From Warblers to Sparrows

Migration, Songbirds
Third northern parula, Frick Park, 14 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

17 October 2022

In just two days the mix of songbirds at Frick Park changed from warblers to thrushes and sparrows.

On Friday 14 October Charity Kheshgi and I found three northern parulas (Setophaga americana) along Nine Mile Run at Frick Park. eBird said they were worthy of a Rare Bird Alert. Fortunately Charity got photos of all three, shown in the slideshow below with three photos of each. Two of them are very easy to tell apart because they are at the extremes of bright vs. pale colors.

  • 1. First northern parula, Frick Park, 14 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
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On Saturday night migration was intense which often means that all the birds leave Pittsburgh. Instead, on chilly Sunday morning we found a new mix of songbirds including those pictured below.

Blue headed vireo, Frick Park, 16 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Golden-crowned kinglet, Frick Park, 16 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Hermit thrush, Frick Park, 16 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)
Gray-cheeked thrush, Frick Park, 16 Oct 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

There were many more American robins [50 instead of 7] and white-thoated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) [36 instead of none] and we even heard a fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca) (example below). I wish we could have seen it.

Meanwhile we’re still waiting for dark-eyed juncos but not the snow that comes with them.

Waiting For Snowbirds But Not For Snow

(photos by Charity Kheshgi)

Dolphins Shed Their Skin Every 2 Hours

Mammals, Water and Shore
Dolphin playing in the wake, Everglades (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

16 October 2022

Dolphins have specialized skin for their underwater lives. The outer layer (epidermis) feels rubbery and is 15 to 20 times thicker than our own. It stays smooth because:

Dolphin skin constantly flakes and peels as new skin cells replace old cells. A bottlenose dolphin’s outermost skin layer may be replaced every 2 hours. This sloughing rate is 9 times faster than in humans. This turnover rate ensures a smooth body surface and probably helps increase swimming efficiency by reducing drag (resistance to movement).

— Seaworld.org: Bottlenose dolphin characteristics

Dolphins will even take turns to rub their bodies on corals and sponges, an activity that probably feels good. (video: Why Taking Turns Is Good for Dolphin Skin)

We know these things about dolphins because some have a close association with humans. Veterinarians and trainers take an active interest in the welfare of animals in their care.

Dolphin looking above the water, Kyoto Aquarium (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Dolphin veterinarians are especially concerned that as dolphins age, their heart health may suffer. This includes the dolphins in the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program in San Diego.

Photo from 2003: Dolphin wearing geolocator during mineclearance operations, US Navy Marine Mammal Program (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Last year the Navy asked for proposals to place heart monitors on their aging dolphins to unobtrusively monitor them as they move about in the ocean. There are many challenges to doing so including the dolphins’ skin. Because the skin turns over every two hours nothing can stick to it for long. I wouldn’t know about their skin if I hadn’t heard about the heart monitors.

The vast majority of us rarely if ever seen dolphins in the wild and know very little about their lives. We are mesmerized when we see them this close.

Fascinated by dolphins, Dolphin Bay (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

It’s hard not to love them.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons and from Royal Society Publishing; click on the captions to see the originals)

Seen This Week: Reds and Yellows

Peregrines, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Trees, Weather & Sky
Fall leaves, Schenley Park, 12 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

15 October 2022

Fall colors were looking good in the City of Pittsburgh this week. A maple in Schenley Park turned shades of orange and red while the sunrise worked to match it.

Sunrise on 12 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

This acorn in Schenley Park is a squirrel’s dream come true, the largest acorn native to North America. Bur oaks (Quercus macrocarpa also spelled burr oak) were planted in several places in the park more than 100 years ago, most notably at the main trail entrance near Bartlett Playground. This species withstands harsh conditions and is one of the most drought resistant oaks.

Bur oak acorn, Schenley Park, 9 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

Goldenrods are blooming in the small meadow near Bartlett Playground.

Goldenrod in meadow, Schenley Park, 12 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

During my walk to Schenley Plaza on 11 October I saw a peregrine fly toward Heinz Chapel’s scaffolding and disappear among the dense rods.

Heinz Chapel scaffolding, 11 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

If he hadn’t moved I would not have found him. Ta dah! (See inside red circle.)

Peregrine falcon perched (circled) on Heinz Chapel scaffolding, 11 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

Amazingly he was easier to see through binoculars from Schenley Plaza tent. Too far for a photo.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Birds Love Water Features

Migration, Songbirds
Western bluebird bathing, California (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

14 October 2022

Songbirds are attracted to water — to streams, puddles, marshes, ponds — especially on migration.

Watch a soothing video of birds enjoying the water in Richard Hall’s backyard in Athens, Georgia.

