Participants at the Schenley Park outing, 28 Aug 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
On the morning of August 28, fifteen of us braved the humidity to explore the lower end of Panther Hollow in Schenley Park.
There were wildflowers and insects galore, plus 22 species of birds. Highlights included Baltimore orioles, two immature rose-breasted grosbeaks and at least one ruby-throated hummingbird.
A noisy flock of blue jays alerted us to a red-tailed hawk perched on a pole above the lake while northern flickers and American robins joined the fray. Here’s the eBird checklist.
By the end of our walk we were feeling the heat. At 10:30am it was 82oF. That doesn’t sound bad but the dewpoint was 70oF. Dripping with sweat, many of us looked forward to a cool respite at home.
Hope (69/Z) preens at the Tarentum Bridge, 28 Aug 2016 (photo by Anthony Bruno)
Peripatetic: adjective [1] traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods. (definition from Google search)
Hope (69/Z, black/green) is a peripatetic peregrine falcon. For five years she called the Tarentum Bridge her home until last spring when she nested at the Cathedral of Learning.
In my experience, peregrines stay put when they’ve claimed a prime territory but Hope does not. On Friday she flew 15 miles back to Tarentum and set up shop for several days.
She’s so comfortable at Tarentum that, unlike her habits at Pitt, she perches in easy view.
Last weekend Tony Bruno and Steve Gosser stopped by for some great photographs. Above, Tony got a photo of Hope’s bands while she was preening. Look how close she is!
Below, Steve caught the action when a curious mourning dove came close while Hope was eating. The dove escaped.
Peregrine falcon, Hope, confronts a mourning dove at the Tarentum Bridge, 27 Aug 2016 (photo by Steve Gosser)Peregrine falcon Hope stirs up a watchful mourning dove at the Tarentum Bridge, 27 Aug 2016 (photo by Steve Gosser)…and the mourning dove escapes at the Tarentum Bridge, 27 Aug 2016 (photo by Steve Gosser)
Apparently three days were long enough at Tarentum because Hope flew back to the Cathedral of Learning yesterday afternoon. She appeared on the falconcam at 3:30pm, dug a little at the scrape and then perched and preened.
You can see her band colors below. Her greenish right-leg band and black/green left-leg band are a diagnostic combination.
Hope reappears at Pitt, 28 Aug 2016, 3:30pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
And here’s her familiar face.
Hope at Pitt, 28 Aug 2016, 3:34pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
She probably was at the Cathedral of Learning during last night’s terrific thunderstorm, but who knows.
Hope doesn’t perch in sight at Pitt so I’m never sure if this peripatetic bird is actually there.
Slender ladies tresses at Marcy Cunkelman’s (photo by Kate St. John)
Here’s an orchid that’s blooming now in western Pennsylvania.
Slender ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes lacera) grow in open habitats in eastern North America. They’re found in both natural and disturbed areas.
Marcy Cunkelman was mowing when she saw two of these flowers growing among the grass. Wow! She stopped the mower and protected them with stakes and bright pink ribbon.
Dianne Machesney’s photo below shows that the entire plant isn’t very large and could easily be overlooked in the grass.
Slender ladies’ tresses (photo by Dianne Machesney)
Hope at Tarentum, 26 Aug 2016 (photo by Rob Protz)
August is a good time for peregrines to wander.
Yesterday evening Rob Protz found Hope hanging out at the Tarentum Bridge, her former nest site from 2010 to 2015 before she came to the Cathedral of Learning.
Earlier in the day Karen Lang and I looked for Pitt’s peregrines with no success. Now we know why.
Rob’s sighting explains where Hope was. I wonder where Terzo goes when he’s not at Pitt …
(photo by Rob Protz)
p.s. And after I published this, Dori visited the Gulf Tower at 7:30am.
Dori at the Gulf Tower, 27 Aug 2016, 7:30am (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
Pair of Prothonotary Warblers courting (photo by Kim Steininger)
On Throw Back Thursday:
It’s still summer but North America’s warblers are already on migration to their winter homes.
Beginning in August, prothonotary warblers (Protonotaria citrea) spend three months in transit. Read more about where they go and how they spend their time in this article from August 2009.
Two “peeps” (photo by Mike Baird via Wikimedia Commons)
Which one of you is a least sandpiper? That’s the question I ask all the “peeps” when I see them in the field.
This month I’ve been using the tips I wrote in Shorebird Practice on August 12 to find the answers. Here’s how:
Which small shorebirds are possible here and now? In western Pennsylvania in August the likely suspects are least sandpipers, semipalmated sandpipers, and at sandy shores, sanderlings. At muddy locations you might encounter the relatively rare Baird’s sandpiper. He’s longer-winged than the other three.
Are you at a sandy beach? If not, rule out sanderlings. If yes, examine behavior and size. Sanderlings walk on sand, they chase the waves, and they’re noticeably bigger than least and semipalmated. Sanderlings also look whiter than the other two.
Size: Least and semipalmated are smaller than all the other species.
Legs: If you can see colors and the birds legs aren’t muddy you’ve hit the jackpot. Least sandpipers are the only peeps with yellow or greenish legs. If you cannot see leg color then …
Posture while feeding: Imagine a person knee-bending (least) versus extended out to reach something (semipalmated).
Least sandpipers crouch with bent legs and peck near their toes. They look hunched.
Semipalmated sandpipers reach out with their bills to find food. They look stretched out and their tails may be cocked higher.
(Western and semipalmated postures are similar. Fortunately, there are no westerns here and now.)
Bills: All are black.
Least sandpiper bills taper to a fine point with slight droop at the tip.
Semipalmated bills are shorter and straight, sometimes slightly blunt at the tip.
Micro-habitat: According to Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion: “Any lone peep in marginal habitat is likely to be a Least (baked mud or tight watery leads flanked by rank tiny puddles).” They say that leasts like edges.
So which one of the birds above is a least sandpiper? It’s a trick question. Both are. And yet they’re standing up to their bellies in water to confound the “leasts liked edges” statement. Notice their yellow legs.
Here’s a tall woodland plant that’s easy to overlook because its flowers aren’t big and beautiful.
Horse balm (Collinsonia canadensis) is a perennial mint that grows 1.75 to 5 feet tall in deep woods. Even in the middle of its blooming cycle it looks ragged with flowers in every stage of development from bud to bloom, from fade to seed.
Closeup of horse balm flowers (photo by Kate St. John)
At very close range the flowers are fancy tubes with lips and protruding stamens (click here to see). You’ll also notice that the plant smells like cheap lemon scent, giving it the alternate name cintronella horse balm.
The name “balm” comes from its medicinal properties described at eNature: “Tea can be brewed from the leaves, and the rhizome was formerly used as a diuretic, tonic, and astringent.”
But why is it horse balm?
I haven’t found horses mentioned anywhere in the literature about this plant.
Just a reminder: I’m leading a bird and nature walk at 
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