All posts by Kate St. John

Coyote Between Two Walls

Mammals
Coyote in a backyard in California (photo from Wikimedia)

12 September 2026

Coyotes have been in the City of Pittsburgh for at least 10 years but we usually don’t see them until autumn when the youngsters disperse from their birthplace and travel as much as 120 miles to find a new home. Pups are born in a well-hidden den in a “wild” place without humans and cars and densely packed buildings. When they disperse at around four months old they’re naive about the urban setting. That’s probably how a coyote got stuck between two walls on Atwood Street in Oakland.

Atwood Street in Pittsburgh, looking northwest toward Forbes & Fifth, 26 Dec 2019 (photo from Wikimedia)

Atwood Street is so densely packed that the gaps between houses are usually only wide enough for a human to walk in. A few of the gaps are even smaller, making maintenance on those facing walls nearly impossible. Coyotes are used to den openings only 1 foot in diameter so this one was probably tempted by a narrow opening. He got in but he couldn’t get out.

After the coyote’s rescue he was “relocated outside the city to a wooded area.” No problem. He was going to travel far anyway.

Read more about Pittsburgh’s urban coyotes, what they eat, where they are, and what to do if you encounter a coyote in this vintage article from October 2017: Coyotes In Town.

Soothing Hummingbirds

Bird Behavior
Bubbling fountain bird bath at Wild Wings Backyard Nature Store @wildwingsla

11 September 2026

The number of hummingbirds is dwindling in Pittsburgh and soon all our ruby-throats will be gone for points south. If you miss them at your feeders you’ll enjoy this soothing 7-minute video from Los Angeles where there are many species of hummingbirds. (Listen for ravens in the background!)

video embedded from LA’s! Untamed Wildlife on YouTube

This video was filmed in April 2021 during spring migration in southern California and became so popular that folks asked where they could buy the bird bath, described at @wildwingsla Hummingbird Fountain.

If you’re in Los Angeles, you’ll find this bird bath at Gottleib Native Garden. Learn more at the Wild Wings Ecology website and follow on YouTube at @wildwingsla.

Working Birds Work Together

Bird Behavior, Birds of Prey
Harris’s hawk in flight, falconer’s bird in Malta (photo from Wikimedia)

10 September 2026

Most raptors are solo hunters though mated pairs of peregrines, aplomado falcons and golden eagles will sometimes hunt cooperatively when there are young in the nest. But even this is rare.

Harris’s hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi) are the exception. Native from the American Southwest to western Peru, they hunt together in family groups organized like a wolf pack.

A dominance hierarchy occurs in Harris’s hawks, wherein the mature female is the dominant bird, followed by the adult male and then the young of previous years. Groups typically include from two to seven birds. Not only do birds cooperate in hunting, but they also assist in the nesting process. No other bird of prey is known to hunt in groups as routinely as this species.

— Wikipedia: Harris’s Hawk Behavior

If you’re near a family’s territory you’ll see them work together. (Fair warning: video shows them catching a rabbit + includes a pun on the word “prey”)

video embedded from National Geographic on YouTube

Since the 1980’s Harris’s hawks have become popular falconry birds because they are very social and easy to train. They are often used to keep nuisance birds away from airports, public places, and landfills.

At least one of them is internationally famous: Rufus the Hawk at Wimbledon, June 2014.

video embedded from Wimbledon on YouTube

Read more about Harris’s hawks’ hunting technique at Audubon Magazine: Better Know a Bird: How Harris’s Hawks Hunt Like Wolves to Bring Down Prey.

p.s. This is my annual Working Birds post for Labor Day… though it’s three days late.

Our Very Own Stink Bug

Insects, Spiders
Green stink bug nymph, Schenley Park, 26 August 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

9 September 2026

Two weeks ago I found this small ornate bug on a jewelweed leaf in Schenley Park. I knew I’d seen one before but it had been several (actually 15) years. I was wracking my brain to come up with a name when, “Duh! Use Google Lens.” He’s a green stink bug nymph (Chinavia hilaris).

Like other stink bugs he uses his long stylet to pierce soft plant tissues, inject his saliva containing plant-digestive enzymes, and suck the juices out of the plant. When he does this to fruits and vegetables he’s considered an agricultural pest. Fortunately he’s not invasive. In Schenley Park he chooses jewelweed but doesn’t affect the plant’s abundance.

Adult green stink bugs overwinter under leaf litter and emerge in April or May.

Green stink bug adult in Schenley Park, 29 Aug 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

They mate in May-June and the females lay a cluster of eggs on the undersides of leaves (May-July). The eggs look like tiny barrels — very tiny compared to the leaf veins at left.

Eggs of green stink bug (photo from Wikimedia)

Not all of the eggs make it. A native parastic wasp (probably Trissolcus euschisti in this photo) lays her eggs inside the stink bug eggs. Her larvae hatch and eat the developing stink bugs. Brown marmorated stink bugs have a similar predator that traveled to North America to feed on its host.

