Will We Have An Early Spring?

Climate Change, Phenology, Weather & Sky
Dutchman's breeches, 25 March 2012 (photo by Kate St. John)
Dutchman’s breeches, 25 March 2012 (photo by Kate St. John)

Climate change is giving us some weird weather extremes.  From 9oF below normal a week ago we’ve now had two hot days 24 degrees above normal.

On Monday (March 7) I saw coltsfoot blooming in Schenley Park. It usually blooms in late March so this may be an indication that Spring is two weeks ahead of schedule.

In March 2012 we had an unprecedented heat wave in North America.  Pittsburgh had highs in the 80’s and all of our woodland wildflowers, which normally bloom from late March to late April, opened at the same time.  Dutchman’s breeches and trillium bloomed four weeks ahead of schedule.  Some plants were six weeks early.

In this trip down memory lane, read about the extreme spring of March 2012 in this post: The New Normal.

Do you think we’ll have an early Spring this year?

 

p.s.  We all like warm weather but be careful what you wish for.  Summer temperatures in March 2012 gave way to extreme heat in July 2012 with drought and highs of 100 degrees!   🙁

(photo by Kate St.John)

All The Right Moves

Nesting & Courtship, Peregrines
SW and Boomer in courtship flight, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Chad + Chris Saladin)
SW and Boomer fly upside down in courtship flight, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Chad + Chris Saladin)

Peregrine falcon courtship is underway in Pittsburgh but you’re missing a lot if you only see it on camera.

Peregrines have many courtship rituals that get them in tune for the breeding season.   Here’s what you’ll see at any one of Pittsburgh’s seven peregrine territories.  Click on the links below for additional descriptions and photos.

  1. Prominent perching:  Peregrines perch in prominent locations to show they own the place.  Established pairs perch near each other.
  2. Cooperative hunting: The pair goes out hunting together.  He kicks up a flock while she stoops on likely prey.
  3. Ledge Displays:  Peregrines display on the nest ledge over the scrape, at first alone then as a pair.  These are the only displays you’ll see on the falconcams.
  4. Courtship Flights:  Peregrines court in the air with speed and precision.  They even fly upside down (shown above).
  5. Food Transfers:  The male provides food for his mate.
  6. Copulation: Here’s how it’s done.

 

In our area the females lay eggs between mid March and early April, one egg every other day. Watch for the first egg at the Cathedral of Learning and Gulf Tower on the falconcams.

How will you know an egg is due soon?  The female will start to spend the night at the scrape a few days before her first egg.

In the meantime, our peregrines are making all the right moves.  Eggs coming soon.

 

(photo by Chad+Chris Saladin)

Pigeon Applause

Bird Behavior, Doves & Chickens
Two rock pigeons in flight (photo from Shutterstock)
(photo from Shutterstock)

Have you heard it?  It’s the sound of pigeon applause.

The wings of rock pigeons (Columba livia) often make whistling sounds when they fly, but during the breeding season the males’ wings make a clapping sound, too.

Like many birds, pigeons have courtship rituals before and after mating. Here’s a summary of what they do from Cornell’s Birds of North America:

  • Before they mate:
    • The male struts around the female: standing tall, inflating his neck, cooing, bowing and fanning his tail.
    • They preen each other on the head and neck.
    • The female asks the male to feed her, like a nestling, by regurgitation. This may be called “billing”
  • They mate: The female crouches. The male mounts her and balances with open wings.
  • Afterward the male may do a post-copulatory flight display:
    • He takes off loudly clapping his wings on the upstroke (behind him) for 3-5 wingbeats.
    • And then he glides with his wings up in a “V”

Play the audio clip below to hear that distinctive clap.

Listen for it this spring.

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

Coming Soon: Walks in Duck Hollow and Schenley Park

Books & Events, Schenley Park

Crocuses blooming (photo by Kate St. John)
Crocuses blooming (photo by Kate St. John)

Spring is coming so let’s get outdoors!

Just as I did last year, I’ll be leading bird and nature walks once a month beginning in late March.  This year I’m branching out to include Duck Hollow/Lower Nine Mile Run as well as Schenley Park.

Come out with me to see birds and trees, blooms and bees.  On each walk we’ll travel slowly, keeping our eyes and ears open for the latest birds and flowers.

Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes that aren’t afraid of mud. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them. The walks will begin at 8:30am and last two hours but you can bow out early if you wish.

Here’s the schedule for the first three walks.  More will follow in summer and fall; stay tuned.

As each date approaches I’ll post a reminder here on the blog.  Visit my Events page any time for directions and up-to-date information including cancellations and rain dates.

Hope to see you on March 20 at Duck Hollow.  It’s time for Spring!

 

(photo by Kate St.John)

Green Leaves in the Woods

Phenology, Plants & Fungi

Garlic mustard in winter (photo by Kate St. John)
Garlic mustard in winter (photo by Kate St. John)

I should be excited to see green leaves poking up in the woods but these are bad ones.

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial alien invasive.  It turns green early because it’s out of synch with our seasons — and that gives it a growing advantage over many native plants.  Read more here about its invasive ways.

