Jungle Animal Hospital, PBS NATURE May 18

JUngle Animal Hospital on PBS NATURE
JUngle Animal Hospital on PBS NATURE

There’s a hospital in the Guatemalan jungle that’s saving lives every day.  It’s operating at capacity with over 700 boarders yet it tries not to turn anyone away.  The hospital is ARCAS.  Their patients are injured and orphaned jungle animals, often harmed by the illegal pet trade.

In PBS NATURE’s season finale, Jungle Animal Hospital shows the daily challenges faced by ARCAS staff as they heal the animals and prepare them for release in the wild.  Every release is a celebration.

Some animals are so rare that each life represents a significant portion of the population.   Such is the case with the scarlet macaws.

Scarlet macaw (photo by Alejandro Morales courtesy PBS NATURE)
Scarlet macaw (photo by Alejandro Morales courtesy PBS NATURE)

There are only 300 of these scarlet macaws left in the wild so ARCAS has developed a captive breeding program, similar in concept to North America’s peregrine recovery program two decades ago.  The difference is that scarlet macaws are social animals so they must be reared and released in a flock with their friends.

Watch at the end of the show as ARCAS releases nine scarlet macaws into the jungle — 5% of the wild population — a moment so moving it brought tears to my eyes.

Don’t miss PBS NATURE’s season finale Jungle Animal Hospital this Wednesday May 18, 2016 at 8pm EDT/ 9pm CDT on PBS. In Pittsburgh it’s on WQED.

 

(photo of scarlet macaw at ARCAS by Alejandro Morales courtesy PBS NATURE)

Photos Of Pittsburgh’s Downtown Peregrines

Peregrine perched on Wood Street Commons Building, Downtown Pittsburgh (photo by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine (maybe Dori) on Wood Street Commons Building, Pittsburgh, 12 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

Last week Lori Maggio visited Third Avenue between Wood and Smithfield to take photos of the Downtown peregrines.   Look closely and you can see that both birds are banded.  Unfortunately we can’t read the bands yet.

Though we’re not sure of this pair’s identity, the choice of nest site on a ledge on Third Ave leads me to believe the female is still Dori.

Dori on a gargoyle at Point Park's Lawrence Hall (photo by Lori Maggio)
Dori on a gargoyle at Point Park’s Lawrence Hall, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

 

My guess is that the bird pictured below is the male.  Is this Louie? We don’t know. Louie is 14 years old now — quite old for a peregrine — so it’s possible he was replaced by a new male.

Peregrine above Third Ave nest, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine above Third Ave nest, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

Both adults like to perch on the turquoise-colored “shields” on top of Wood Street Commons.

(Maybe the male) Peregrine perched on top of Wood Street Commons Building, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)
(Maybe the male) Peregrine perched on top of Wood Street Commons Building, 11 May 2016 (photo by Lori Maggio)

 

The adults go in and out of the nest with food, indicating there are young at the nest.

Peregrine flies to the opening of the nest area -- in and out (photos by Lori Maggio)
Peregrine flies to the nest area — in and out — 11 May 2016 (photos by Lori Maggio)

We won’t know how old the nestlings are until they appear at the edge of the opening.

 

(photos by Lori Maggio)

It’s Bird Day!

Spotted sandpiper in breeding plumage (photo by Bobby Greene)
Spotted sandpiper in breeding plumage (photo by Bobby Greene)

Today is International Migratory Bird Day in the U.S. and Canada.

Though birds migrate during many months of the year their biggest push in North America is in early May.  That’s why we celebrate their arrival and promote their conservation on this second Saturday.

In May migrating birds pass overhead at night and stop to eat in unlikely places where they don’t intend to stay.  Yesterday I saw a spotted sandpiper (pictured above) at Schenley Park’s Panther Hollow Lake.  Shorebirds and wading birds are rare visitors to the lake because the concrete edge provides no food.  The sandpiper paused for a snack at the cat-tails and creek outflow … and then he was on his way to breed at a stream bank, lake or river.

Lake Erie’s southern shore is a great place to find migratory birds this month.  Last week I went birding from Erie, Pennsylvania to Maumee Bay, Ohio.  Here are two of my favorite species seen at Magee Marsh, Ohio — one very large species and one small.

