In North America we call our smallest falcon a “kestrel” (Falco sparverius) because it resembles the well known Eurasian or common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in Europe. Both are cavity nesters that use holes in cliffs, trees or buildings.
Wildlife artist and blogger Robert E Fuller (@RobertEFuller) has live nest cameras at his farm in Yorkshire, England including two on common kestrel nests. When he tweeted this video three days ago the eggs in Jeff and Jenny’s nest were about to hatch. Yesterday the first three hatched. Today the chicks are growing fast and the last egg awaits.
Now that it’s insect season we’re back to swatting flies, but are we successful? Mostly not. Flies are masters at avoiding swats for a couple of reasons.
First, they have much faster perception and reaction times than we do. Back in 2008 researchers at Caltech used high speed, high definition video to record the movements of fruit flies avoiding a swat threat. Amazingly, flies can react to an approaching swatter within 100 milliseconds.
Second, the flies’ middle legs are key to their escape. When a fly sees a threat it re-positions its body, sets its long middle legs in the right location, and pushes off from them.
The photo series below from the Caltech study shows a fruit fly perceiving a threat from the front (right side of photos) with red dots indicating the original location of the fly’s middle legs. At 215 milliseconds the fly has its middle legs in launch position. When it jumps at 287 milliseconds (the last possible moment) it’s using its middle legs.
Fly science hasn’t changed that much since the first discovery 15 years ago but the explanation of fly reaction time has gotten better as shown in this video.
We humans move, see, and think slowly compared to a fly but if we can anticipate where the fly will jump and aim for that spot we stand a chance of nabbing it.
Once a year, from late June until August, Canada geese spend six weeks molting all their wing feathers. This means they can’t fly in July, nor even in late June.
On a walk at Herrs Island yesterday I saw many Canada geese swimming in the river and a few of their primary feathers — the “fingertip” feathers — scattered on shore. At first I wondered if a goose had been attacked and then I realized the feathers were a sign of their synchronous molt. Here’s a snapshot from a similar discovery made by Rebecca Johnson in 2020. (Click on the snapshot to see her video on YouTube.)
Even if you don’t see discarded wing feathers you can tell a Canada goose is molting because its white rump is visible above the dark tail. It’s really noticeable from above.
In late June and July when they cannot fly Canada geese are safe only in water. You’ll see them feeding just a short walk from a large body of water and notably absent from landlocked places.
When they can fly again, their tails will look like this when their wings are closed.
When I saw a blue jay eating a baby bird in Schenley Park last week I jumped to the conclusion that jays are a huge threat to nesting birds … but are they? A 2016 analysis of 53 North American nest-predator studies, comprising more than 4000 camera-monitored nests, found that the top predators are far different than I expected. The biggest threat to a nest varies by region, habitat, the size of nesting adults, and the height of the nest.
Across the North American continent about 37% of nest predation is done by mammals, a combination of “mesopredators” (raccoons, foxes, squirrels) and rodents.
One of the 53 studies, published in 2007, listed predation counts by species in the continental U.S. Thompson et al’s top six nest predators are shown in the slides below.
(*) Perhaps this is The Revenge of the Mammals: When dinosaurs, birds’ ancestors, ruled the Earth they feasted on mammals, all of whom were tiny and hid underground. Now the tables are turned and small birds are at the mercy of mammals.
They’re here, they’re creepy and they’re not going away any time soon. Spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) have made it to Pittsburgh and are following the typical trajectory of invasive insect pests: Barely noticeable (2018) to Overwhelming (2022, 2023+) to Hard to Find (declines in about 3 years: 2025).
The most important thing to remember is this from Penn State Extension: Avoid overreacting to the situation and teach others not to overreact. Insecticides won’t eradicate the pests but will kill the good bugs, bees and butterflies. Instead, let’s outsmart spotted lanternflies.
First, know the enemy and its weakness: Spotted lanternflies can only crawl up, they can’t reverse!
Second, learn how to manage them. This month Penn State Extension educator Sandy Feather is presenting practical in-person advice on how residents can contribute to combating the problem. I’m late to let you know about these two remaining classes:
June 12 — 6-8 p.m. at Frick Environmental Center, Point Breeze [tonight!]
June 14 — 2:30-5:30 p.m. at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, North Fayette
Third, protect a favorite tree using this circle trap (video below). You can make your own circle trap or buy one here. Do not use sticky tape as it traps and kills birds (trying to eat the bugs) and beneficial insects.
Fourth, be brave. Yesterday Claire Staples outsmarted hundreds of spotted lanternfly nymphs by smashing them with her bare hands! Here are her photos and a quote from her email. (How many nymphs can you see in the right hand photo?)
Spotted lanternfly infestation on porcelainberry, Swisshelm Park, 11 June 2023 (photos by Claire Staples)
I killed over 200 in a 10 foot section along the power lines through Swisshelm Park slag heap. It was the only place where we found them but it was amazing to see the density. It was really easy to get them and my granddaughter watched and only a few escaped. I would take the small branch with the bugs in the palm of my hand and place the other palm on [top of] it and start rolling my hands together. I was amazed that my hands appeared clean and there was no odor. I did wash my hands later but I was surprised that there was no residue.
— email from Claire Staples, 11 June 2023
That’s braver than I would have been!
Meanwhile, the lanternfly population will eventually decline on its own. Here’s what happened in Berks County, PA where spotted lanternflies were first discovered:
2014: Barely noticeable. Spotted lanternfly first discovered in U.S.in Berks.
2018, 2019: Overwhelming. Everywhere! Some commercial grapevines killed.
Dark brown female at Third Avenue Downtown, perched on Lawrence Hall, 5 June 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
11 June 2023
This spring Downtown Pittsburgh’s peregrines were so confusing that for two months we weren’t even sure of their age and sex. By now we know that the male at Third Avenue is Terzo and the dark brown bird is female. Why is this bird so dark? The mystery is intriguing.
Wrong ID for the dark bird: In early April Jeff Cieslak and I were both convinced the dark brown bird was a one-year-old male because we saw it enter the Third Avenue nest carrying prey even though the eggs had not hatched yet. After all, male peregrines bring prey to incubating females and immature birds have brown plumage … don’t they?
Solve the easy ID first: Who is the banded white-chested bird? Jeff Cieslak’s April and May photos show that the gray-and-white adult has black/red bands. Also, several viewers remarked that the bird’s face is like Terzo in other photos. This bird is the male, Terzo.
Terzo at Third Avenue Downtown perched on Lawrence Hall, 5 June 2023 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Is the dark bird immature? No. Adult plumage has horizontal stripes on the flanks and belly, immature plumage has vertical stripes. Compare these side-by-side adult and juvenile peregrines photographed at Third Avenue.
Comparing peregrine adult vs juvenile plumage: Adult plumage has horizontal stripes, juvie plumage has vertical stripes (photos digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Is the female completely dark brown? No. This photo of her back shows it is grayer in color than her belly.
Dark brown female is grayer on her back, 3 June 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Why is this bird so dark? I sent photos to Art McMorris, retired PA Game Commission Peregrine Coordinator, and asked: “This adult at the Third Ave nest site Downtown is very brown and not banded as far as we can see. It doesn’t have juvenile vertical stripes on flanks and chest. I don’t know what to make of this coloration.”
Art’s reply includes a Peregrine Reintroduction discussion in the third paragraph:
This is indeed a very puzzling-looking bird. I’m looking at these 3 photos and the photo Jeff Cieslak took on 4/14. All show the horizontal banding typical of adult peregrines, not juveniles. But it is very brown, atypical of adults. It is much grayer in the third photo you sent; nowhere near as brown but still very dark.
Structurally, it looks like a typical peregrine to me.
Taking all of this together, I’d say it is reminiscent of pealei [Pacific Northwest subspecies]. Pealei is non-migratory, so I wouldn’t suggest that it might be a bird from the Pacific Northwest, but pealei is also one of the 7 subspecies used for captive breeding and release. And occasionally genetic recombination in the wild population results in birds with unusual coloration. I know of 2 cases of peregrines that looked exactly like pure tundrius, but their parents had the typical appearance of the re-introduced population, which strongly resembles eastern anatum (but is not anatum; it’s an intergrade of the 7 subspecies). One of those tundrius look-alikes was from the Gulf Tower, quite a few years ago when the population was still small.
So, my best guess is that this bird is an adult peregrine in which recombination has resulted in homozygosity of some alleles from its pealei ancestors. And the downtown bird is fertile, inconsistent with it being any kind of hybrid.
It will be interesting to see what this year’s young look like when they molt into adult plumage. But unfortunately, we’ll never know.
— Paraphrased email from Art McMorris, 4 June 2023
What other clues do we have about this bird? Art has so much experience with peregrines that he also said: “Earlier the brown bird was called the male, but the feet look female to me.”
Yo! Big feet?!
Dark adult peregrine at Third Avenue, 28 May 2023 (photo digiscoped by Kate St. John)
Just when I think I’ve got it all figured out, peregrines surprise me again.
Goatsbeard gone to seed, SGL 117, 6 June 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
10 June 2023
Goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) lived up to its name this week as it showed off its huge fluffy seed head at SGL 117 in Washington County, PA.
Nymphal froghoppers known as spittlebugs hid under foam while sucking plant juice at Frick Park.
Spittlebugs, Frick Park, 8 June 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
A fluffy white substance that looked like fungus may well be insects — perhaps woolly aphids (“boogie woogie” aphids) sipping sap from a cut branch.
Are these aphids
Canadian wildfire smoke made for eerie an sunrise on Thursday morning. My photos of it were anemic. Check out Dave DiCello’s instead. Click on a photo to enlarge it.
'The blood moon rises once again…'
Not really. But the sun looked eerie as it rose behind the smoke from the Canadian wildfires today in #Pittsburgh. The smoke and haze are supposed to get worse as the day goes on, so stay safe out there. So weird to see the city like this. pic.twitter.com/nZKJEg6R1f
White snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) wilting in Schenley Park, 7 June 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
9 June 2023
Plants are drooping, water levels are low, and clouds of dust engulf dirt roads in western Pennsylvania. It hasn’t rained for almost three weeks at a time of year that’s usually wet. Yesterday it became official. We’re in a drought.
Every week the U.S. Drought Monitor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln issues a nationwide drought assessment. Pennsylvania is labeled “SL” on this week’s map for evidence in both Short term and Long term indicators. (Click here for the latest Drought Map.)
The drought seems sudden but it’s been building for a while. Precipitation was above normal last year through January 2023 but starting in February it fell off. April and May were seriously below normal. June has been bone dry so far. As of today Pittsburgh has a year-to-date precipitation deficit of 4.55 inches.
Just because black bears don’t have thumbs doesn’t mean they can’t get into cars and trucks. If there’s food inside a vehicle they have a big incentive to open it, even if it means breaking the glass and bending metal, as shown above in California.
This week in Evergreen, Colorado a bear smelled dog food inside a truck in a driveway. Since the truck was unlocked he didn’t have to break the windows and doors to get in.
See what happened next in this tweet from Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Northeast Region (@CPW_NE).
Dog food + unlocked truck = bear trapped in your truck
?up to listen our wildlife officer free the bear and scare it from the area. Good lesson to bring in food from your vehicles! Bears can smell it and learn how to open doors. pic.twitter.com/hKkgfwrXoH
