Today, 22 March, at 4:45pm Carla laid her third egg of 2026 at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest. Thanks to John English for texting me right away and sending the screen grab above.
This video shows the moment she laid the egg. You can heavy raindrops falling shortly thereafter. Fortunately Carla has a roof over the scrape.
Katydids are usually hard to find because their green color and leafy shape provide camouflage in their natural habitat. This one in Costa Rica can only be seen because his leaf is lit from below.
When scientists in Panama occasionally found a hot pink version of a normally green katydid (Arota festea) they assumed it was a mutant. Out of curiosity they kept a pink one in captivity and were amazed to discover that it slowly changed color. Within two weeks it turned green.
At every stage, from hot pink to vibrant green, its color camouflaged it among the leaves.
In the [insect] animals’ native jungle home of Suriname, Colombia, and Panama, about 36% of plants turn pink before adopting their typical mature green—a process of delayed greening sometimes called “red flushing.”
The katydid’s color is connected to everything else. Now we know the connection.
(Figure 1 caption) Intense hot pink morph of an adult female Arota festae. Photographed at 23:32 on 27 March 2025 on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, using a Sony A7CR camera with a LAOWA 90?mm f/2.8 lens and a Godox Speedlite TT350 flash. The final image was produced by focus stacking 4 photographs in Adobe Photoshop, with brightness increased for clarity while leaving saturation and hue unaltered. Photo credit: Zeke W. Rowe
(Figure 2 caption) Pink-to-green color change in Arota festae (Griffini, 1896) and resemblance to pink leaves in delayed plant greening. (A) Photographs of the same A. festae individual at days 0, 4, 5, and 14 following initial discovery at 23:12 on 27 March 2025 on BCI, Panama. All photographs in (A) were taken by Benito Wainwright. (B) Photographs of local plant species displaying delayed greening (from left to right: Paullinia bracteosa, Coccoloba manzinellensis, Inga ruziana, and Andira inermis). From the left, the first, second, and third photographs in (B) were taken by J. Benito Wainwright, and the fourth photograph (on the far right in B) was taken by Phyllis Coley
Northern magnolia with snow, 17 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
21 March 2026
The weather has been a yo-yo this week with a sunny high of 68°F on Sunday and 60°F on Monday. Then it started snowing hard at 6:00pm Monday. Three inches covered the City while at Pittsburgh’s weather station the snow was twice as deep. It set a new record for a yo-yo day.
Yesterday was the snowiest 60°F day we've seen in our records (dating back to 1948). Out here in Moon Township, the high was 60 degrees and we measured 6.3" of snow. pic.twitter.com/Clj9YCz6Wv
After the snow stopped, ragged clouds raced across the sky at 10:30pm, 16 March.
After the snow stopped, ragged clouds, 16 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
The next morning the sky was clear (see the meteor blog) and the snow began to melt. Dippy still wore a snow cloak at 10:50am.
Snow on Dippy, 17 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
Damage to northern magnolia flowers (photo at top) and red maples became evident.
Damaged red maple flowers in Pittsburgh, 17 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
But soon the sun had warmed the ground so much that steam rose from the mulch outside Carnegie Museum.
video by Kate St. John
Two days later it was again cold in the morning when four of us walked the Muddy Creek Trail at Moraine State Park. By noon it warmed up considerably. We found skunk cabbage and coltsfoot poking up through the snow.
Skunk cabbage at Muddy Creek Trail, Moraine State Park, 19 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)Coltsfoot beginning to open at Moraine State Park, 19 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
And we found out that it is Mud Season! … Melissa’s beagle, Henry, is keeping his paws clean.
Mud Season at Moraine State Park. Henry waits for us to continue walking, 19 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. This week we saw lamb, lion, lamb.
Today around noon, Carla laid her second egg of 2026 the peregrine nest high atop the Cathedral of Learning at the Univ of Pittsburgh. Thanks to Adam Knoerzer for texting me right away and sending this screen grab at 12:05pm.
Britta Moletz at the National Aviary posted this video.
On St. Patrick’s Day around 9:00am I was not paying attention to the sky. I wasn’t looking out the window and if I’d heard a faint sonic boom I would have dismissed it as construction noise. Meanwhile, outside many windows, a 7-ton asteroid crossed the sky in just 3 seconds and exploded over Ohio.
The meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere 50 miles above Lake Erie and sped southward over Ohio. Amazingly, the sky was so clear in Pittsburgh that it was easily seen here. (If I’d only been looking!) The best online footage came from Pittsburgh’s National Weather Service.
One of our employees, Jared Rackley, caught this morning's meteor on camera from the Pittsburgh area. pic.twitter.com/2LdqOpChti
Peregrine at Bear Run Boat Launch area, Moraine State Park, 14 Mar 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
19 March 2026
Right now it’s High Season for observing peregrine falcons in southwestern Pennsylvania. Most are still courting and conspicuously guarding their territories. But by mid-April they’ll become secretive and hard to find as they incubate eggs.
When a peregrine shows up unexpectedly in March I’m keen to find its nesting territory. On Saturday 14 March an immature peregrine (above) caught my attention at Bear Run Boat Launch at Moraine State Park when he flew in and landed in a tree. He was hunting for ducks and (I think) too young to nest.
We’ve had better luck with peregrines in the established territories — 11 of our 12 sites this month.
Peregrine territories in southwestern PA, May 2025 (markup by Kate St. John)
Map legend: Dark blue=bridge sites, Red=building sites, Pale blue=no success in 2025
Site List and latest activity. Yellow=fledglings last year. Scroll to see entire spreadsheet
In the 4.5 minute video below Ecco is on the egg when he hears Carla arrive off camera. Watch their postures and listen to Carla’s unusual vocalizations (she almost sounds like a goose at one point). By the end of this clip it is clear that she’s telling him “Time for you to go.”
