburgh
Hot. Sultry. This week’s oppressive heat and humidity was curiously exhausting. Where have I experienced this weather before? Ah, yes. Florida in July. For the most part I stayed indoors so there’s not much “Seen This Week.”
On a brief foray around the Cathedral of Learning I did not find the peregrines but did see a beautiful flowerbed of black-eyed susans.
Flowers at Cathedral of Learning, 9 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The peregrines cope with the heat by perching in the shade. Carla looks sleepy an hour before sunset on 9 July.
Carla resting on the green perch, 9 July 2024, 7:25pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
I’m not looking forward to next week’s heat wave, though it won’t be as bad in Pittsburgh as further east.
We complain about staying indoors during winter but now we’re staying indoors in the summer, too.
Canada warbler, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
15 June 2024
During spring warbler migration I try to see as many species as possible as they pass through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Unfortunately, I missed some of my favorites this year, most notably the Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis), so Charity Kheshgi and I went to Laurel Mountain last Sunday to find them on their breeding grounds.
We thought we’d be able to see at least one of the two Canada warblers we heard singing along Spruce Bog Trail, but not. However, we got lucky on the Picnic Trail when the bird pictured above and below approached us making his warning call.
Canada warbler, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Here’s an example of what he sounded like:
There was plentiful shade in the forest, but that made the birds harder to see. This ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) is nicely lit but still in the dark.
Ovenbird, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
We found other delights on the mountain. A tiger swallowtail butterfly sipped nectar from pitcher plant flowers at Spruce Bog.
Tiger swallowtail at pitcher plant flowers, Spruce Bog, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pennsylvania’s state flower, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), was in bloom.
Mountain laurel in bloom, Laurel Summit State Park, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
This trillium gone to seed showed well in dappled sunlight.
Trillium gone to seed, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
We heard more birds than we could see, ultimately tallying 24 species in our checklist here.
Orange day-lily, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herrs Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
10 June 2024
Between the glory of woodland spring ephemerals and summer’s splash of native field flowers, June has fewer blooming natives. On a walk yesterday along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Millvale I found a host of pretty flowers, many of them invasive.
Orange day-lily (Hemerocallis fulva) is native to Asia and well established in Pennsylvania. You’ll see it blooming in ditches, along railroad tracks and in gardens. It pops up in so many places that it has at least 10 common names. Orange day-lily is considered invasive in Pennsylvania because its tubers create thick clumps that crowd out native plants in sensitive habitats.
Crown vetch in bloom, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herrs Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
What’s that popcorn-like smell? It’s poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) and it’s in bloom. You won’t want this plant anywhere you find it. Here’s how to get rid of it; expect a multi-year effort.)
Poison hemlock flowers, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herrs Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Leaf-out reveals the browseline, Schenley Park, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
11 May 2024
This week I photographed a few puzzling objects for the record.
When I took a photo of Full Leaf trees in Schenley Park on 5 May I noticed something newly visible in the presence of leaves. Can you see it?
Look at the center of the photo where the path disappears in the distance. Above the path is a gap that allows you to see further under the trees. The gap flows to the right and follows the contour of the hillside. That’s the browseline, the cumulative effect of too many deer eating at the same location over and over.
I saw a native(!) honeysuckle this week. Pink with fused leaves, it’s called limber or glaucous honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica).
Limber or glaucous honeysuckle, Moraine State Park, 7 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Was this a cattle egret at Moraine State Park? If so it was a rare bird! Nope. It’s a white bag.
Cattle Egret at Moraine State Park? (photo by Kate St. John, 7 May 2024)
On 3 May a leaf-footed bug appeared to walk across the sky.
Leaf-footed bug walks across the sky, 3 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
During the Pittsburgh Marathon Dippy the dinosaur watched near the halfway mark.
Dippy wears black and gold for the Pittsburgh Marathon, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
We’re more than a week into May now, so it’s likely you’ve seen the tigers and tents that first appeared in late April. If you haven’t, here’s who they are.
Tigers
I first noted tiger swallowtails at Enlow Fork on 25 April but I remember seeing one earlier in Schenley Park. When was your earliest tiger swallowtail?
Find out more about them in this vintage blog: Flying Tigers
Tents
Tentworms in Schenley Park, 25 April 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
I saw the first tentworms on 30 April in Frick Park, but it seems this is not a big year for them. I haven’t seen many other tents. Did you know that tentworms are a favorite food of yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos? Have you seen a cuckoo yet?
