Invasive?

December 13, 2015Plants & Fungi, Schenley ParkKate St. John

13 December 2015

Here’s a plant that’s quite visible in my neighborhood this month even though the growing season has ended. I don’t know what it is but I suspect it’s an alien and possibly invasive because it shows off a number of imported/invasive features.

Imported: Its leaves are very green, suggesting it’s winter light trigger expects a more northern location.
Imported: It’s still producing flowers in December, another indication that it believes winter hasn’t arrived.
Invasive: It grows in waste places, especially in disturbed soil at the edge of sidewalks.
Invasive: It can become very dense and take over the area where it’s growing.

Here’s a look at the arrangement of the stems. Notice that they’re hairy.

Unknown plant. A look at the stems (photo by Kate St. John) — Unknown plant: a look at the stems (photo by Kate St. John)

And here’s the flower. I forced this one open.

Unknown flower. Is it an invasive? (photo by Kate St. John) — Unknown flower (photo by Kate St. John)

One more look at a dense mat of it.

Do you know the name of this plant? My guess is that it’s from Asia, perhaps Japan.

If you know the answer, please leave a comment!

LATER: Wow! You’re quick! Fran, Carolyn and Doris have already identified it as common mallow (Malva neglecta) or cheeseweed. Read the comments to find out why it has this unusual name. By the way, it’s edible.

Here are two resources for more information: University of California’s Integrated Pest Management recommendation for this plant and Pennsylvania Street Gardens plant profile.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Hopeful Signs

December 12, 2015PeregrinesKate St. John

E2 and Hope courting at the peregrine nest at the Cathedral of Learning, 8 Dec 2015 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at University of Pittsburgh)

It’s been 12 days since the new female peregrine, Hope, appeared on camera at the Cathedral of Learning. In that time she and E2 have courted at the nest every day, sometimes for extended periods.

Off camera I see them flying around the Cathedral of Learning or perching high to watch the world go by. It’s rare that I see only one peregrine on campus now.

I’m also happy that Hope needs no encouragement to visit the nest. Yesterday she arrived on camera and chirped for E2 to join her. When he didn’t come, she perched at the front looking up. “Hey! Where are you?”

Hope looks for E2. Hey, where are you? (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at University of Pittsburgh) — Hope scans the sky, 11 Dec 2015 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at University of Pittsburgh)

These are hopeful signs that she means to stay at the Cathedral of Learning.

Meanwhile Downtown at the Gulf Tower, the new gravel was too tempting for a peregrine to pass up. Yesterday morning Louie stopped in to check it out.

Louie visits the new digs at the Gulf Tower (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at the Gulf Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh)

I hope he convinces Dori to take a look, too.

(photos from the National Aviary falconcams in Pittsburgh)

New Digs!

December 11, 2015Nesting & Courtship, PeregrinesKate St. John

The Downtown peregrines have new digs at the Gulf Tower.

Last month the weeds in the Gulf Tower nest indicated to Art McMorris (PA Game Commission Peregrine Coordinator) that the nest needed a makeover. Fortunately the wooden box and hood were fine so …

Yesterday Art came to town with 10 bags of pea gravel, a new wooden ramp and lots of tools to refurbish the nest. At 80 pounds per bag that’s a lot of lugging.
10 bags of pea gravel for the nest (photo by Kate St.John)

Here, he makes note of the site conditions before he begins. The edge behind him is a sheer 37-floor drop to the street. No way! I stayed inside.

Art McMorris records the stats before beginning, 10 Dec 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)

First order of business: Shovel out the old gravel into many(!) garbage bags. Art shoveled while Bob Mulvihill and Eric Fialkovich of the National Aviary hauled the bags over the transom and into the hall for later disposal.

Digging out the old gravel. No drainage! (photo by Kate St. John)

As soon as the old gravel was gone the problem was obvious. There were no drainage holes in the base so all the water stayed in the box. Peregrines don’t like wet gravel and neither do we. Art drilled 77 7/16″ holes.