Stinkbug egg parasitoid, Trissolcus sp. (probably Trissolcus euschisti) female, on eggs of stinkbug, Chinavia hilaris (from Wikimedia)

When the eggs hatch into nymphs they go through five instars (June-August) to become adults.

Closer look at green stink bug nymph, Schenley Park, 26 Aug 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Peak adult activity is in August. Then they taper (Sept-Oct) as they get ready to overwinter under the leaf litter.

Adult green stink bug on a hand (photo from Wikimedia)

Right now is the time to look for our very own stink bug. Green stink bugs won’t invade your house. Those are the brown marmorated stink bug who waits until October to plague us.

p.s. Stink bug on someone’s hand? Stink bugs don’t have teeth so they cannot bite.

Who Pollinates Flowers That Never Open?

Plants & Fungi
Bottle gentian flowers, 1 Sept 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

8 September 2026

Last week I was happy to see one of my favorite September flowers blooming at Sewickley Heights Park: Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) a perennial native.

The plant was a little worse for wear but for the most part it was still tightly closed and waiting to be pollinated. Will the tiny bug on the leftmost flower do the trick? No.

Bottle gentian flowers — superzoom (photo by Kate St. John)

For pollination it takes a bumblebee who’s willing to put forth considerable effort.

video embedded from NaturalistDave Nature Video on YouTube

When the bumblebee has finished the result is a nice crop of seeds.

Seeds of bottle gentian (photo by Kate St. John)

Bottle gentians are so bumblebee-dependent that they are affected by bumblebee decline.

p.s. They are also subject to nectar robbing! The eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) bypasses bottle gentian petals by drilling a narrow slit at the base of the flower to “steal” the nectar. Thus the flower is never pollinated. The slit allows other bee species to nectar rob as well.

Seen Last Week: Storms & the Aftermath

Plants & Fungi, Weather & Sky

Storm clouds before the rain, 3 Sept 2026 at 6pm (photos by Kate St. John)

7 September 2026

On Thursday 3 September severe thunderstorms hit the Pittsburgh area with high winds and torrential rain. The official rain total at the airport was 2.14″ but that rain came all at once. At a sensor near Schenley Park, the rain came down at the rate of 5.58″ per hour for 15 mins and then the sensor lost power.

video embedded from WTAE Pittsburgh on YouTube

Areas east of the city were hard hit, especially Westmoreland County and eastern Allegheny.

video embedded from CBS Pittsburgh on YouTube

Schenley Park didn’t suffer too much but there were interesting side effects.

On a walk on Friday at the Bartlett end of Schenley I could tell that Panther Hollow Run had flooded, but it often does. I was surprised however to find six fullsize bricks scattered along the creek bank below the Hollow Run Trail bridge. Here’s where they came from.

At the head of the Panther Hollow Run valley, where the creek resurfaces(*) in three big drain pipes, I found another brick mostly buried in mud. This one couldn’t move but the other six were 290 yards downstream, carried by the flood for the length of three football fields.

Panther Hollow Run Valley after flash flood, 4 Sep 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Three pipes were inadequate to handle the flood. Water came down overtop the pipes and carried an orange cone with it, perhaps dislodging these structural stones.

The head of Panther Hollow Run resurfaces in these 3 pipes, 4 Sep 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

The flood came from on Bartlett Street and eroded the hillside. (* The creek is buried under Bartlett Street.)

Flood aftermath seen from Bartlett Street, 4 Sep 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Many people in western Pennsylvania are still cleaning up, making insurance claims, and calling FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

“A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall“

At Last, Good Weather for Peregrines

Peregrines
Carla at the green perch, 4:48pm, 5 Sept 2026

6 September 2026

After a string of violent weather, yesterday was delightful. Not too hot. Not too windy. Not pouring. The Pitt peregrines took advantage of good weather to preen and strengthen their pair bond at the nest, seen on the snapshot camera.

Ecco is a regular at the nest in the off season. He stopped by before dawn today.

Ecco stops by the nest before dawn, 6 Sept 2026, 6:07am (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Carla rarely visits so it was a treat that she spent an hour preening on camera. She and Ecco are both near the end of their annual molt but Carla is ahead of Ecco because female peregrines molt their primary wing feathers during incubation in March and April. She looks sleek when she stretches.

Eventually Ecco arrived and they stayed together for almost half an hour, strengthening their pair bond.

Carla & Ecco, 5 Sept 2026 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Fun Fact about Molting: Carla is nearly finished but Ecco’s tail showed feather growth on Thursday. You can see four feathers in progress in the snapshot below, indicated by the white feather tips partway up his tail.

Ecco’s tail feather molt is shown by white tips of the new feathers coming in, 4 Sep 2026 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Flight feathers molt in pairs — the same feather on each side of the body — so that flying is not compromised during the molt.

Stunning Bird

Bird Behavior
Sunbittern at Pouso Alegre in the Pantanal, Brazil, 2019 (photo from Wikimedia)

5 September 2026

The sunbittern (Eurypyga helias), native to Central and South America, is a cryptically marked wader that lurks in the shadows and behaves like a heron. In its normal posture it is visually interesting but not stunning.

