The Importance of Tall Boots

April 18, 2016Musings & NewsKate St. John

Mary and Sarah walk the Gull Point Trail (photo by Kate St. John) — Mary Birdsong and Sarah Sargent hike the Gull Point Trail, 15 April 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Last Friday I hiked the Gull Point Trail at Presque Isle State Park with Mary Birdsong, Sarah Sargent and Julie Dell. Last winter’s storms blew down trees, eroded the northern shoreline, and inundated the trail but Friday was Mary’s second shorebird monitoring trip so she’d already found the best way to get to the Point.

Before we left for the park, Mary said I’d need knee-high waterproof boots. I don’t own any, so she loaned me her extra boots shown on the left. They are really tall, nearly up to my knees with a 13.5″ shaft. Mary has true knee-high muck boots with (probably) a 16″ shaft, like those pictured on the right.

Boots: LaCrosse 13.5″ shaft compared to Original Muck 16″ shaft (photos by Kate St. John & from Original Muck Boots Company)

It took us a long time to get to Gull Point on the driest route. As Julie walked ahead of me I felt great about my borrowed boots. They were perfect!

Julie hikes ahead of me on the Gull Point Trail (photo by Kate St. John)

And then we got to this spot.

As you can see, the water really is knee high.

I picked my way with my hiking stick and then … uh oh! The water overtopped my boots and rushed into both of them.

On dry land I pulled off the boots and dumped them out, wrung out my socks and put everything back on. Sarah’s calf-high boots were inundated too but she changed into her hiking boots (see them over her shoulder). Mary and Julie were fine with their 16″ knee boots.

The water was just 1″ higher than 13.5″ boots could bear. I’m not sure why Lake Erie is so high right now but if it gets deeper the 16″ boots will be too short as well.

If you’re venturing to Gull Point, be prepared.

Squish, squish.

I’m glad I wore wool socks.

(photos by Kate St. John; Camouflage Muck boots photo from the Original Muck Boot Company)

p.s. Check out Mary Birdsong’s blog: Feather, Spade and Spoon

Go See The Owls Soon

April 17, 2016Birds of Prey, Nesting & CourtshipKate St. John

Great horned owl and owlet, Homestead Grays Bridge, 15 April 2016 (photo by Dana Nesiti)

If you haven’t been to The Waterfront to see the great horned owl nest on the Homestead Grays Bridge, go soon! The owlet is growing fast — as shown in these photos by Dana Nesiti on Friday, April 15.

The best viewing area is at the Three Rivers Heritage bike Trail to the right of the Red Robin restaurant at The Waterfront (175 E Waterfront Dr, Homestead, PA 15120).

Don’t miss your chance to see the owlet before he leaves the nest.

Thanks to Dana for sharing his photos. See Dana’s great photos of the Hays bald eagles at his Eagles of Hays PA Facebook page.

(photos by Dana Nesiti)

Buds Bursting

April 16, 2016Phenology, Schenley Park, TreesKate St. John

Horse chestnut bud bursting, 13 April 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Last week’s cold weather was deadly for flowering trees but good for those still in bud.

A hard freeze on April 5 — 23 ^o F — wiped out the early-blooming trees in Schenley Park. Most of the eastern redbuds had already flowered so Schenley’s redbud display this year is anemic.

On the other hand, buds that were closed 10 days ago are in good shape now. On Wednesday I found a horse chestnut bud about to burst (above) and one with leaves and flower stack already emerged (below).

Horse chestnut leaves and flowers stack emerged from bud, 13 April 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Even the hickories are getting into the act.

Mockernut hickory bud opening, Schenley Park, 13 April 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Check out your neighborhood for emerging leaves and flowers. Buds are opening fast in this weekend’s warm weather.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Raven Solves A Problem

April 15, 2016Bird Behavior, Crows & RavensKate St. John

Common ravens (Corvus corax) are known for their intelligence and problem solving abilities.

