Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) in Schenley Park, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
4 September 2024
Last weekend I noticed this group of tall plants in Schenley Park with a distinctly Christmas tree shape. They are certainly weeds and are thriving in an area where deer have eaten all the non-poisonous native plants. But they haven’t eaten these.
I took a closeup of the leaves and asked Picture This to identify it: Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), native to temperate Asia.
Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) in Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Deer in Frick Park, 17 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Some Artemisia plants also have medicinal properties. Sweet wormwood (A. annua) contains artemisinin which was discovered in 1972 and is used to treat malaria. Unfortunately the malarial parasite in Southeast Asia has developed artemisinin resistance so the drug can no longer be used alone to cure the disease.
Sweet wormwood’s close relative common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) also has a wide range of supposed pharmacological uses. These uses probably account for the plant’s presence in North America. The Pittsburgh area has plenty of it — another plant that deer don’t eat.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) at the Hays Eagle Watch site, June 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sweet wormwood may be thriving this year because its mature plants are fairly drought resistant — and we are in a drought.
Ecco pauses on the green perch at the end of the day, 2 Sep 2024, 7:05pm (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera)
2 September 2024
Yesterday’s cooler weather was a welcome relief after the long heat wave. Carla and Ecco took advantage of the breeze to spend time in the sun at the Pitt peregrine nest.
Carla preened and the pair bowed to cement their bond as seen in this slideshow.
Cormorants naturally hunt and catch fish underwater. Those who fish with cormorants train them to bring large fish back to the boat by placing a loose snare around their necks that allows them to swallow small fish but not large ones. When they bring a large fish back they are fed small fish as a reward.
The origins of cormorant fishing are obscure but the practice is still used today in China, Japan, Peru and Greece, though mainly for the tourist industry. Only in southwestern China is it still employed commercially.
Wingstem in bloom, curled pistils and a tiny ant, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
1 September 2024
Welcome to September! Here are a few things seen last week when it was still August.
At top, a tiny ant explores for curling pistils on blooming wingstem in Schenley Park. Below, a funnel spider web awaits an unwary flying insect. I could not see the spider in the hole but I’m sure he’s there.
Funnel spider web on a shrub, 29 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Wilted leaves in the drought, Schenley Park, 30 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
On Friday evening there was a double rainbow though I did not notice the faint second rainbow (upper left corner) until I looked at my photo.
Faint double rainbow in Pittsburgh, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
In late August and early September, hundreds of migrating chimney swifts pour into this chimney at dusk. Our local crows find it fascinating so on Tuesday 27 August they perched around the top of the chimney and waited for the swifts to pour in. (They look like pegs on top of the chimney.) The swifts refused to go through that gauntlet. The crows had to leave before the show began.
American crows staking out the chimney swift chimney , waiting for the swifts to drop in, 27 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
There are certainly fewer spotted lanternflies this year than last in my city neighborhood. These two photos give a look at the many in 2023 versus few in 2024 on a South Craig Street sidewalk. Some of you missed this excitement last year and are experiencing it now. 😮
Spotted lanternflies at RAND Bldg, 11 Sep 2023
Spotted lanternflies at RAND Bldg, 29 Aug 2024
And finally, on the night of August 27-28 an unusual wind gust toppled the potted plants on our roof. No harm done. They were just sleeping.
A strong gust of wind on the night of August 27-28 knocked over the potted plants, 28 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Triangle fly on our window, 30 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
31 August 2024
After yesterday evening’s rainbow a “triangle fly” landed on our dining room window and spun its body slowly like a top. Google Lens identified it as genus Rhagoletis, a member of the fruit fly family Tephritidae.
There are about 25 species of Rhagoletis native to North America, each with its own host fruit. Those who eat the fruits we grow commercially, such as cherries and walnuts, are considered agricultural pests.
Since my photo shows the bug’s underside, Google Lens picked up on the yellow body and identified it as the walnut husk fly, Rhagoletis completa, though it may have been a different species such as the closely related Rhagoletis suavis. There are black walnuts in Pittsburgh’s parks so these species are possibilities.
Adult female Rhagoletis inject their eggs into the host fruit so that the larvae have something to eat when they hatch. If you open an infested fruit it looks like it has maggots. Here’s a walnut husk (yes, it’s a fruit) with R. completa larvae in it.
Some species mimic jumping spiders. The wing-waving apparently deters the approach of jumping spiders, important predators of the flies. Other species have brightly-patterned bodies, and may mimic wasps.(3)
“Spider predation has been intense enough to mold the evolution of prey characteristics: predation by salticids (jumping spiders) has shaped the morphology and behavior of some tephritid flies. Their wing markings resemble the pattern of the legs of jumping spiders; the flies also wave their wings in a fashion that appears to mimic the agonistic behavior of salticids – making them ‘proverbial sheep in wolf’s clothing’.”(8)
Could this native North American jumping spider be a predator of our Rhagoletis flies? Do you see a resemblance between its angled legs and the pattern on the fly’s wings?
Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) are exceedingly rare, especially in the Great Lakes where there are only about 80 pairs.
