Spots Under The Leaf

June 22, 2016Plants & FungiKate St. John

Sporogenesis under the fern leaf (photo by Kate St. John)

Ferns look simple. They don’t have flowers so they must be boring, right? Not!

Look under the leaves(*) in June and you’ll see spots, called sporangia, that are creating spores for the next generation. Here’s another example.

Sporangia under fern leaf (photo by Kate St. John) — Sporangia under the fern leaf (photo by Kate St. John)

The spores are single haploid cells with only one set of chromosomes, just like the sperm and eggs of mammals. But the spores don’t “mate” with anything. Instead the next generation grows directly from the spore. It’s a small heart-shaped green thing called a prothallus and it’s also haploid. The prothallus eventually produces sperm and eggs that unite in water to become the next generation, the leafy fronds.

The frond phase is diploid with two sets of chromosomes. In time, the plant produces sporangia and the process repeats.

Because of this fern “parents” and “kids” look nothing like each other: prothallia, leaves, prothallia, leaves … on and on and on.

Confused? Here’s a video that explains it better than I can.

(*) Some ferns, such as sensitive fern, produce spores on parts of the plant that have no leaves. Others, such as hay-scented fern, don’t display their sporangia as openly as those pictured above. Read more about ferns here.

(photos by Kate St. John, video posted by Gabe Fierro on YouTube)

The Bird Who Sings All Night

June 21, 2016Bird Behavior, SongbirdsKate St. John

Northern mockingbird, singing with wing flash (photo from Wikimedia Commons) — Northern mockingbird, singing and wing flashing (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

21 June 2016

This month someone in my neighborhood complained he was kept awake at night by birds singing loudly in the dark. Every song was different so he thought it was a variety of birds. Who was making that racket? It was only one northern mockingbird.

Mockingbirds are well known for nocturnal singing. The majority of those who do it are lonely bachelors trying to attract a female. They belt out their songs as loudly as possible in all directions and they prefer to do it at the most aggravating time for humans — midnight to 4:00am. Studies have shown they sing more on moonlit nights and in well-lit areas. Woe to city and suburban dwellers near street lights!

The video below, recorded at 2:00am, is understandably dark. The bird is exceptionally loud.

Mockingbird singing at night (video embedded from SevereTStormFan on YouTube)

Over at my house there’s a mockingbird who’s definitely lonely! Will he ever stop?

Birds of North America Online says: “Typically, adults sing for approximately three fourths of the year (Feb through Aug, and late Sep to early Nov); occasionally sing during winter. … No nocturnal song occurs during the fall.”

So we wear earplugs to bed and pray that the mockingbird finds a mate. Or we’ll have to wait until August.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original. Mockingbird audio by SevereTStormFan on YouTube)

Today Is Astronomical

June 20, 2016Weather & SkyKate St. John

Sunrise at the summer solstice, Stonehenge 2005 (photo from Wikimedia Commons) — Summer solstice sunrise at Stonehenge, 2005 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

June 20, 2016:

Today is astronomical. It’s been 68 years since we’ve seen one like it.

Full moon at the sea (photo from Wikimedia Commons) — Full moon over the sea (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The last time the summer solstice occurred on the same day as the full moon was in 1948.

By the time you read this the moon will have done its job, having reached maximum fullness at 7:05am in Pittsburgh. It had already set by then (6:13am) so we didn’t see it.

The summer solstice is yet to come — 11.5 hours after the moon’s event — at 6:34pm.

The moment when the sun stands still is such a big deal that they’re celebrating it with a four-day solstice festival at Stonehenge, pictured above. But they won’t be able to see the sun during its special moment. It’ll be almost midnight at Stonehenge, 11:34 pm.