Learn more about these social insects in this vintage article: Tents
Oak tree in bloom with dangling pollen flowers (photo by Kate St. John)
1 May 2024
Since our last spring checkup six weeks ago, Pittsburgh has galloped into summer. Last weekend we had July-in-April weather with official highs of 83°F and even higher in town.
Pitt peregrine Carla felt the heat at 10am on 29 April as she shaded her chicks and gular fluttered (panted) to cool herself off.
Pittsburgh is not alone. In a wide swath of the U.S. from Iowa to New York spring was 20+ days early this year. In Pittsburgh nearly half of April was more than 10°F above normal while we had only one cold day at 12°F below normal.
So what temperature should we expect if we’re only 20 days ahead of schedule? April 29th ought to have been like a normal 19 May but it was way beyond that.
The heat prompted the trees to leaf out early and flowers to bloom ahead of schedule. Maples and buckeyes are in full leaf now and our oaks are at flower+leaf stage as shown at top. The leaves are hosting food for birds in the form of tiny caterpillars, so …
Migratory birds are taking advantage of the south winds and early leaf out. Since 27 April we’ve seen our first scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles, indigo buntings and warblers.
Charity Kheshgi has been documenting our good luck with warblers at Frick Park. Notice the size of the leaves in her photos!
p.s. And where am I? Right now I’m at Magee Marsh a week ahead of The Biggest Week in American Birding. I don’t expect to see the swarms of migratory birds that will be here next week (I’m leaving on 3 May) but I’ll learn what happens before the people show up and why everyone waits until next week. 😉
Last Thursday four of us made our annual pilgrimage to Enlow Fork on the border of Washington & Greene Counties(*) to look for wildflowers and birds. We saw carpets of blue-eyed Mary as well as fire pink, wild geranium and dwarf larkspur in both blue and white. (Can you see the tiny spider on the fire pink petal, above?)
Hillside of Blue-eyed Mary and wild blue phlox, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)Wild Geranium, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Dwarf larkspur white form, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Record-setting rain in the beginning of April left flood debris in the valley. Donna Foyle photographed the fallen trees that nearly hit the pedestrian bridge.
Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
I tried to capture the water-swept mud and flood depth by photographing debris stuck in the trees. The high water mark here was up to my chin.
Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The floodwaters swept freshwater clams from their homes leaving their empty shells among the flood debris.
Dead freshwater clams were among the flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
We didn’t see many birds at first, perhaps because it was so cold. By the time we were ready to walk back it had warmed up enough to see my First Of Year Baltimore oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager deep in the woods.
Scarlet tanager First of Year, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
We also saw or heard seven warblers including Louisiana waterthrush, common yellowthroat, northern parula, redstart, Nashville, yellow and yellow-throated warblers.
At one point I put my bright hat (on top of my sun hat & headband) in case a distant wood thrush would notice. The thrush did not, but I earned the name “Golden-crowned Katelet.”
Golden-crowned Katelet, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)
We had a great day among pale spring leaves and blue-eyed Marys.
Kate St. John, Donna Foyle, Donna Collett, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)
Next week will be much warmer. Bring on the birds!
(*) Where is Enlow Fork?
The Enlow Fork of Wheeling Creek forms the boundary between Washington and Greene Counties in southwestern PA. When we say “Enlow Fork” we are referring to the northern section of PA State Gameland #302 on both sides of Enlow Fork creek. The Gamelands (unpaved) parking lot is at this pin drop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uzw42KqYZexLP4AB6.
(credits are in the captions. Thanks to Donna Foyle and Barb Griffith for contributing their photos)
Wild blue phlox, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 April 2024
Do you ever feel frantic in the Spring?
This week in Pittsburgh the highs were always above 60°F and three days were in the low 80s. Migratory birds came in a rush midweek while early-blooming flowers went to seed. Spring came so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. It’s enough to make you frantic.
Bloodroot gone to seed, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
There were some stunningly clear days this week but the partly cloudy ones were more interesting, especially at sunrise: Duck Hollow on 15 April and Oakland on 19 April.
Sunrise at Duck Hollow, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
On Thursday 18 April Charity Kheshgi and I saw great birds in Frick Park.
The trees in town began the week with tiny pale green leaves; Some ended the week with large dark green leaves. American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) was blooming yesterday in Schenley Park.
American bladdernut flowers, Schenley Park, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Halberd-shaped leaves. Jennings, 26 July 2024
