The month of March is traditionally the best month for tapping maples to collect sap for maple syrup. The sap runs best with daytime temperatures above freezing and nights below freezing. When the days are too hot the sap becomes bitter. When the nights don’t freeze the sap stops running and the season is over.
This winter we’ve had yo-yo weather in the Northeast and Great Lakes states. You can see it in the forecast highs this week from Tuesday 27 Feb through Sat 2 March. The cold front coming through today will result in two nights below freezing. Then temperatures will rise again into the 60s. You can see the new blob of hot weather approaching from the Great Plains on Saturday 2 March.
Maple sugar farmers have had to adjust by starting the season whenever the sap runs — in Pennsylvania that might mean January — and pausing the season when the temperature goes up too high in hopes it will drop again.
This news article from Minnesota shows what their maple farmers are dealing with.
Yes, it’s still February but this winter has been so warm that it’s already time to look for shrimp in the woods.
Last year Adam Haritan at Learn Your Land taught us about fairy shrimp in vernal pools. If you missed his 7-minute video, view it right now to find out what these tiny creatures look like and where to find them.
Amazingly there are 313 species of fairy shrimp (Ansotraca) around the world. Some live in brine water, some live in freshwater. The Eubranchipus genus which Adam mentioned contains 16 species including this female in Poland. You can see the eggs inside her at the root of her tail.
Are you ready to go look for fairy shrimp? Find an isolated ephemeral pool in the woods and look for tiny movement in the water. Here’s a photo to set your size expectations. There’s one at the tip of the fingernail.
Look for vernal pools in the days ahead. In addition to fairy shrimp you’ll find wood frogs and spring peepers. Don’t delay. The end of March may be too late.
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
10 February 2024
Beautiful sunrises, calm reflections and high water at Duck Hollow were on tap this week in Pittsburgh.
Wind-less clear skies along the Monongahela River at Duck Hollow, 4 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Pastel sunrise on 8 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The week began as Winter but ended even warmer than early Spring. The tulips in my neighborhood are well above ground, fortunately without flower buds. One week from today, on 17 Feb, the weather forecast calls for temperatures as low as 19°F.
These tulips think it’s already spring, Pittsburgh, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
The tulips survive in my too-many-deer neighborhood because they’re surrounded by buildings and tall fences with no obvious exit other than a narrow driveway.
I thought that the maze of buildings and driveways would protect these Japanese yews in front of Newell-Simon Hall at Carnegie Mellon, but deer found their way in and munched the bushes down to sticks. There’s a lot more to eat here. The deer will be back.
Deer damaged yews at Newell-Simon Hall, CMU, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Afternoon light in Schenley Park, 3 Jan 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 January 2024
Pittsburgh had a rare moment of sunshine on 3 January. I was happy to be outdoors during the Golden Hour in Schenley Park.
This El Niño winter has been so warm that bulbs sprouted in my neighborhood in December. Here are four of the many I found on New Years Eve. That exposed bulb would never have survived in a normal winter like those we used to have just a decade ago.
Flower shoots emerge on New Year’s Eve, 31 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pittsburgh’s deer won this round.
At Carnegie Museum in Oakland this week I discovered that deer damage near the rear parking lot was so severe that gardeners removed all the Japanese yews. It took two years and an ever-burgeoning deer population to reach this stage.
All the yews have been removed at Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, 3 Jan 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Last August there were fewer yews than in 2022 because the damaged ones had been removed. Unfortunately the deer were severely browsing the now exposed healthy yews.
Damaged yews at Carnegie Museum in August 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Here’s what they looked like in August 2022. Those in front had been eaten bare and died. The next tier was severely browsed and those in back were still normal because the dead and dying yews protected them.
Deer damage on yews at Carnegie Museum, 16 August 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)
The bank of yews could not survive with so many deer.
After beautiful fall foliage in late October, the landscape faded to brown this week. All the colors were in the sky.
Friday’s sunrise was spectacular for good reason. “Red sky at morn” meant rain was on the way. Fortunately. Even with yesterday’s precipitation we are 6.81 inches below normal for the year.
Wednesday’s sunset was muted by comparison.
Sunset in Pittsburgh, 15 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
By now the native trees in Pittsburgh are all brown or bare, so why are there still yellow and green leaves in Schenley Park?
Scene from Schenley Park Upper Trail, 17 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Invasive alien plants are tuned to the climate and daylight levels of their homeland. Those that originated further north than Pittsburgh, Japan for instance, see our November daylight as if it were October back home. Thus invasive honeysuckle bushes are still yellow-green and Norway maples still cling to their yellow leaves.
This virburnum retains its pinkish-green leaves for the same reason.
Pink-green leaves on alien viburnum, Schenley Park, 17 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
The sun’s low angle showed off two Agaricaceae mushrooms among fallen leaves in Hays Woods.
Agaricaceae mushrooms at Hays Woods, 12 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday I found a tree on stilts in Schenley Park. This black locust germinated on top of a log on a rock. As the log deteriorated the roots found soil on either side of the rock. Years later there is a significant gap between the trunk and the ground.
Black locust tree “on stilts” because it grew on top of a rock, Schenley Park, 17 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Monongahela River valley at Duck Hollow, 12 Nov 2023, 10:30am (photo by Kate St. John)
13 November 2023
Warbler migration is over and waterfowl migration has not yet reached Pittsburgh so at times we seem to be in a birdless state. The Monongahela River at Duck Hollow was in that condition at yesterday’s Duck Hollow outing — a dozen mallards and 1(!) Canada goose — but we found a few good birds in the thickets.
When we arrived the sky was brilliantly blue with some russet trees on the hillsides. Our group of five was so small that we didn’t do go-around-the-circle introductions and I forgot to take a group photo.
Brilliant blue sky, fading leaves, Duck Hollow, 12 Nov 2032 (photo by Kate St. John)
One golden-crowned and three ruby-crowned kinglets bopped around us as we looked up this hill.
Best birds of the day were five purple finches (Haemorhous purpureus) — one male and four females — that were too far for a photograph, so here’s one from Wikimedia. We parsed out the females first: Very brown stripes on chest, wide white eyebrow, brown face, brown head, notched tail.
Then we saw the lone male (again this photo is from Wikimedia). House finches were nearby for comparison. Here’s how to tell the difference –> Purple and House.
Eastern screech-owl, Frick Park, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
11 November 2023
Songbird migration is quiet now and birds, when they’re found, are in mixed species flocks.
On 7 November, Charity Kheshgi and I encountered agitated golden-crowned kinglets, tufted titmice and dark-eyed juncos but it took us a while to find what they were upset about. This red morph screech-owl was hiding above our heads in a small oak.
Golden-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
An exception to the mixed species flocking rule is our “murder” of crows. My guess is that Pittsburgh’s winter crow flock is 90% American and 10% fish crows, but who can tell? They look alike.
In late afternoon crows stage in the trees in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, then head west at sunset. 6,000 to 10,000 pass by my building on their way to the roost.
Crows staging in Squirrel Hill just before dusk, 10 Nov 2023 (photo by Stephen Tirone)
At sunset black birds in a darkened sky are impossible to photograph but it’s another story at sunrise. Click on the photo below for a closeup of crows in the brightening sky.
Sunrise with crows, 2 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Leaves littered the ground this week and the air was filled with the sound of leaf blowers. 🙁
Fallen red maple leaf, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Most of the trees were bare in Schenley Park by Friday 10 November.
Bare tree touched by sun, Schenley Park, 3 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Most of the trees are bare, 10 Nov 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
And finally, a reminder that the rut is still in progress and deer are crossing roads. This duo showed up at a Squirrel Hill polling place on Election Day at a place surrounded by roads. So watch out.
Deer at the polling place on Election Day, 7 Nov 2023 (photo by John via Mardi Isler)
Witch hazel in a garden, 28 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
4 November 2023
Throughout October Pittsburgh’s city neighborhoods had not experienced a freeze, even though it was felt in the outlying areas. That changed on the first two days of November with a whisper of snow. We still had fall colors before the freeze. There are brown leaves and bare trees in our future.
At top, landscaping plants are often bred to maximize fall color as seen on a cultivated witch hazel on 28 October.
The oozing “sweat” beads on this polypore mushroom are just the right color for autumn.
Bracket polypore fungus, Schenley Park, 27 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Heavy mist on 29 October clung to ornamental grasses at Phipps Conservatory.
Heavy dew on ornamental grass at Phipps, 29 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) was still blooming last week. Alas, it’s invasive.
Canada thistle still blooming, 27 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Beautiful autumn in the woods, 26 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
28 October 2023
The last full week of October brought beautiful weather and fall foliage to Southwestern Pennsylvania. Early mornings were chilly but warmed up quickly. Here are a few scenes from the week.
Frick Park is beautiful in early morning sunlight on 26 October. With Charity Kheshgi.
American beech leaves in Schenley Park show three color stages: green, yellow, brown.
Sugar maple leaf is red at SGL 203, Marshall Twp
The arching trunks of a mature Norway maple in Shadyside, City of Pittsburgh.
Fall colors reflecting on Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park.
Beautiful sunrise on 26 October. Three crows pass by on their way from the roost.
American beech changing color, Schenley Park, 21 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Sugar maple leaf, SGL 203, 22 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Norway maple in yellow, Shadyside, Pittsburgh, 23 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Fall foliage reflection at Moraine State Park, 24 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Golden yellow is a them from leaves to sky.
Sunrise with three crows, 26 Oct 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