Want to set up your own water feature? Here are three resources.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons, embedded tweet by @richhallecology)

By Jove It’s Thors Day

Weather & Sky
Jupiter & moon Europa from Hubble Space Telescope, 25 Aug 2020 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

13 October 2022

Today is Thursday, Thor’s Day, or Jove’s Day. We’ll celebrate with some quick facts about Jupiter.

The Romans named the fifth day of the week dies Jovis (“Jove‘s Day”) after the planet Jupiter. In Germanic mythology, Jupiter is equated to Thor, whence the English name Thursday for the Roman dies Jovis.

— From Wikipedia: Jupiter

Jupiter was big in the news last month when on 27 September 2022 the planet was at its closest, brightest and best in 70 years. On that date the Earth flew between Jupiter and the Sun, putting Jupiter in opposition and in bright sunlight as it rose at sunset.

Three days later it rose after sunset so the sky was dark showing off Jupiter’s four largest moons, the ones first seen by Galileo in 1610.

Jupiter & Galilean moons, 30 September 2022 (photo by George E. Koronaios via Wikimedia Commons)

Modern day space probes and telescopes can see the Galilean moons in full color. The image caption on the photo below explains: From left to right in order of increasing distance from Jupiter, Io is closest, followed by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Jupiter’s Galilean moons as seen from NASA’s Galilean spacecraft (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Timelapse photography allows us to see the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter as NASA’s Juno spacecraft approaches. These are only four of the 80 known satellites of Jupiter, most of which are less than 10km (6.2 miles) in diameter. 80 moons!

Jupiter and the motion of the four Galilean moons taken by JunoCam aboard the Juno spacecraft, June 2016 (animation from Wikimedia Commons)

Moons Io and Europa have sparked a lot of interest.

Jupiter doesn’t have rings like Saturn, but it ought to. Why not?

Because it’s bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new UC Riverside research (21 July 2022) shows Jupiter’s massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night sky.

— Science Daily: Why Jupiter doesn’t have rings like Saturn

And finally, Thursday is a good day to feel jovial. According to Wikipedia, the older adjectival form jovial, employed by astrologers in the Middle Ages, has come to mean “happy” or “merry”, moods ascribed to Jupiter’s astrological influence.

Happy Thursday!

(images from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Very Special Fall Hummingbirds

Migration, Songbirds
Rufous hummingbird in winter in Michigan, 27 Dec 2011 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

12 October 2022

Eastern North America has only one hummingbird, the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), but in late fall after the ruby-throats have left for the tropics a few western hummingbirds come east.

Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) breed in the Pacific Northwest to Alaska and spend the winter along the Gulf Coast and in Mexico. Their range map says they don’t occur in the eastern U.S., not even on migration.

Rufous hummingbird range map from Wikimedia Commons (orange=breeding, lavender=winter range) Yellow lines added by Kate St. John

However, beginning in late October, a few show up in Pennsylvania. Some even reach the Atlantic Coast. An eBird map of rufous hummingbird reports from October to February, 2019-2022, shows them dotted across the eastern U.S.

Rufous hummingbird eBird reports, Oct-Feb 2019-2022 (screenshot from eBird Species Map)

So don’t take down your hummingbird feeders yet. Watch for a very special rare hummingbird — so rare that ornithologists will want to band it(*).

See a closeup of a banded rufous hummingbird, learn about their habits, and find out about the even rarer Allen’s hummingbird at:

October (and November) Hummingbirds

(*) Information on who to call in Pittsburgh if you get a rufous hummingbird at your feeder is in the article above.

(photo and range map from Wikimedia Commons; screenshot map of eBird reports; click on the captions to see the originals)

Ruby Kings

Migration, Songbirds
Ruby-crowned kinglet (photo by ChristopherT)

11 October 2022

As the September wave of migrating warblers disappears to our south the next wave of birds has arrived from the north, among them ruby-crowned kinglets (Corthylio calendula). These tiny dynamos resemble the plainest warblers and vireos but are so unique that it’s worth taking a closer look at them.

For starters, though ruby-crowns are called kinglets they are no longer in the same genus as golden-crowned kinglets (Regulus satrapa). In 2021, thanks to DNA and some very unique traits, the AOS placed them in a genus all their own: Corthylio.

Smaller than any warbler, ruby-crowned kinglets are olive-green with somewhat whitish bellies. Their most reliable trait is their constant wing-flicking, punctuated by rapid darting to and fro. They also have:

  • Two white wingbars,
  • Big white eyerings broken above and below,
  • A tiny beak
  • No neck
  • A proportionally larger head compared to the look of a warbler
  • Thin black legs with golden feet
  • A dry call note and a rousing song
  • Males have red or orange feathers hidden atop their heads which they raise when agitated.

On any particular bird you may never see a ruby crown. The females don’t have them and the males are not always agitated. However if you keep watching, a bird may come close to watch you, then raise his crown when he figures out who you are. Maybe this curious ruby-crown is female.

Ruby-crowned kinglet, golden slippers (photo by Steve Gosser)

Ruby-crowned kinglets are short-distance migrants that breed in spruce-fir forests in Canada and the northern/mountainous U.S. They spend the winter in southeastern Pennsylvania but are rare in western PA outside of migration. October is the time to see them in Pittsburgh.

Range of ruby-crowned kinglet (map from Wikimedia Commons)

Learn about these energetic birds in an 8-minute video by Lesley The Bird Nerd. Watch for the wing-flicking!

(photos by ChristopherT and Steve Gosser, map from Wikimedia Commons)

October With Too Many Deer

Deer, Mammals, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
Colorful leaves, Schenley Park, 9 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

10 October 2022

The season has changed and the woods in Schenley Park look different than they did a month ago. The trees are putting on fall color and deer are providing more evidence of their overpopulation in the park.

Doe browsing in Schenley Park, 21 Aug 2022. NOTE: A buck-rubbed sapling is in the foreground (photo by Kate St. John)

With the growing season over there is less greenery for deer to eat and there are fewer places to browse because they have already denuded many areas.

Nothing growing on the ground in the presence of too many deer, Schenley Park, 9 October 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

What is left has been eaten down to nubs, just visible above the unpalatable invasive plants. Below, goutweed nearly hides the tops of what used to be jewelweed while pokeweed was browsed to tiny leaves and bare stems.

Favored plants are browsed to the tops of unappetizing plants (goutweed), Schenley Park 9 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pokeweed overbrowsed by deer, Schenley Park, 9 October 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

As the greenery disappears deer eat tree saplings and small branches. In cases of deer overpopulation, such as Schenley Park, the young trees are foraged down to bonsai.

Ash tree sapling overbrowsed by deer, like bonsai, Schenley Park, 9 Oct 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

Schenley no longer has enough food for deer so at night they walk into neighborhoods and browse in backyards. This is happening across the city and has prompted some residents to consider a Deer Management Plan for Pittsburgh. KDKA’s Andy Sheen reports: Some Pittsburgh residents say it’s time to get deer population under control. Click on the link or the screenshot below.

Some Pittsburgh residents say it’s time to get the deer problem under control, KDKA Andy Sheehan

(photos by Kate St. John + screenshot from KDKA)

Hurricane Pushed Birds to Scotland

Climate Change, Migration
Yellow-rumped warbler (“Myrtle warbler”), US, 2018 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

9 October 2022

There was much excitement in British birding this week when two yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata) and a first-ever least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) were sighted in the Shetland Islands, the northern tip of Scotland.

Both species are found only in the Americas but all three birds crossed more than 2,200 miles of the North Atlantic non-stop, likely forced offshore from the Canadian Maritimes or Newfoundland to escape Hurricane Fiona, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in Canada.

Possible origin & definite destination of 3 North American vagrants to The Shetlands, 5-7 October 2022 (map from Wikimedia Commons; markup by Kate St. John)

Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia on 24 September.

Track of Hurricane Fiona, 2022 (map from Wikimedia Commons)

The birds were found more than 10 days later in the Shetlands on 5-7 October. It is hard to imagine their ordeal. The yellow-rumped warblers seem fine but the least bittern was exhausted and underweight and was taken to rehab where it died overnight.

Catch the excitement of seeing birds far from home in these tweets from British birders.

I am impressed that the warblers gravitated to the only trees in the landscape. This is similar to warbler behavior at Magee Marsh in May when they are found in small patches of trees — the only trees among miles of marsh and farmland.

The least bittern was found hunched on the shore, not in good shape. It died that night in rehab.

9 October 2022. There’s more: A first-ever Empidonax flycatcher in Ireland and a Baltimore Oriole in Devon, UK. Unfortunately the Baltimore oriole was eaten by a sparrowhawk (an Accipiter).

15 October 2022: Blackburnian warbler at Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall UK

(photo from Wikimedia Commons; embedded tweets)

Fiery Skies

Weather & Sky
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 6 October 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

8 October 2022

Sunrise and sunset have been very colorful in Pittsburgh lately.

On 6 October the sky was clear with some thin clouds and airplane contrails. The rising sun lit the contrails a hot pink-red. Detail photo above, wide-angle below.

Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 6 October 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 30 September the sunset was fiery.

Sunset in Pittsburgh, 30 September 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

Every day is shorter as sunrise and sunset get closer to each other. By 18 October we will have an hour less of daylight than at the Equinox.

p.s. Unfortunately the sunrise on 6 October many have been colorful because the air was so bad. Everyone in the Mon Valley could smell it. Hydrogen sulfide exceeded the 1-hour limit at the Liberty-Clairton monitor, an exceedance which “can be attributed entirely to emissions from US Steel’s Clairton coking facility.” Read more at GASP-pgh.org

(photos by Kate St. John)