Twelve years! Can you believe it?

Twelve years ago today on 9 November 2007 I posted my first entry at Outside My Window. After more than a decade the blog has …

• More than 1,200 readers per day on average; 3,500 at peak,
• Almost 20,000 reader comments,
• A wealth of information about peregrines,
• and 3 very popular posts found by searches:
  • Falcon Or Hawk?
  • What’s That Sound?
  • These Are Not Pine Cones

Most people tune in for the peregrine nesting season but there was a big surprise this year. The most popular article by far was my 25 February prediction of 17-year cicadas in May: Let Me Be The First To Tell You. With over 6,400 readers it was a two-day wonder.

This 12th anniversary is an opportunity to thank you, dear reader, for your enthusiasm, comments, suggestions and “shares.”   Thank you for sticking with me. You inspire me to keep going every day.

Thank you, also, to the many excellent photographers who’ve contributed photos and videos, to Wikimedia Commons for their vast store of Creative Commons media, and to YouTube and Twitter videos that allow embedding on my blog. Without photos and videos my blog would be just a pile of words.

Happy Bird-thday Blog!

(photo by Kate St. John, retouched)

Tonight we’ll turn the clocks back one hour to Standard Time.

Much as I like Daylight Saving Time I’m no fan of changing the clocks. The change disturbs our sleep patterns, increases accidents and heart attacks just after Spring Forward, and increases depression after Fall Back.

Most places on earth don’t participate in this controversial event. It’s not even universal in countries that observe it. Arizona, Hawaii and the U.S. island territories remain on Standard Time year round. The European Union may end their Daylight Saving requirement in 2021.

I wish we’d stop turning the clocks back and forth. The sign in the photo above, behind the Kaufmann’s Clock in Downtown Pittsburgh, seems to agree.

No Turns.

p.s. The Kaufmann’s Clock at Fifth & Smithfield is a well known meeting place with a long history. My favorite story is the time in 1983 when Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Michelle Madoff challenged Council President Eugene “Jeep” DePasquale to meet her under the clock and make good on his promise to kiss her “you-know-what” after a tax she proposed raised more than the $20 he believed possible. Michelle waited under the clock with a stuffed donkey (a.k.a. ass) for him to kiss. Jeep never showed up.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)

This morning was chilly as seven of us met for a bird walk at Duck Hollow and Lower Nine Mile Run. At first the birds were few and far between but the sun warmed the hillsides and the birds came out.

We saw and heard 17 species plus an unidentified accipiter (sharp-shinned or Coopers hawk). “Best Bird” was a ruby-crowned kinglet who happened to be singing. See our checklist here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61022547

Our walk included some surprising plants and insects as well.

The Pittsburgh region is not strong on lichens (our air is too bad) but we found a clump of branches with a very thick covering of moss and/or lichen. We were impressed.

A grasshopper made an appearance, probably too cold to move.

And we opened the dried bladder from a bladdernut tree.

Some furry pea-pods gave me pause. I remembered the yellow flowers that grew there in August, pictured below, but not the plant’s name.

It’s wild senna (Senna hebecarpa). See the pea pods in this gallery of flowers + pea pods at Wildflower.org.

By the end of our walk the day had warmed to the mid 60s F.

Smiles all around.

(photos by Kate St. John & Claire Staples as indicated in the captions)

UPDATE: SUNDAY’S OUTING ON 27 OCTOBER IS CANCELED DUE TO RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS. Join me at 8:30a on Tuesday 29 October for a raincheck outing at Duck Hollow.

Waterfowl move south when the lakes freeze up north. Will migrating ducks be in Pittsburgh by late October, or will the weather to our north still be too warm? Let’s get outdoors to find out.

Join me on my last outing for 2019 at Duck Hollow by the Monongahela River.

When: Sunday 27 October 2019, 8:30a-10:30a. RAINCHECK: Tuesday 29 October 2019, 8:30a-10:30a.

Where: Meet at the Duck Hollow parking lot at the end of Old Browns Hill Road.

We’ll look for waterfowl on the Monongahela River and walk the nearby Lower Nine Mile Run Trail at the south end of Frick Park.

Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars, field guides and a birding scope — if you have them.

Visit the Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations.

Note: This outing is on the one year anniversary of the Tree of Life massacre. Last year in late October — one day after the massacre — we found it therapeutic to be outdoors after so much tragedy. Birds help.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

25 August 2019:

This morning in Schenley Park we got the hint that summer will come to an end. It was cold enough for long sleeves!

The birds also indicated that the seasons are changing. Some were clearly on the move to their wintering grounds.

Best Birds were four species that I knew were passing through:

• A female belted kingfisher and …
• … an immature great-blue heron at Panther Hollow lake (neither breed there).
• Two blue-gray gnatcatchers that were very hard to see.
• Three ruby-throated hummingbirds sipping at orange jewelweed and chasing each away from the flowers.

Our complete checklist of 29 species is at this link https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59251443

p.s. It feels like I’ve missed something. If you were there and see an omission, let me know.