Below, a sunbittern in the shade stepped into a patch of sunlight (photo at top).

Sunbittern at Pouso Alegre in the Pantanal, Brazil, 2019 (photo from Wikimedia)

Sometimes sunbitterns are found in open habitats, such as this marsh where one photobombed a plumbeous ibis. (Also in the Pantanal, this photo was taken an hour away from those at top.)

Plumbeous ibis with a sunbittern in the background, Pantanal, Brazil (photo from Wikimedia)

The real reason to search for a sunbittern is in hopes that it will open its wings in the Frontal Display. This behavior is rarely photographed in the wild because it is a threat/defensive posture.

Two sunbitterns, one displaying, Rio Madre de Dios, near Manu National Park, Peru (photo from Wikimedia)

The spectacular Frontal Display of the Sunbittern has been documented only in threat and defensive situations, with little evidence supporting any role in courtship behavior. … The posture dramatically increases the apparent size of the displaying bird while exposing what may be interpreted as fake eyes. The defensive role of this display also is supported by the fact that … young Sunbitterns begin practicing the display at an early age and will make display attempts when threatened.

— Birds of the World: Sunbittern Behavior

The best photos are taken in captivity when the sunbittern is saying “back off” to the human with the camera. We are mesmerized! Of course we approach.

Last March the North Florida Wildlife Center introduced a sunbittern to their facility. As soon as he appeared he told everyone to back off.

Stunning bird!

The Link to Lake Erie’s Harmful Algal Blooms

Water and Shore
Beef cattle indoors (photo from Compassion in World Farming on Flickr)

4 September 2026

Harmful algal blooms have become a regular feature of western Lake Erie’s summer water quality. Though they can occur as early as June, the worst of them are in late August and early September. This summer the bloom was 40 miles long on 26 August.

Today the bloom is not quite as long but it has been hard to quantify because clouds covered the western end of lake in the past couple of days. Clouds are the white blanket in the lefthand image and gray on the right.

Harmful Algal Bloom satellite imagery and analysis 4 Sep 2026 (from Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast historical images)

Yesterday the Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast said: “The cyanobacteria bloom in western Lake Erie has an approximate area of 180 square miles, which is a decrease in area since Aug 28. Clouds have partially obscured recent satellite imagery, but it appears the cyanobacteria bloom is present in the western basin from the Pointe Moullie State Game Area, MI to the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, OH. During low wind, patches of scum may be present from Cedar Point, OH to Monroe, MI. (emphasis added)

The scum is Microcystis algae that blooms in the presence of phosporus and produces toxins which kill fish and harm humans. The algal bloom was so bad in 2014 that the Toledo Water Authority told their 500,000 customers not to drink the water and not to wash dishes with it.

Algal bloom on Lake Erie at Point Pelee (photo by NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab)
Harmful Algal Bloom on Lake Erie at Point Pelee, June 2011 (photo by NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab)

After Toledo’s water supply was compromised, Ohio made a plan to reduce phosporus flowing into the Lake from the Maumee River watershed. The project’s goal was to reduce the phosphorus by 40% by 2025. But that didn’t happen.

Why is it so bad? More than 85% of the phosporus comes from agricultural runoff. The runoff comes from manure, a byproduct of intensive cattle farming.

June 2026 video embedded from Corey O’Leary on YouTube

Cattle crowding is the link. Agriculture has changed in recent decades in the Maumee River watershed. We can see the results in Lake Erie.

Bumblebees Unlock Important Flowers

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi
Bumblebee on flower (photo from Wikimedia)

3 September 2026

Bumblebees are in trouble in North America. Since the beginning of this century the American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) has declined 90%, the western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) has declined 93%, and the rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) is now listed as Critically Endangered. Their absence has important implications for our food supply.

Flowers in the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes and tobacco) are “perfect” in that they contain both male and female parts and could theoretically self pollinate, but the male parts are tightly closed so the pollen cannot come out. These flowers rely on vibration to jiggle the anthers and release the pollen. Honeybees can’t help. Bumblebees know how to do it.

Bumblebee on a tomato flower (photo from Wikimedia)

Notice how tightly closed the anthers are in these tomato and eggplant flowers.

Tomato flowers (photo from Wikimedia)
Eggplant flower (photo from Wikimedia)

Deep Look shows how a bumblebee vibrates the flowers.

video embedded from Deep Look on YouTube

If the flower isn’t pollinated there will be no fruit — no tomato, pepper or eggplant. However gardeners, farmers and greenhouse keepers can hand pollinate by mimicking bumblebees.

The humans should vibrate the plants in early or mid-morning when the flowers are fully open and the air is dry. They should repeat the process every 2 to 3 days using one of these techniques:

  • Tapping the flowers on the back of open flower clusters,
  • Gently shaking the entire plant via main stem, stake or cage, or
  • Holding the back of an Electric Toothbrush against the flower stem for a few seconds.

It’s better to rely on bumblebees. We just need more of them.