This one solved his own problem, though he created trouble for humans and dogs in the process.

(video from The Raven Diaries on YouTube)

This Saturday and Sunday at the National Aviary

April 14, 2016Books & Events, PeregrinesKate St. John

Kate St. John (photo by Thom Moeller)

This Saturday and Sunday, as part of Sky Kings Weekend, I’ll be presenting Celebrate Pittsburgh’s Peregrines! at the National Aviary.

Come on down for the 12:30pm show on Saturday April 16 or Sunday April 17.

Click here for more information on my Events page.

(photo by Tom Moeller)

The Don’t Walk Robin

April 14, 2016Nesting & Courtship, SongbirdsKate St. John

American robin nesting on the Don't Walk sign (photo by Kate St. John) — American robin nesting on the Don’t Walk sign (photo by Kate St. John)

On Throw Back Thursday:

American robins have already begun to nest this month. Back in April 2009 I noticed that one had chosen an unusual nest site on South Craig Street.

Can you see the bird incubating in front of the “Don’t Walk” sign?

Read more about her in this article called: Don’t Walk!

(photo by Kate St. John)

Pittsburgh’s Redbud Project

April 13, 2016Books & Events, TreesKate St. John

Redbud blooming (photo by Dianne Machesney)

Imagine that Pittsburgh was as beautiful in the spring as Washington, D.C. during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

That’s the vision that local landscape architect Frank Dawson had when he proposed planting eastern redbud trees along Pittsburgh’s riverfronts.

This spring the dream is starting to come true.

Thanks to a grant from Colcom Foundation, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is launching the Pittsburgh Redbud Project. From now through Spring 2017 they’ll plant 1,200 eastern redbud and other native trees in Downtown Pittsburgh and along the city’s riverfronts. Everyone who helps through May 12 will get a free seedling. (They’re giving away 1,500 of them!)

Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are understory trees in the Pea family that bloom in early spring. Native from southern Pennsylvania to eastern Texas, they’re cultivated for their beauty because their rose-pink flowers open on bare branches before the leaves.

Come to the Redbud Project’s Launch Event on Tuesday, April 19 at 10:00am at the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near the Mister Rogers statue. Students and volunteers will plant 60 trees along the riverfront. Attendees get a free redbud seedling. (Click here for more information, here to RSVP.)

Here’s a planting along River Avenue to give you an idea of the beautiful results.

Redbud trees along River Road, Pittsburgh, April 2016 (photo courtesy Western PA Conservancy) — Redbud trees along River Avenue, Pittsburgh, April 2016 (photo courtesy Western PA Conservancy)

More events and volunteer opportunities are coming in the weeks ahead. Click here for a list. Get a free tree!

Soon our Downtown and riverfronts will be transformed.

(photos: redbud flowers’ closeup by Dianne Machesney. Row of redbud trees on River Avenue, courtesy Western Pennsylvania Conservancy)

Pigeons Have A Favorite Foot

April 12, 2016Bird Behavior, Doves & ChickensKate St. John

Rock pigeon hopping down a step (photo by Pimthida via Flickr, Creative Commons license)

12 April 2016

Most of us have a dominant hand that’s our favorite choice for everything that requires skill. About 90% of us use our right hand with only 10% using the left hand or having no preference at all.

Did you know that pigeons (Columba livia) have a favorite foot, but it’s not overwhelmingly the right one?

Pigeon “footedness” was discovered by Harvey I. Fisher at Southern Illinois University in the mid 1950’s while he was looking for something else. In 1954-1955 he was studying the landing force that pigeons exert on a perch, so he recorded the actions of 11 pigeons landing a total of 4,000 times.

That’s when he noticed that most of them extended one foot and landed on it first, and that they had a favorite foot for doing this. He ran more experiments, tallying 7,259 landings.