The only place I know of in western Pennsylvania that has no garlic mustard is Duff Park in Murrysville, thanks to the vigilance and activism of Pia van de Venne.   Over the years she has pulled out tons of garlic mustard, trained countless volunteers in invasive plant eradication, and placed signs at every park entrance that describe garlic mustard and urge folks to pull it up.

Everywhere else, these leaves are our first sign of spring.  🙁

 

(photo by Kate St. John)

Grackle Day

Migration, Songbirds

Common grackle in his dominance pose (photo by Shawn Collins)
Common grackle in a dominance pose (photo by Shawn Collins)

Because I’ve kept track of their spring arrival March 5 is Grackle Day at my house. It’s the day that the first common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) usually arrive in my neighborhood in the spring.

I hear them before I see them: “Skrinnnnk, Krinnnnk”  “Djuk Djuk.”  Listen to this audio clip and you’ll know what I mean.

The video below shows the males puffing up and calling to display their dominance.  The grackle whose beak points the highest is the one who wins.  😉

This year a few ambitious grackles passed through early.  I heard and saw a single common grackle on February 5 and two on March 1.  I’m waiting for more today.

Are there grackles in your neighborhood yet?

 

(photo by Shawn Collins, audio link from Xeno Canto, video by The Critter Window on YouTube)

Getting In Tune

Bird Behavior, Nesting & Courtship, Water and Shore

If you’ve been watching the Gulf Tower and Cathedral of Learning falconcams this month, you’ve seen the peregrines bowing and “chirping” to each other in courtship display.  Their rituals cement their pair bond and get them in tune with each other for the breeding season.

Some birds have fancier courtship displays.  Pairs of waved albatrosses (Phoebastria irrorata) get reacquainted after six months at sea by doing a courtship dance.

The video above shows their elaborate ritualized moves: bill clacking, rapid bill circling, bowing, touching the ground and their sides with their beaks, raising their bills, and making a whoo sound.  You have to visit the Galápagos to see them as it’s the only place where they breed.

The pairs do their dance in time for the female to lay her single egg in April to June.  Nestlings reach adult size in December and leave the colony by January to forage at sea until they reach maturity at 5-6 years old.

During El Niño there is too little food to raise a family so many birds don’t breed at all.  This year is a hard one for the waved albatross.

Sadly, this species is critically endangered.  The waved albatross’ range is confined to the Galápagos and the Humboldt current off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.  Though long-lived, these birds are slow to reproduce and their population is declining, especially at the hands of longline fishing.

It’s quite a privilege to see them dance.

 

(video from Peregrine Travel Centre Adelaide on YouTube)

Found A Brainy Bird

Bird Behavior, Songbirds

Florida scrub-jay on Joan's hat (photo by Chuck Tague)
Florida scrub-jay on Joan Tague’s hat (photo by Chuck Tague)

On Throw Back Thursday:

Last week in Florida with Chuck and Joan Tague we found these brainy birds on Merritt Island.  On a similar trip in 2009 a jay was so bold that he perched right next to a replica of himself — a Florida scrub-jay pin on Joan’s hat.

Read how the Florida scrub-jay got so smart in this Throw Back article from February 2009:  Speaking of Brainy Birds.

 

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Setting Up Housekeeping at the Gulf Tower

Nesting & Courtship, Peregrines

Dori arrives to join Louie in courtship at the Gulf Tower nest (photo from National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
Dori arrives to join Louie in courtship at the Gulf Tower nest (photo from National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower). Click on the photo for a bigger view.

Pittsburgh Peregrine Fans are pleased as punch that Dori and Louie have taken a new and intensive interest in the Gulf Tower nest.

For the past four years they’ve flipped from site to site instead of choosing the Gulf Tower that peregrines had used continuously since 1991.  In 2012 and 2013 they left Gulf for a nook on Third Avenue. In 2014 they returned, but last year (2015) they left for Macy’s Annex.

In December the PA Game Commission’s peregrine coordinator, Art McMorris, refurbished the Gulf Tower nest in hopes it would entice the peregrines back to stay.  Since February 24 the signs have been very good:

  • Louie and Dori both visit the nest area:  The photo above shows them about to court on February 27.  Click on the image for a bigger view.
  • Louie calls for Dori to arrive:  Amazingly, he even calls to her at night. Click here to watch him calling her at 2:00am on February 29.
  • The pair courts at the scrape by bowing and “chirping” to each other.  Click here to see their courtship at WildEarth.tv archives.
  • Dori frequently perches near the nest or at the scrape. (The scrape is the actual nest site, a shallow depression where she’ll lay her eggs.)
  • Dori has dug two scrapes and continues to enlarge them.  See photos below.

Dori digs the scrape on the left (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
Dori digs the scrape on the left (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)

Dori walks over to the other side ... (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
Dori walks over to the other side … (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)

Dori digs the scrape on the right (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)
Dori digs the scrape on the right (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)

Dori is setting up housekeeping at the Gulf Tower so we’re hoping she’ll lay her eggs here this year.  The real confirmation will be her first egg, due to arrive in mid to late March.

You can watch what she’s up to on the National Aviary falconcam at the Gulf Tower.

 

(snapshots from the National Aviary falconcam at Gulf Tower)