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

Yesterday’s Walk at Schenley Park

June 20, 2016Books & Events, Deer, Schenley ParkKate St. John

Our Schenley Park outing, 19 June 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday morning 15 of us took a walk on the Lower Trail in Schenley Park. Highlights include …

Two ephemerals:
- Inky cap mushrooms that dissolve into ink the same day they appear. Click here to see what they look like. Thanks to Adam Haritan of Learn Your Land for identifying them.
- Ohio spiderwort flowers that last only a day before they wilt:

Ohio Spiderwort, 14 June 2014 (photo by )

Sights and sounds of birds including a busy flock of common grackles, a young wood thrush perched on a log and singing rose-breasted grosbeaks and acadian flycatchers.
The bug-eat-bug world of aphids sucking juice out of tall flower stems while ladybugs and harvestmen (daddy longlegs) pursued them.
And two deer, one with a big rack in velvet.

Thanks to all for coming. My next outing will be on July 31 at Duck Hollow and Lower Frick Park.

(photo by Kate St. John)

Remembering Chuck Tague

June 19, 2016Musings & NewsKate St. John

Chuck Tague, 2008 (photo by Bill Parker) — Chuck Tague (photo by Bill Parker, 2008)

June 19, 2016

Yesterday morning on The Allegheny Front Chuck Tague taught us about bluets in a rebroadcast of his article Field of Innocence, recorded in September 2001. Hours later I learned that Chuck had died the night before from complications of a heart attack he suffered on May 11. He was 71.

Chuck was an avid nature observer, writer, photographer and inspiring teacher. He touched thousands of lives with his love of nature and sense of wonder. His enthusiasm for the outdoors was infectious.

I first met Chuck Tague more than 20 years ago when I attended his birding classes at the Rachel Carson Institute. His welcoming spirit changed my life. I spent more time birding, attended outings, joined the Wissahickon Nature Club and assisted him on the Raccoon Christmas Bird Count. We became friends and I traveled with Chuck and his wife Joan to Presque Isle and Magee Marsh for spring migration and visited them in Florida where they made their home in 2010.

Chuck’s website and Facebook page are always educational and his outings were pure fun. He never limited our curiosity as we examined birds, plants, insects, everything! We always learned something new.

Chuck was an excellent photographer and generous with his time and knowledge. When I began writing this blog he graciously offered his photos. He was always available to answer questions and we collaborated on projects like the Phenology series which we mirrored on his website and mine. This blog would not have been possible without him.

Many of my friends today are people I met on Chuck’s outings. All of us are grieving. It’s hard to believe he’s gone, though he lives on in all of us. His own words in yesterday’s broadcast inspire us as we remember him:

“I picked up the dried bluet stem and examined the tear-shaped seed capsule. There was the life affirming assurance I was seeking. Life will continue. Bluets will return to the field.”

I need to go find some bluets.

Click here to listen to Field of Innocence. Read Chuck’s biography here.

(photo of Chuck Tague in 2008 by Bill Parker. Sadly, both Chuck and Bill are gone.)

Groundhog Family

June 18, 2016Mammals, Schenley ParkKate St. John

On Monday at Schenley Park’s Lower Trail I heard some rustling and turned to see a mother and baby groundhog peering at me from their underground home.

They’re probably descended from the family that lived in this wall in 2012. The habitat has changed (DPW sprayed the wall with defoliant last August, oh no!) but the groundhogs remain. Here’s the family I saw in May 2012.

Perhaps we’ll see them tomorrow during my Schenley Park outing. Hope to see you there. Click here for more information.

(photo by Kate St.John)

This Week In Flight

June 17, 2016PeregrinesKate St. John

This week Peter Bell (@PittPeregrines) followed peregrine fledgling C1 around the Cathedral of Learning as she practiced her flying skills.

Monday evening, June 13: Peter waited for C1 to fledge but left the area just 10 minutes too soon (video above).

Tuesday, June 14: C1 spent the day whining for attention and shouting for food. (Notice that the incoming adult is already molting.)

C1 shouts as her parent arrives with prey, 14 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

Wednesday June 15: A rare photo. C1 in flight!

C1 flies around the corner of the Cathedral of Learning, 15 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

Thursday June 16: Many thunderstorms and heavy downpours. C1 stayed put long enough for Peter to photograph her from above. She’s not as close as she looks. Peter’s camera can really zoom.

