29 August 2022
A year ago in Schenley Park we had such a slow birding day that I wrote, “We worked for every bird.” A year later, nine of us were there yesterday and the birding was even slower! (14 species instead of 19.) However we found lots of insects and two white-tailed bucks in velvet. Here’s the story in pictures, thanks to Connie Gallagher.
Connie saw the very Best Bird, a blue-gray gnatcatcher.
We pondered the identity of these wasps and then remembered, all at once, that they are bald-faced hornets (Dolichovespula maculata), a type of yellowjacket wasp.
There was still dew on the wild senna as this bumblebee gathered nectar.
The browseline is so severe in Schenley Park that there’s no cover for the deer who sleep there during the day. Looking down from the Falloon Trail we saw two bucks, a 7-point buck (at top) and a 10-point below.
Fortunately some of us heard these birds flying overhead. I can tell their identity by shape and the yellow tips of their tails. Cedar waxwings.
Here’s the group that worked for every bird on Sunday. Thank you all for coming!
See our checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S117700393 and printed below.
Schenley Park–Panther Hollow, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Aug 28, 2022 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM, 1.5 mile(s), 14 species
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 5
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 1 Seen by Connie
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 1
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 5
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 3
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 3 Including a bald female Cardinal
(photos by Connie Gallagher (group photo by Kate St. John))
Is the city considering any deer management in the parks? Have you talked to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy about the overbrowsing?
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is on the same page as I am (too many deer). I don’t know where city government stands on it this week, but I do know it is an extremely thorny issue. For instance there’s a city ordinance that prohibits hunting in the city parks. That and so much more will have to be dealt with before anything can be done.
This is just a question, not for posting.
Is it possible to get new Outside My Window blog postings delivered to my email?
I get new posts via email daily from Diane Ravitch’s blog and find it so much more efficient for keeping up than checking her website each day. I’m hoping that Outside My Window, which I love reading, will offer the same service.
Susan, sorry but there is no daily email available from my blog. However I post the new blog link every day on Facebook and Twitter that will both notify you of my new posts.
Kate excellent interview during the evening news this week. I hope people listen to the facts.