It’s Spray Your Clothes Day (photo by Kate St. John)
11 April 2024
There’s a danger outdoors in Pennsylvania’s suburbs, parks and woods. The first step to protect yourself is to spray your clothes in early spring.
The Danger:
When a black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) sucks your blood it can transmit a parasite that causes Lyme disease, an illness that can ruin your life for a very long time. Black-legged ticks are especially dangerous in May and June when the tiny nymphs, only as big as a poppy seed, are questing for a blood meal.
If you don’t think you’ll see a tick in Pittsburgh’s suburbs, city parks and your own garden, think again. Deer don’t carry Lyme disease but they do carry ticks — a lot of ticks — and deer are everywhere.
Deer on Forbes Ave, Squirrel Hill, 7 Nov 2023 (photo courtesy Mardi Isler)
Are there deer in your backyard? There are also ticks.
The Prevention:
By spraying your clothes with permethrin you repel ticks and lower your likelihood of a tick bite. Spray your clothes outdoors in early April on a dry windless day so the spray doesn’t touch your skin. (Read the directions on the bottle.)
Here’s all you need to know about Spray Your Clothes Day activities and how to prevent Lyme disease.
Peregrine news is quiet in early April while all the nests are incubating … or are they? I just did the math and Tarentum Bridge is going to hatch on or before today (see end of article). Here’s the news.
Cathedral of Learning, Univ of Pittsburgh: Yesterday I just happened to be on the roof deck of my apartment building at 6:24pm when I saw a peregrine burst off the Cathedral of Learning and head east over Fifth Avenue using territorial flappy flight. I could hear it kakking while a second peregrine was in the sky over South Craig Street circling up and up and up. The “flappy” peregrine circled up too and dove on the intruder, driving it to the east.
Yesterday’s motion detection photos indicate that the “flappy” peregrine was Carla. Both peregrines were watchful all day, then suddenly at 6:24pm Carla got mad and left the nest quickly, shouting to Ecco to take over incubation. I was very lucky to see the encounter in the air.
p.s. The falconcam is just fine but Ozolio’s stream is funky. You’ll sometimes see an old still shot, then spinning, then another still shot, then eventually the actual live stream. The National Aviary is working with Ozolio tech support to fix it.
Downtown Pittsburgh: On 28 March 2024 I stood near the Monongahela Incline on Mt Washington and used my scope to peer into the Third Avenue peregrine nest where I saw a peregrine incubating eggs.
Third Ave peregrine nest Downtown as seen via scope from Mt Washington, 28 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh: On 29 March Adam Knoerzer reported that the nest is definitely within the blue circle in his photo below. “The female is always there and never on the exterior except when the male pops in for a shift change.” (I think this on the Highland Avenue side of the steeple.)
East Liberty Presby Church steeple. Look in the blue circle for peregrines to/from the nest (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
Eckert Street, Ohio River: As of 5 April Jeff Cieslak reports that a peregrine pair is near the Eckert Street nest site but they don’t appear to be nesting there. He says it’s the same female, probably a new male.
Peregrines in flight near Eckert Street, Pittsburgh, 12 March 2024 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River: Jeff Cieslak reports: “On several visits during March, one or two falcons were fussing around under the bridge, near the far pier. On April 3, two were observed in what appeared to be a nest exchange on a beam near that area. This will be the third year that I’ve witnessed a breeding pair on this bridge, and I have never seen a fledgling.”
Peregrine pair at nest hole on Sewickley Bridge, 25 March 2024 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Monaca Railroad Bridge, Ohio River: For a while it looked as if the peregrines would nest but their attempt must have failed. eBird reports from the “Mouth of the Beaver River” hotspot in late March through 2 April indicate that both peregrines are visible simultaneously. Definitely not incubating.
Railroad bridge over the Ohio River from Monaca to Beaver (photo by Kate St.John)
Rt 40 Bridge, West Brownsville, Monongahela River: Fred Kachmarik and Jeff Cieslak both visited this bridge in mid to late March and saw a solo peregrine. Here’s Jeff’s photo from 23 March. Since this site was successful in the past, it looks promising for a family this year.
Peregrine at Rt 40 Bridge, West Brownsville, PA, 23 March 2024 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Every potential site is listed below …
and you’re probably wondering …
When will the eggs hatch? … How about TODAY? see below
The usual calculation is “34 days after incubation begins,” though in most cases we don’t know when it started. Of the four nests that seem to be incubating here’s a rough guess.
Cathedral of Learning: Started around 3/19; Hatch approximately 22 April.
Downtown Third Avenue: Your guess is as good as mine. We didn’t know they were incubating until 3/28 because we didn’t look.