Seven of the 11 pigeons were right-footed, three were left-footed and one didn’t have a favorite. That’s about 63% right footedness. Read more here in his 1957 article: Footedness in Domestic Pigeons.

I learned this at the Urban Wildlife Guide’s Right-footed Pigeons, and was so intrigued that I bought the book: Field Guide to Urban Wildlife by Julie Feinstein. (I highly recommend it by the way.)

So what do you think? Is this pigeon left-footed? Or is he just tucking his right foot so it doesn’t hit the step?

(photo by Pimthida via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license. Click on the image to see the original)

Look For Perching Peregrines

April 11, 2016PeregrinesKate St. John

There's a peregrine in this picture. Can you see him? (photo by Kate St. John) — There’s a peregrine in this picture. Can you see him? (photo by Kate St. John)

Here’s a quiz. And a plea for help.

There’s a peregrine falcon in the picture above. Can you see him?

When I took this photo from an office window last spring I already knew the nest was nearby.

This spring the Downtown Pittsburgh peregrines have moved again. We don’t know where, but we can find the nest if we find a perching peregrine. That’s because the male perches within sight or sound of the nest while the female is incubating.

Within sight(?): On April 6, Trinidad Regaspi saw a peregrine perched on the SPACE Gallery building at 812 Liberty Avenue.

Within sound(?): Yesterday morning at 7:45am, Matt Webb was on his BirdSafe route when he heard a peregrine calling from the direction of the old Horne’s Building at Penn and Stanwix. Doug Cunzolo checked it out an hour later but couldn’t find anything except lots of workmen erecting scaffolding on the building. The workmen were still there when I came by at 5:00pm.

I didn’t find a peregrine yesterday but there are plenty of places to look. That’s why I need your help.

Here’s what to do (as posted last week):

Look up! Or look out of your office window. Look for a perching peregrine. One of the pair will perch in the vicinity of the nest while the other one incubates.

Tips on where to look:
Look at old buildings, probably less than 20 stories. Look at ornate parts of the architecture, window ledges, etc. The peregrines are often camouflaged on ornate buildings.

I do not need to know if you see peregrines flying. (They fly everywhere.) I do need to know where they perch.

Mission impossible? Not if you help.

If you see a perching peregrine, leave a comment telling me where it is and I’ll come Downtown to check.

Keep looking up!

p.s. Even if you don’t live in Pittsburgh, these instructions are good for finding nesting peregrines in cities.

(photo by Kate St. John)

Blue-Eyed Mary in Bloom

April 10, 2016Phenology, Plants & FungiKate St. John

Blue-eyed Mary blooming at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2016 (photo by Donna Foyle)

It’s cold this morning — and snowy for some of you — but when the weather improves you’ll find …

Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia verna) usually blooms in southwestern Pennsylvania from mid April to early May but we found it at Cedar Creek Park on Wednesday April 6.

This annual drops its seeds in summer, germinates seedlings in the fall, and overwinters to bloom in the spring. It spreads by reseeding so you usually find it in patches — that look more green than blue from a distance.

Blue-eyed Mary patch at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2016 (photo by Donna Foyle)

Collinsia verna grows in woodlands with light to dappled shade and moist to mesic rich loamy soil. Though the plant can be locally abundant, its habitat can be hard to find. Blue-eyed Mary is endangered in New York and Tennessee.

Here are three places in southwestern Pennsylvania to see Blue-eyed Mary this month:

Cedar Creek Park, Belle Vernon, Westmoreland County
Braddock’s Trail Park, North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County. In full bloom the plants here make a carpet of blue.
Enlow Fork, State Game Land #302, border of Greene and Washington Counties. For a beautiful description of the wonders of Enlow Fork, read this 2005 blog post by Marcia Bonta. Join the annual Enlow Fork Wildflower Walk (and birding!) on Sunday May 1, 2016.

(photos by Donna Foyle)

Outside My Window

A Blog of Birds & Nature with Kate St. John