Sooty and white mold grow on honeydew deposited by spotted lanternflies feeding on Ailanthus, Schenley Park, 15 Sep 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
17 September 2023
The onslaught of invasive spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) continues in Pittsburgh until the first truly cold weather gives us a couple of frosts. This month the bugs are congregating on vertical objects, feeding on Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), and laying eggs.
On Friday in Schenley Park the sun broke sideways through the trees to a large Ailanthus along the Lower Trail coated in lanternflies, sooty mold, and white mold (highlighted in yellow). The lanternflies were actively sucking on the tree’s sap.
White mold on Ailanthus beneath the spotted lanternfly feeding zone, Schenley Park, 15 Sep 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sunlight illuminated small bugs flying horizontally near the tree and something falling that looked like rain.
Spotted lanternfly honeydew drops like rain, Schenley Park, 15 Sep 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Uh oh! That rain is watery spotted lanternfly poop called “honeydew.” The honeydew is sugary and the air actually smelled sweet.
So stand back when you see a tree coated in sooty mold and spotted lanternflies. You won’t want to get rained on.
Ecco watches while Carla preens, 15 Sep 2023, 3:54pm
16 September 2023
Yesterday Ecco and Carla spent lots of time hanging out together at the Pitt peregrine nest. The snapshot camera’s motion detector captured their activity.
Beginning at 3:50pm the pair spent 45 minutes together, bowing, preening, and watching. When Ecco left, Carla continued on the perch for another half hour, then stretched and departed at 5:00pm.
Two minutes later Ecco landed at the exact same spot on the perch. Because female peregrines are larger than males, the switch from Carla to Ecco made it look as if the bird shrank.
Ecco preened for more than an hour, then stretched and vaulted up to leave at 6:13pm. All told, the peregrines were present on camera for nearly 2.5 hours.
This slideshow shows 144 minutes of their interactions in only 1 minute and 15 seconds. If you miss the captions on the first pass, don’t worry, the slideshow repeats.
For nearly 30 years ultralights have been used to establish safe migration routes for endangered geese and cranes as they are reintroduced to the wild.
In 1993 ultralight pioneer Bill Lishman, along with Joe Duff, conducted the first ever human-led bird migration by guiding a small flock of young Canada geese from Ontario to Virginia. His experiment proved that young geese imprinted on an ultralight will follow the aircraft and learn the migration route. After leading the birds just once, in one direction, the geese knew the route and returned on their own in the spring.
Christian “Birdman” Moullec was the first to do it in Europe when he guided lesser white-fronted geese (Anser erythropus) from their future breeding grounds in Sweden to new wintering grounds in Germany in 1999. He has since led red-breasted geese (Branta ruficollis) and many other species.
Pittsburgh’s bird migration forecast looks great for three days in a row. Last night through Friday night will see a huge passage of birds overhead with excellent birding opportunities today, Friday and Saturday.
Here’s what migration radar looked like at 5:00am this morning.
Greater and lesser yellowlegs, April 2020 (photo by Lauri Shaffer)
Lots of species left recently but most of them were shorebirds. Since Pittsburgh doesn’t have a shore we rarely see those listed below. Occasionally a lesser or greater yellowlegs is reported but don’t expect to find one now.
Here’s a quick summary of rapid departures as of 14 September 2023 in a screenshot from BirdCast. Note that cedar waxwings are here right now but will rapidly depart around 27 September. Yellow-billed cuckoos on the list because I always hope.
Peak Influx: What will we see this week? Warblers!
Nick Liadis checking the age of an ovenbird, Sept 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)
For the Upper Midwest and Northeast region, 13 to 17 September is the peak of warbler migration.
I’ve featured the ovenbird because yesterday (last night!) was its peak influx point. No surprise then that Nick Liadis banded one yesterday at Hays Woods during Linda Roth’s 40 Acres a.k.a. Hays Woods Enthusiasts live stream. Check it out here.
And if you thought you’d seen a lot of magnolia warblers already, the next few days will be exceptional. They reach their regional peak influx on Sunday.
Magnolia warbler in autumn (photo by Steve Gosser)
Here’s a screenshot of the Noticeable Peak Influx as of 14 September 2023. Note the exclamation point next to magnolia warbler in the chart below!
Dead spotted lanternfly at the base of a utility pole, 13 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
13 September 2023
They aren’t very smart but they know what they like: warmth and vertical objects.
If you haven’t been to Downtown or Oakland lately you’re missing an insect phenomenon. Our plague of spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) is quite attracted to tall buildings and utility poles, especially when it’s hot.
Spotted lanternflies love this utility pole when the sun heats it (photo by Kate St. John)
Like moths to a flame, spotted lanternflies are visually drawn toward and seemingly captivated by vertical objects such as utility poles …
[They] turn and land on the poles when they are less than about 10 feet away. They remain on the pole for many minutes, even hours, while crawling up toward the top to try to take flight again.
However, a large proportion of those launching themselves from the pole are drawn back to the pole, which serves as a sort of “visual magnet” from which the insects cannot escape for a while.
On hot days I see thousands above me, puttering toward the buildings, tapping along the structures as they try to find a place to land.
This building is especially attractive to spotted lanternflies, Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
The bugs cling and fall off, leaving drifts of lanternfly carcasses on the ground below.
Spotted lanternflies litter the base of the Rand Building, 11 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
There’s a theory that the bugs like vertical objects because they are such weak fliers that they have to climb up and relaunch on their search for their host tree, the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). According to Penn State Extension, they “land on buildings for warmth, height and other unknown reasons.” Other unknown reasons: Who can know the mind of a lanternfly?
Fortunately we can learn from Philadelphia where their spotted lanternfly plague hit in 2020 (during the pandemic). Here’s what happened at a taco shop on the ground floor of a high rise.
Note that Philadelphia had their lanternfly plague in 2020 and now, three years later, they are wondering where all the bugs have gone. I’m sure we can expect 2-3 summers of this nonsense. Certainly by 2026 spotted lanternflies will just be a bad memory in Pittsburgh.
Purple milkwort, Sewickley Heights Park, 8 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
12 September 2023
Why do some plants have the suffix “-wort” in their names?
The suffix “-wort” simply means “plant.” In earlier centuries, plant common names often referred to physical characteristics, resemblance, or recommended medicinal uses.
Purple milkwort (Polygala sanguinea), above, is native to North America. “The genus name Polygala comes from the ancient Greek “much milk”, as the plant was thought to increase milk yields in cattle.” I have no idea if this works.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), related to ragweed, is used in cooking and has been used medicinally. It has a bitter flavor. Why “mug”? I don’t know.
Mugwort leaves are white underneath (photo by Kate St. John)Mugwort flowers are brown in September, Schenley Park, 23 Sept 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pilewort (Erechtites hieraciifolius) is a member of the Aster family that grows easily in disturbed soil. Quirky Science says the “reported uses include the treating of hemorrhage, dysentery, skin diseases, and cholera. It is a purgative and emetic. The name suggests it is good in treating piles (hemorrhoids).”
Pilewort, Pittsburgh East End, 28 Aug 2023 (photo by Kate St. John) Pilewort flower heads and seeds, Sept 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
St. Johns wort (Hypericum perforatum), imported from Europe, is so-named because it blooms in June and was traditionally harvested on St. John’s Day, June 24, to adorn homes and ward off evil. It is an herbal treatment for depression and has been planted nearly worldwide.
St. Johns wort, South Side of Pittsburgh, July 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)
While on the way to somewhere else I found … the bluest thrush.
According to Birds of the World, the grandala (Grandala coelicolor) is a gregarious thrush that makes a vertical migration in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau(*) from barren alpine breeding grounds at 3900–5500 m (12,800-18,000 ft) to rocky mountainside valleys and ridges at 3000–4300 m (9,800-14,000 ft), sometimes as low as 2000 m (6,500 ft).
To put this in perspective, if grandalas lived in the U.S they could only breed on Denali (20,000 ft) or the highest Rocky Mountains. Some of them never come down as low as the highest point in the Rockies, the peak of Mount Elder.
Grandalas are the same size as wood thrushes and like the wood thrush are the only species in their genus, but there the similarity ends. For instance, grandalas are sexually dimorphic with royal blue males and brownish-gray females.
Common green darner, Virginia (photo from Wikimedia)
Variegated meadowhawk, California (photo from Wikimedia)
Black saddlebags, California (photo from Wikimedia)
Global skimmer, Laos (photo from Wikimedia)
Spot-winged glider, Texas (photo from Wikimedia)
10 September 2023
On the evening of Friday 8 September, Marianne Atkinson noticed hundreds of dragonflies patrolling a field near her house in Dubois, PA. Other folks as much as 20 miles away were commenting on the same thing and posting videos online. What were these bugs up to? Marianne sent me her video …
video by Marianne Atkinson
… and this Facebook post from the McKean County Conservation District explaining the phenomenon. Dragonflies are migrating.
The green darner is the most common migratory dragonfly in Pennsylvania but is only one of 16 migratory species in North America. The five main migrants are pictured in the slideshow at top and listed below from Donna L Long’s website.
Green darners have a multi-generational migration. The individuals we see flying south right now will not return but will be the grandparents of those who journey north next spring.
Recent research has indicated that the annual life cycle of green darner (Anax junius) is likely composed of at least three different generations. The first generation emerges in the southern end of its range in early spring and migrates northwards through spring and summer. The second generation emerges in the northern end of its range in summer and migrates southwards in fall. The third generation occurs in the south during the winter and does not migrate.
When dragonflies migrate during the day in Pennsylvania they follow the same flight paths and fly on the same prime migration days as the hawks. I often see dragonflies at hawk watches where I’m glad they’re eating mosquitos and flying ants on the wing.
Green darners seem to go far but for real long distance the global skimmer wins the prize, migrating from India to Africa across the Indian Ocean! It also occurs in North America.
Turtleheads blooming in Schenley Park, 3 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
9 September 2023
Seen this week:
Turtleheads and late boneset flowers at Schenley Park. Do you see the honeybee?
Honeybee flies to late boneset, Schenley Park, 4 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
A rainbow with crows over Oakland.
Rainbow over Shadyside on 7 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Fiery sunset on 7 September.
Fiery sunset on 7 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Six deer in Schenley Park — only 5 made it into the photo.
Five of six does in Schenley Park along the Bridle Trail, 4 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
But there’s a photo of deer I wish I’d been able to take: Friday morning 8 September along 5th Ave between the Cathedral of Learning and Clapp Hall I saw 3 deer — 2 does and 1 fawn — standing on the pavement at Clapp Hall. They were close to the curb of 5th Ave at Tennyson as they tried to figure out how to cross 5th Ave during rush hour.
When we watch the sky at night, we see the stars and planets wheel above us as they rise and set.
But what if we were standing among the stars? What if the stars stood still and we could tell that the Earth was moving?
Astrophotographer Bartosz Wojczynski set up his camera on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount that automatically canceled out the Earth’s rotation. In his video the stars stand still.