Drilling holes so the gravel will drain (photo by Kate St. John)

Then he dumped in and smoothed the new gravel.

gulfnest_05_addinDumping in the new gravel, bag by bag (photo by Kate St. John)

He needed only six bags.

Art spreads the gravel (photo by Kate St. John)

Art added the new ramp and Ta Dah! It’s as good as new (shown at top).

The new gravel is such a different color that I’m hoping the peregrines get curious and come to check it out. When they do they’ll find clean, dry gravel to dig their toes into.

Fingers crossed that they like it well enough to nest here next spring.

(photos by Kate St. John)

The Acorn Plot

December 10, 2015Mammals, Musings & NewsKate St. John

On Throw Back Thursday:

Acorn abundance varies every year. Some years there are lots of acorns, other years not so many. This variation is an oak survival mechanism that alternately floods and dries up the market to insure that some of their nuts survive hungry predation by squirrels, turkeys and deer.

Back in December 2008 there were so few acorns in the Washington, D.C. area that the situation made national news and people put out store-bought delicacies for squirrels.

Were the squirrels begging for attention? Click here to read this 2008 article: The Acorn Plot.

p.s. Pennsylvania’s squirrels have nothing to worry about this winter and next. The PA Game Commission says the acorn crop will be abundant this year and in 2016. Click here to read more.

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Get Ready For Eagle Season

December 9, 2015Birds of PreyKate St. John

Bald eagle at Hays, PA, 21 Nov 2015 (photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA)

9 December 2015

Though it’s only December, Pittsburgh area bald eagles are getting ready for nesting season. They’re starting now because the females will lay eggs in February.

Those who don’t have a nest site are scouting new territories and those who do are staying near home to keep the scouts away. Meanwhile the immature set, ages 1-3, are loafing where the fishing is good up and down the rivers.

At the Hays bald eagle nest site, Dana Nesiti has been photographing the eagles whenever he can. He took this beautiful photo on November 21. Click on it to see more of his work at Eagles of Hays PA Facebook page.

Up the Allegheny at Tarentum, observers have seen lots of peregrine-eagle interactions since a pair of bald eagles moved into the area. Even though the female peregrine, Hope, left Tarentum for Pitt, a single peregrine is still present at the bridge. Mary Ann Thomas wrote about it at TribLive here.

So if you haven’t already, now’s the time to start looking for eagles along our rivers. Check out the established nesting territories at Hays, Dashields Dam, and Harmar. Keep your eyes peeled for new pairs at Tarentum and beyond.

Get ready for eagle season!

(photo by Dana Nesiti, Eagles of Hays PA)

Invasive Species: Earthworms!

December 8, 2015Insects, Musings & NewsKate St. John

Robin feeding earthworm to its nestling (photo by William H. Majoros via Wikimedia Commons) — Robin feeding earthworm to nestling (photo by William H. Majoros via Wikimedia Commons)

We’re all familiar with this sweet scene of a robin feeding earthworms to its young, but did you know this worm is non-native and invasive?

It’s true. 10,000 years ago the glaciers killed North America’s native earthworms. Though there are still some natives in the south they work deeper underground than the European and Asian worms that arrived with immigrants in potted plants, root balls and dry ballast (soil).

Until quite recently I thought earthworms were native. All my life I’ve watched robins yank them out of the soil and seen them on the sidewalk after heavy rain. Gardeners and composters are happy with them, too, but…

Lumbricus terrestris is an invasive earthworm in North America (photo from Wikimedia Commons) — Lumbricus terrestris is invasive in North America (photo by James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, Belgium via Wikimedia Commons)

What’s good for the garden is lousy for North America’s forests. Earthworms churn the soil column and devour leaf litter, invertebrates and fungi that our northern forests rely on. The result is a lack of ground cover and poor regeneration of the trees.

The problems are especially acute at the edge of the earthworm advance around the 45th parallel, Minnesota for example. Studies have shown this lowly garden friend is responsible for the decline of ovenbirds in northern Midwest forests and the decline of forest orchids. Oh my!