Just five years ago, in 2019, the first documented piping plover pair nested in Chicago at Montrose Beach. Monty and Rose became celebrities as they raised young three years in a row before dying in 2022.
One of their sons, Imani born in 2021, returned to Montrose in 2022 and 2023 but he had no mate because there were so few females in the Great Lakes region.
It’s been another hot week with muggy high temperatures and more to come. Birds are adapting by bathing, hanging out in the shade, and avoiding activity during the worst part of the day.
Some birds who live where it’s hot and dry have adapted their bodies to help them cool off. Read about their special air conditioner nasal passages in this 2017 article.
p.s. Yesterday morning when it was 84°F and felt like 86°, Ecco took a sun bath to heat his feathers and force out the parasites. Aaaaaaah. And then he adjourned to the shade to preen them away.
Ecco sunbathes in the heat, 28 Aug 2024, 11:07am (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Spotted lanternfly on my window on 2 Aug 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
28 August 2024
I was beginning to think we were safe this year but now I’m not so sure. After surprisingly few spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) in July and August, there are suddenly more of them in the air and on buildings and trees. Uh oh!
Have you seen more spotted lanternflies, too? I think I know why.
Their peak population was in September last year so we probably haven’t reached the peak yet. But it’s coming.
Spotted lanternflies love heat and it has been hot this week. Yesterday’s high was 94°F –> 13° above normal.
Why do I see them fly by my 6th floor windows? They love height as well.
Last year I mused on their love of height and heat. I sure hope their population doesn’t get so bad this year!
Pawpaws (Asimina triloba) are the quintessential wild fruit for browsing animals that eat the only ripe fruit on the branch and then move on. The fruit tastes like mango and has the consistency of banana. But don’t eat the seeds. They are poisonous.
The skin is thin and bruises easily so they cannot be shipped.
Pawpaws don’t ripen all at once. You must come back later for the next batch because …
If you pull a hard, unripe fruit from the tree it will never ripen.
Pawpaw fruits lose their flavor if you heat them.
The bark, leaves, fruit and seeds of pawpaw trees contain the disabling and potentially lethal neurotoxin annonacin so …
Do not dry or cook down the fruit because that concentrates the compound that — fortunately — makes you vomit. (see more in the WESA article).
However, the neurotoxin is a benefit for zebra swallowtails (Eurytides marcellus) whose only host plant is the pawpaw tree. Zebra swallowtail caterpillars eat pawpaw leaves, become toxic themselves and are protected from predators.
If you want to eat a pawpaw and learn more about them, your best bet is at an upcoming Pawpaw Festival. The complete schedule of 12 festivals plus additional events are at Heppy.org: 2024 Pawpaw Festivals and Events. Here are a few close to Pittsburgh on the Heppy.org list in order of occurrence.
Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Albany, Ohio, 13-15 Sept
Paw Paw Festival in Duncansville, PA, 22 Sept, 9a-4p
West Virginia Pawpaw Festival, Core Arboretum, Morgantown, WV, 28 September
Gabrielle Marsden is restoring zebra swallowtail butterflies to southwestern PA by planting pawpaw trees and encouraging others to do the same. Her YouTube channel is here. She also has two upcoming events:
Schenley Park outing participants, 25 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
26 August 2024
Yesterday morning 13 of us found 24 species of birds in Schenley Park plus flowering plants and insects.
Best Birds were the six+ ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) sipping nectar at orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) along Phipps Run and at Panther Hollow Lake. Between sips they chased each other everywhere.
Orange jewelweed, favorite of hummingbirds, Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
So many hummingbirds was a happy sign after 7-8 years without big numbers in Schenley Park. Orange jewelweed is their favorite food on migration but it was eradicated 7-8 years ago by Schenley’s overabundant deer population. This year jewelweed patches thrive in inaccessible places at Phipps Run and among the cattails in Panther Hollow Lake. If you want to see hummingbirds, pause here and watch the jewelweed. Also check the wires above the lake.
Best insects were several red spotted purple butterflies flitting on the Lake Trail. Hailey Latona found one resting … but not for long. (Bug people: If I’ve misidentified this butterfly please correct me!)
Red spotted purple butterfly in Schenley Park, 25 Aug 2024 (video by Hailey Latona)
We also found a Honeybee Heaven near the railroad tracks. I had never noticed Japanese hop (Humulus japonicus) growing there but yesterday I could hear the flowers humming and saw it swarming with honeybees.
A species of hops at Schenley Park. Is it Japanese hops? 25 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
By 10:30am it was getting hot but we found a chestnut-sided warbler so we paused to look harder. Alas, it was the only warbler species for the outing. Here’s our checklist.
Schenley Park, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US Aug 25, 2024 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Maybe 40 on Flagstaff Hill; evidence at Panther Hollow lake Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 4 Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 6 — Lots of chasing Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 3 Heard Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 5 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 6 Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 4 Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1 Heard White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 4 Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 3 Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) 1 Seen American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4 Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 9 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 4 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 10 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 8 Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 2 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) 2 Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