Sewickley Bridge: Saw a nest exchange on 4/3; Hatch on or before 7 May … probably before.
Tarentum Bridge: Saw incubation 3/7; Hatch on or before TODAY!UPDATE: Dave Brooke got video today of the two chicks at Tarentum Bridge. They are more than a week old as of 10 April — possibly 9 days old!
Total solar eclipse, Berea, Ohio, 8 April 2024 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
9 April 2024
For three minutes yesterday afternoon, people in a wide swath of the U.S. from Texas to Maine were wowed by the total solar eclipse. Jeff Cieslak was in the totality zone in Berea, Ohio and captured the photo at top. Look closely at the dark edge and you’ll see solar prominences (flares).
Pittsburgh and Dubois, PA, just east of the totality zone, were both close enough to experience a 97% eclipse. Our light level was like dusk and the temperature got cooler. Charity Kheshgi captured the partial eclipse in Pittsburgh at 3:17 to 3:20pm.
View of the 97% eclipse in Pittsburgh, 8 April 2024 at 3:19pm ET (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Meanwhile Marianne Atkinson noticed a change in honeybee behavior at her home in Dubois, PA. She’s providing a honeybee feeder this spring, filled with sugar water, to feed hungry bees in the early days before the flowers bloom. Yesterday morning her feeder was mobbed with honeybees and was running dry.
Honeybees at the feeder, Dubois, PA, 7 April 2024 (video by Marianne Atkinson)
There were too many bees for her to safely refill the feeder so she put out a second one (white rim). It was mobbed, too.
Honeybees at two feeders in Dubois, PA, 8 April 2024 before the partial eclipse (photo by Marianne Atkinson)
And then the eclipse began. Marianne describes what happened.
I had just added a second honey bee feeder this afternoon, not long before the eclipse started. But, during the eclipse at 97%, there were very few bees on either feeder! The yellow feeder only had two bees and the gravel feeder had 3 bees. I took this opportunity to add more nectar to the yellow feeder, since it was empty.
[Meanwhile] The many American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins were chattering away in the trees nearby during the whole eclipse. The sky had gotten a little darker, but not dark like a solar eclipse in totality. There were clouds during most of the eclipse, with occasional peaks of sun or seeing it through thin clouds. I was able to view it off and on.
— email from Marianne Atkinson, Dubois, PA, 8 April 2024
Honeybees are diurnal and they return to their hive at dusk to spend the night indoors. Apparently the light level during a 97% eclipse is low enough to prompt bees to go home. After the eclipse the honeybees came back quickly to both feeders. Marianne said, “They had just recently discovered the pea gravel feeder, but did not waste any time in utilizing it!”
Did you notice any special animal or insect behavior during the eclipse? Leave a comment with your observations.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Frick Park, 6 April 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
8 April 2024
Surprise! Instead of an outing on the last Sunday of the month, let’s go birding next weekend. Join me at the Schenley Park Visitors Center for a bird & nature walk on Sunday 14 April, 8:30a – 10:30a.
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers migrate through Allegheny County in April so mid-month is the best time to find one in Schenley. Charity Kheshgi and I saw this one at Frick.
We’ll also see trees in bud, in bloom, and with tiny leaves. Ten years ago the redbuds had not opened yet. Will they be blooming next Sunday?
Redbuds in bud, Schenley Park, 18 April 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
April showers won’t stop us. This event will be held rain or shine, but not in downpours or thunder. Check the Events page before you come in case of cancellation.
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Don’t forget your binoculars.
Hope to see you there.
p.s. If the birding is good I’ll give an option to continue until 11:00am.
p.p.s. Don’t expect a big show of spring wildflowers like we used to see several years ago. Pittsburgh’s overabundant deer have eaten everything except the toxic flowers.
If you live in close contact with animals you get to know them well. Shepherds of small flocks develop an especially close relationship with their sheep because they tend them every day — and for 24 hours a day during lambing in early spring.
Paula Aarons, originally from Valencia PA, runs a small sheep farm in New Hampshire called the Dancing Pony Sheep Farm. Last month she appeared on Junction Fiber Mill‘s Millcast program to tell the story of her flock supporting each other and supporting her, their shepherd.
Our mutual friend Jeff Cieslak introduced her 15-minute video.
People: My friend Paula told this wonderful story about her sheep for a podcast. I watched it, and I wept a little, and now you, too, must weep.
Bloodroot blooming at Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 April 2024
This week March went out like a lamb and April came in like a lion.
After photographing garden flowers on Easter morning I traveled out to Independence Marsh in Beaver County. I did not find my target bird, rusty blackbirds, but I did find spring flowers: Dutchmans breeches, cutleaf toothwort, bloodroot (above) and the first tiny bloom on shooting star (below).