C1 shouts and opens her wings to attract her parents' attention at the Cathedral of Learning, 16 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell) — C1 shouts and opens her wings to attract her parents’ attention at the Cathedral of Learning, 16 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

A moment of repose: Peregrine fledgling C1, 16 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

Peregrine fledgling C1 at the Cathedral of Learning, 16 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell) — C1 at the Cathedral of Learning, 16 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

This weekend C1 will fly to other buildings as she expands her flight skills. Soon she’ll be hard to find … and that’s as it should be.

(video and photos by Peter Bell, @PittPeregrines)

Life Skills for Young Peregrines

June 16, 2016Bird Behavior, PeregrinesKate St. John

Prey exchange between an adult peregrine and his fledgling (photo by Kim Steininger)

On Throw Back Thursday (TBT):

Just three days after fledging, young peregrines fly so well that we lose track of them as we watch from the ground. They’re already learning the aerial skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

Read more about their education in this Throw Back Thursday article: Life Skills.

(photo by Kim Steininger)

Danger From The Sky

June 15, 2016VocalizationsKate St. John

American robin, skygazing (photo by Joel Kluger on Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Songbirds are well aware that birds of prey will eat them so they warn each other when they see one. Their warning calls can alert us, too, that a predator is circling overhead.

American robins (Turdus migratorius) stand very still, turn one eye to the sky(*) and make a very thin, high-pitched sound similar to a cedar waxwing’s call. Seet. On the sonogram below it’s shaped like an eyebrow. Here’s what it sounds like:

Audio Player

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Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

“American Robin (Turdus migratorius)” from xeno-canto by Paul Driver. Genre: Turdidae.

European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) make a spitting sound that’s much easier to hear.

European starling (photo by Chuck Tague)

They sound off from a safe perch or call “Danger! Danger!” as they take off to avoid the predator. In my experience, they only use this sound when they see danger in the sky. Here’s what it sounds like:

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Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

“Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)” from xeno-canto by Jarek Matusiak. Genre: Sturnidae.

When you hear these calls, look up to find the hawk. At Schenley Plaza it may be a peregrine falcon.

(*) American robins turn one eye to the sky because they don’t see straight ahead as well as they do side to side. For more information see Anatomy: Field of View.

(photo of American robin by Joel Kluger on Flickr, Creative Commons license. Click on the image to see the original. photo of European starling by Chuck Tague)

It Worked!

June 14, 2016PeregrinesKate St. John

She fledged! Pitt peregrine fledgling, C1, on the west face of the Cathedral of Learning, 25 floors up, 14 June 2016 (photo by Peter Bell)

For every other big event in the Pitt peregrines’ lives this spring, I’ve been out hiking without cell coverage so it was fitting that I was in the Laurel Highlands this morning without cell coverage when Fledge Watchers confirmed that C1 had fledged.

As it turns out, C1 probably flew last night around 7:30pm. When Lori Maggio was leaving The Porch restaurant last night she heard a peregrine screeching, looked up, and saw a brown bird flying toward Phipps. She didn’t know what was going on so she emailed me:

“An adult peregrine came flying toward the bird and seemed to go after it, bumping into it. The original bird circled back around and headed toward the Cathedral. It tried to land on one of the windows about 1/2 way up, pushed off the window and circled around the right side of the cathedral [out of sight]. The adult peregrine flew back and forth in front of the cathedral for about 45 seconds and then landed on the railing above the nest.”

Apparently Hope told C1 to turn back and land on the Cathedral of Learning … which she did safely on the other side. I’m sure the fledgling had a snack and slept all night after that excitement.

Closeup of C1 on west face of Cathedral of Learning (photo by Peter Bell)

This morning at Fledge Watch Peter Bell saw Hope but not C1. When you can’t find a fledgling, find both parents and they’ll give you the clue so Peter found Terzo on the north side of the building.

By midday C1 was up and at ’em on the west face, shouting for food and flying to different ledges. In the photos above she’s in a very safe location 250 feet up. She’s exploring her new world.

Congratulations, C1! I knew you’d do it if I went out of cell range.

(photos by Peter Bell (@PittPeregrines))

Outside My Window

A Blog of Birds & Nature with Kate St. John