Like the emerald ash borer, we humans have accidentally introduced a species that’s bad for the forest. The only way to stop it is for us to stop moving worms and soil. Composters and gardeners take note! If you’re on the edge of the earthworm advance — in Minnesota or Maine, for instance — don’t buy worms. (Pittsburgh isn’t on that edge; earthworms have been here a very long time.)

Meanwhile, thank heaven that robins eat them!

Want to learn more? Watch this 10 minute video from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

(robin photo by William Majoros via Wikimedia Commons. Earthworm photo by James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, Belgium via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the originals)

The Golden Eye

December 7, 2015Beyond Bounds, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Common goldeneye, female (photo by Francis C. Franklin via Wikimedia Commons) — Common goldeneye, female (photo ©Francis C. Franklin at Wikimedia Commons)

Even from afar, you can see how common goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) earned their name.

Adult males have bright yellow eyes, females’ are pale yellow to white. But their eyes aren’t always that color.

When they hatch, common goldeneye ducklings have gray-brown eyes that turn purple-blue, then blue, then green-blue as they age. By five months of age their eyes are a clear pale green-yellow.(*)

Francis C. Franklin took this exceptional photo of a female wintering in northwestern England. Click here to see where Franklin found this beautiful duck.

(this Featured Picture at Wikimedia Commons is ©Francis C. Franklin, license CC-BY-SA-3.0. Click on the image to see the original.)

Common goldeneyes breed in the taiga of North America, Scandinavia and Russia. They’re found on both sides of the Atlantic.
(*) Eye color information quoted from All About Birds.

Now’s The Time To Look For…

December 6, 2015Insects, TreesKate St. John

Hemlock wooly adelgid (photo courtesy Sarah Johnson, The Nature Conservancy)

Last week Sarah Johnson at The Nature Conservancy reminded me that early November to late March is the time of year to be on the lookout for hemlock wooly adelgid.

The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania DCNR, and the US Forest Service are tracking the advance of hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) in hemlock conservation areas and the High Allegheny Plateau of northwestern PA and western NY. They need your help.

Hemlock wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), originally from Japan, kills eastern hemlocks in 4-20 years by sucking the lifeblood out of them. A hemlock with an adelgid infestation like the one above is doomed.

By knowing where HWA has newly arrived, the survey may be able to treat key trees until a winter-hardy biological agent is ready.

So if you’re out birding in Pennsylvania’s north woods(*) and you see these white wooly balls at the base of needles on the undersides of hemlock branches, it’s the dreaded adelgids. Note your location and contact one of the folks on this list. Do NOT take a sample.

If you’d like to participate in the official survey, call or send email to Sarah Johnson at sejohnson@tnc.org, 717-232-6001 Ext 231.

(photo of hemlock wooly adelgid courtesy Sarah Johnson, The Nature Conservancy)

(*) The survey location runs from Cook Forest to New York’s Allegany State Park.

Mixed Up Duck?

December 5, 2015Water and ShoreKate St. John

Juvenile male hooded merganser in April (photo by Dick Daniels via Wikimedia Commons)

This bird looks like a hooded merganser but he’s not quite right. His crest says “female plumage,” his neck and chest say “male.”

This is a yearling male changing into breeding plumage in April. At one year old male hooded mergansers are part way to breeding plumage and look confusing, though the mergansers themselves know who’s who.

In late fall these young ducks are only six months old and look even more like females from a distance.

Don’t get mixed up by this duck. Look closely at “female” hooded mergansers for clues to their identity.

(photo by Dick Daniels via Wikimedia Commons. Click on the image to see the original)

Bald Eagles Hunting

December 3, 2015Birds of PreyKate St. John

(Only a day late for Throw Back Thursday. It’s been a busy week!)

Back in November 2008 I wrote about PBS NATURE’s premier of American Eagle, an intimate look at our nation’s iconic bird.

American Eagle is rarely broadcast now and the full episode is no longer available online, but this segment is. It shows bald eagles hunting waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi in the fall.

Coots have a bad time in the video but the eagles are stupendous. 🙂

(YouTube video from the PBS Channel)

p.s. Click here for more information at PBS NATURE. You can buy the DVD here.

Outside My Window

A Blog of Birds & Nature with Kate St. John