Early bloom on shooting star, Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
As soon as March was over, things went wrong. I should have known when I saw this troubled sky of mammatus clouds on Saturday, 30 March. Not a good sign.
Mammatus clouds presage a week of rain, snow and graupel in Pittsburgh, 30 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
It rained and rained and rained on April 1-3, setting a record of 2.68 inches on April 2. Streams and basements were hit hard while the rain was falling. The rivers rose, as shown at at Duck Hollow on 4 April with the Monongahela River at parking lot level. (more flood photos and videos here)
Duck Hollow parking lot — A River Runs Through It — 4 April 2024, 7:19am ET
Later that same day, Thursday 4 April, the temperature fell and so did graupel.
Graupel falls o n4 April 2024 (video by Kate St. John)
Today it’s cold but the precipitation has finally stopped.
Meanwhile ….Remember those beautiful tulips I posted last Sunday, Easter morning?
BEFORE –> Tulips on N. Neville St on Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
And remember the deer I saw between two highrises in Oakland on 24 March?
A deer browsing the garden at a highrise in Pittsburgh, 5:30am 24 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Well, the two met up and the tulips did not fare well.
AFTER –> Same tulips eaten by deer on N. Neville St as of 2 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
That was on N Neville Street. Here’s N Craig Street.
BEFORE –> Tulips in front of a highrise on N Craig St, Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)AFTER –> Tulips eaten by deer on N Craig St, 4 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Rabbits rarely say anything but this small mammal, related to rabbits, stands on a prominent rock and shouts to his friends when he sees danger.
American pikas (Ochotona princeps) weigh 6 ounces and are only 6-8 inches long, covered from head to toe in thick fur. They live in boulder fields above the treeline where they eat flowers, grasses and other plants that they cache in a “haystack” for the winter. Though tiny these small mammals are a tasty meal for hawks, eagles, coyotes, bobcats, foxes and weasels.
Pikas very social and vocal, calling out danger and “singing” during the breeding season. When a pika sees danger he lets all the nearby pika’s know.
Though he has a small voice, he works on projection.
Monongahela River floods the Duck Hollow parking lot, 4 April 2024, 7:20am (photo by Kate St. John)
4 April 2024
This morning I checked NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service and saw there was a major flood today on the Monongahela River at Braddock Lock & Dam, just upriver from Duck Hollow. It looked like it would crest this morning …
It was so deep that the parking lot garbage can was floating. Needless to say there were no barges or ducks on the river.
The birds were singing as I filmed the river at the mouth of Nine Mile Run.
Was I there for the crest? I took a two minute video while the water was rising. See the pink line indicating the high water mark in these slides from my video.
The National Weather Service says we’ve broken the record for the wettest start of any year in Pittsburgh since record-keeping began in 1871.
Do you think this year we have seen a lot of ???? in #Pittsburgh? If you said YES, you are correct! 13.71" is the wettest start to the year on record (1871-2024).
City folks often see pigeons but all the birds are adults. Have you ever seen a baby pigeon?
Rock pigeons nest on cliffs in the wild or in nooks on high buildings or bridges in feral settings. This puts their nests high above our field of view and, since the young won’t leave the nest until they can fly, they don’t look like babies anymore when we finally see them. They look like their parents.
Every once in a while a pair of pigeons will choose a balcony or window ledge where the resident can see the nest. This happened for @LostInTheWildCanadawho documented the pigeon family on YouTube.
Monongahela River flood at Duck Hollow, 10 Sept 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)
2 April 2024
CORRECTION (3 APRIL at 7am): When I first published this article, I didn’t realize I was using outdated maps so my analysis was wrong. NOAA changed to their mapping tool on 28 March; the new tool is much better. Maps, links and the flood assessment have been corrected.
Today (2 April 2024) it will be warm in Pittsburgh (71°F) but very wet with severe thunderstorms, 2-3 inches of rain, and up to 4 inches in localized downpours. There’s a Flood Watch through this evening for rivers, creeks, streams, and flood-prone locations.
It is unlikely that the Monongahela River will flood as much as it did in 2018, above in September, below in February. But it will reach flood stage.
The river is expected to rapidly rise Wednesday (3 April) and crest at 26.7 feet early Thursday (4 April), just below the moderate flood stage. As of Wednesday morning, it was over 21 feet.
The National Water Prediction Service provides a dynamic water prediction map for the entire U.S. updated with current conditions (circles) and water level predictions (squares around the circle). The colors on the 4/3/2024 at 9:00pm map below mean:
