16 March 2024
Four days this week were unseasonably warm with highs 18 to 20+ degrees above normal. The flowers and birds responded.
On Tuesday, Charity Kheshgi and I heard a fox sparrow at Frick Park but he was elusive. We spent a long time trying to get a good look him until a blue jay’s weird call made us pause. So did the fox sparrow, as shown above in Charity’s photo.
On Wednesday there were few birds at Toms Run Nature Reserve but we saw purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) in bloom.
On Thursday 14 March I was surprised at the lack of birds at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, but the flowers on the Jennings Trail cliff face (bordering the creek) were responding to the heat. It’s not Full Blown Spring yet but I found:
- Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa) in full bloom
- Spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) approaching full bloom
- Two species of hepatica on the uphill Audubon Trail: sharp-lobed (Hepatica acutiloba) and round-lobed (Hepatica americana). Look closely to find them!
- Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) in bud
- Hazel alder (Alnus serrulata) catkins.
And in case you missed it Carla, the female peregrine at Pitt, laid her first egg at the Cathedral of Learning on 14 March. Additional eggs are expected approximately 48 hours apart.
(credits are in the captions)