American white pelicans flying over Chase Lake NWR, North Dakota (photo from USFW via Wikimedia Commons)
American white pelicans flying over Chase Lake NWR, North Dakota (photo from US Fish & Wildlife via Wikimedia Commons)
Canada Warbler (photo by Cris Hamilton)
Canada Warbler (photo by Cris Hamilton)

American white pelicans and Canada warblers don’t breed at Magee Marsh but they’re there this month.

Don’t miss the migration on International Migratory Bird Day.  Get outdoors in May!

 

(photo credits: Spotted sandpiper by Bobby Greene,
American white pelicans by US Fish & Wildlife via Wikimedia Commons.
Canada warbler by Cris Hamilton
)

Peregrine Chicks Grow Up: Video

Feeding time for peregrine chicks in Hokkaido, Japan. (screenshot from Eduence Field Productions Ltd)
Feeding time for peregrine chicks in Hokkaido, Japan. (screenshot from Eduence Field Productions Ltd)

Most of us have never seen peregrines nesting at wild cliffs so it’s a real pleasure to find this excellent video from Hokkaido, Japan showing a pair nesting by the sea.

Click on the screenshot above to watch peregrines’ family life as the chicks grow up from ages two to five weeks.

Here’s what you’ll see:

  • The male chases dense flocks of birds to separate out a single bird and capture it.
  • 1st feeding, chicks 2 weeks old (This is C1’s age today at Pitt):  The male brings food close to the nest but not into it. The female leaves the nest to take the prey and carries it back to the nest to feed the chicks.  If you were watching this feeding on a nestcam you would not see the male at all and might mistakenly think the female does all the hunting.  Nope.
  • 2nd feeding, chicks 3 weeks old:  The chicks have full crops showing as gray bulges on their throats. This is a sign they are well fed.  (You can see this bulge already on C1’s throat when he is full.)  The chicks are not very hungry so after their mother eats she takes away the leftovers to cache them.
  • 3rd feeding, chicks 4 weeks old: The chicks are half brown with growing feathers.  They rush at their parents to grab the food and eat it on their own.
  • Ledge walking and learning to fly, 5 weeks old:  One chick flaps and lands at the bottom of the cliff in the water.  Notice that he can swim!  He gets out of the water and climbs the cliff.  🙂

Nestcams see such a tiny piece of birds’ lives that you might misunderstand what’s going on.

Peregrines are fascinating when you watch them from the ground.

 

(screenshot from video by Eduence Field Production, Ltd)

May Is The Month for Wayward Bears

Black Bear (photo by Chuck Tague)
Black Bear (photo by Chuck Tague)

On Throw Back Thursday:

May is the month when one-year-old bears are on the road, searching for a first home since mama pushed them out this spring.

If you live in the country you’ve already noticed the bears are active and had to pull in your bird feeders so the bears don’t wreck them. If you live in the city or suburbs you might not realize that bears are possible in your area … until one shows up.

When you see a bear don’t make the mistake of feeding him. He’ll think People=Food and continue to hang around, ransacking the neighborhood.

Last year locals fed marshmallows to a bear in Monroeville!  And he became a problem. And they had to call the Game Commission to trap and transport him.  The Game Commission number in southwestern Pennsylvania is 724-238-9523.

Read more about bears in this 2010 blog post called:  Bears???

 

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Downtown Peregrine Nest Site Found

Peregrine chick at entrance to the nest, Downtown Pittsburgh, May 2012 (photo by Kate St. John)
2012 peregrine chick at entrance to the nest in Downtown Pittsburgh. This nest is being used again in 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

11 May 2016

Congratulations to Lori Maggio whose search for perching peregrines has paid off.  She found the nest site of the Downtown peregrines!

Lori walks to and from her workplace at the USX Tower and often walks at lunchtime so when I asked folks to look for peregrines Downtown, she decided to help.

It was a fruitless effort until Monday May 9 when she found a peregrine perched on a high railing at Point Park’s Lawrence Hall. Later that day she stopped by and a peregrine was perched there again.

Then yesterday, May 10, she saw a peregrine take food to the nest!  Both adults went into the nest and came out after about 30 seconds.  Are the young old enough to feed themselves?  If so we should be seeing them at the nest opening soon.

If you’d like to help watch for activity, visit Third Avenue between Smithfield and Wood Streets.  Heading down Third Avenue (it’s one way), pause at the parking lot that runs between Third and Fourth Avenues.  Facing Wood Street, look up to the right and you’ll see a building that looks like this.

The area as seen from Third Avenue (photo by Kate St. John)
The area as seen from Third Avenue (photo by Kate St. John)

Look for activity at the opening, as shown in the top photo, and let me know if you see a chick. We won’t know when to have Fledge Watch until we know how old the chicks are.

Thank you, Lori!  So glad you found the nest!

(photos by Kate St. John)

A Smell That Reminds Me of Warblers

Cypress spurge (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Cypress spurge (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

10 May 2016

The smell of this plant reminds me of warblers.

Cypress spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias) is a 4″-31″ tall perennial with narrow leaves and green-yellow flowers that bloom from March to September.  It was introduced to the U.S. as an ornamental in the 1860s and often planted in cemeteries where it earned the nickname “graveyard weed.”  Its introduction was a terrible idea for a number of reasons:

  • The entire plant contains a toxic latex that irritates skin and eyes and is poisonous to many animals.  It can be fatal to cattle, though sheep can eat it.
  • It spreads via roots and explosive seed pods. If a farmer plows a field containing a bit of cypress spurge, his equipment will carry cut rootlets to other fields where it will take hold.
  • The plant is very invasive, forming almost pure stands.  It has no enemies in the Western Hemisphere so scientists had to import a few insects that eat it.

Cypress spurge thrives in sandy soil so it’s no surprise that it grows at Presque Isle State Park, crowding out native lupine and puccoon.  During warbler migration its scent is on the wind.  I don’t like the smell but I’ve had so many great birding experiences at Presque Isle in May that my brain automatically thinks of warblers when I smell it.

Fortunately the sick-sweet scent brings back happy memories for me.  For those who mourn a loved one in the presence of “graveyard weed” the smell probably makes them sad.

Is there a smell that reminds you of birding?

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)

Nature’s Perfect Partners: PBS NATURE May 11

Barbell fish clean hippo's skin and teeth (photo courtesy PBS Nature © Mark Deeble/Vicky Stone)
Barbell fish clean hippo’s skin and teeth (photo courtesy PBS Nature © Mark Deeble/Vicky Stone)

Oh my!  Is the hippo eating these fish?!?

No. He could eat them if he wanted to but these barbell fish are his helpers.  They eat ticks from his skin and food from his teeth.  It’s a symbiotic relationship.

The hippo and the barbell fish are just one example of the unlikely partnerships animals make with other species.  Watch the premiere of Nature’s Perfect Partners on Wednesday May 11 to learn about many more — lizards with lions, a fish with a blind shrimp, toads with tarantulas.

Here’s a preview:

Don’t miss Nature’s Perfect Partners this Wednesday May 11 at 8pm EDT/ 9pm CDT on PBS.  In Pittsburgh it’s on WQED.

 

(photo courtesy PBS NATURE © Mark Deeble/Vicky Stone)

Ostentatious Orioles

Baltimore oriole (photo by Steve Gosser)
Baltimore oriole (photo by Steve Gosser)

8 May 2016

Though it’s been less than two weeks since the first Baltimore orioles returned to western Pennsylvania, it didn’t take long for them to arrive in force and begin to establish their territories.

Now they’re everywhere and obvious — singing, chasing, chattering with annoyance, drowning out the songs of other birds.

As soon as they’ve paired up Baltimore orioles sing a lot less and become almost secretive.

Enjoy them now while they’re ostentatious.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

Named For A Dolphin

Dwarf larkspur (photo by Kate St.John)
Dwarf larkspur (photo by Kate St.John)

This weekend is a good time to take a wildflower walk in western Pennsylvania.  When you do, you’ll find dwarf larkspur blooming.

I just learned on The Allegheny Front that its scientific name, Delphinium tricorne, comes from the word “dolphin.”

Click here to learn how it got this name and other cool facts on an audio wildflower walk on The Allegheny Front.

 

(photo by Kate St. John)