East Liberty peregrine coming in with prey, 9 March 2026 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
The East Liberty Presbyterian peregrines have been very active lately, particularly when the weather is fine. Adam Knoerzer stopped by on 9 March and saw the male bring in food for the female. She appears to be the same female, 3rd year in a row. On Sunday 15 March he saw “Lots of acrobatic tandem flying from the E Lib pair, loving this wind.”
Female peregrine at East Liberty Presbyterian steeple, 9 March 2026 (photo by Adam Knoerzer)
Downtown Pittsburgh, 3rd Avenue: No news this month
West End Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine at the West End Bridge, 17 Mar 2026 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Jeff Cieslak found one peregrine hanging out in the snow on St. Patrick’s Day.
Eckert Street / Brunot Island/ McKees Rocks Bridge, Ohio River:
Peregrine on tower at Brunot Island, 3 March 2026 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Jeff can usually find a peregrine at Brunot Island though usually not in the same place. This one on 3 March stayed on the tower for a while.
Sewickley Bridge, Ohio River:
Pair of peregrines at Sewickley Bridge, 2 March 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)
I photographed both peregrines at the Sewickley Bridge on 2 March. So did Jeff Cieslak. While he watched the male (left) flew over and mated with the female (right).
Pair of peregrines at Sewickley Bridge, 2 March 2026 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)
Monaca RR Bridge, Ohio River: Jeff Cieslak saw both peregrines perched on the Monaca-East Rochester Bridge today, 19 March. No photos yet.
62nd Street / Highland Park / Aspinwall Bridges, Allegheny River: No peregrines reported here.
Tarentum Bridge, Allegheny River:
Female peregrine at the nestbox, Tarentum Bridge, 14 March Feb 2026 (photo by Dave Brooke)
She’s been in the nest box three days in a row. She typically is on eggs by this time every year.
There’s still time to look for peregrines this month and early next month. Check out these sites soon and tell me what you see. Need directions? Leave a comment.
And a Big Thanks to Jeff Cieslak who has monitored the majority of these sites(!) and for allowing me to use his photos.
Carla will lay her second egg in about two days but she won’t begin incubation until her next-to-last egg. Meanwhile it is 16°F before dawn this morning. Ecco and Carla will cover the egg to keep it from freezing but will not lay their skin against it to heat it up until incubation begins.
Glen Hazel eagle listens to coyotes howling, 14 Mar 2026, 7:50pm (screenshot from PixCams on YouTube video embedded below)
17 March 2026
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It):
Last Saturday night around 8:00pm the sound of sirens in the Monongahela Valley near Glen Hazel prompted a nature sound below the eagles’ nest.
The female eagle, nicknamed Mom, was sleeping and ignoring the sirens (“it’s just more of that human noise”) but she woke up and watched when coyotes answer the siren’s wail. PixCams moved the camera to see if he could find the coyotes, but no.
It should be no surprise there are coyotes on the wooded hillside near the eagles’ nest. They have been in the Pittsburgh city limits since at least 2003, my neighbors saw them in Greenfield in 2017, and I regularly see coyote scat in Frick and Schenley Parks.
Coyote scat in Schenley Park, May 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Some people are afraid of coyotes but are they dangerous? Not to us humans but myths abound, apparently borrowed from our myths about wolves.
No, coyotes will not be gone from your neighborhood if you remove the one you’ve seen. New coyotes arrive soon to take its place.
Some of our fears, not based in modern experience, seem to be bred-in-the-bone from prehistoric time. For example, some people automatically fear snakes even though they will never encounter them. This makes sense as an ancient fear spawned from early humans’ experience in Africa.
Legend has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland(*). Does anyone in Ireland fear snakes anyway? Interesting question.
Prime tick habitat! Daffodils emerging in leaf litter, Feb 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
16 March 2026
Warm weather in Pittsburgh this month has drawn us outdoors to work in the yard, walk in the woods and explore with the dog. Many of us, especially the dogs, are encountering an unusual number of black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis). It’s already time to take precautions and spray your clothes.
We think of Europe and Asia as separate land masses yet they are on one continent called Eurasia. In fact they used to be separated by the Turgai Strait which closed up 60 million years ago. But before the strait formed, they were stuck together. Here’s how plate tectonics affected Eurasia.
250 million years ago (million years is abbreviated Ma) Europe and Asia were in one large land mass called Pangaea which existed from 330 to 200 Ma. It included all the present day continents.
At 170 Ma Pangaea began breaking apart.
The Turgai Strait formed east of the Ural Mountains at 160 Ma. Europe and Asia separated.
The Turgai Strait was always somewhat shallow. By 60 Ma it became shallower and narrower and was closed by 29 Ma. Europe + Asia became Eurasia.
These static maps show the breakup of Pangaea with a thin yellow line for the location of the Turgai Strait. (NOTE: I think the 120 Ma map is inaccurate because it puts the Turgai Strait west of the Ural Mountains but it was always east. I drew the yellow line on the water anyway.)
Musing on Pangaea: How do we know all the continents were one big land mass?
The continents’ shapes fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Geologists found “matching geological trends between the eastern coast of South America, the east coast of North America (namely the Appalachian Mountains), and the western coast of Africa.” i.e. same rocks of same age in the Appalachians and NW Europe.
Fossils of the same animals and plants, all of the same age, are spread across the southern continents.
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