CMU’s Hammerschlag Hall reflected on a window of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, 4 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
9 December 2025
Last week I saw Hamerschlag Hall through a window at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Actually, it was an optical illusion on one of our rare sunny days, reflecting CMU’s iconic building perfectly. (The milkweed pods are in the garden in front of me, not reflected on the window.)
The Hamerschlag optical illusion reminded me of Venus on the clamshell whom I saw last year at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History just across the parking lot. Here she is in a photo with 1 Inside and 2 On-the-window images.
Inside the window: Two giant clam shells are in the room behind Venus, faintly showing behind her.
On the window: Venus is a sticker on the window + there is a reflection of the Museum of Art building as well.
Venus on the clamshell, on window at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, 9 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
We are not the only ones fooled by glass reflections.
This window at the classroom building at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary looks like there is sky and open grassy space on the other side. For us, the bottom panel is dark because it reflects the pavement.
Door of classroom building at Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Cape Cod, 5 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
But for a bird flying close to the ground the bottom window reflects the grassy space. A small bird was fooled by this illusion and crashed into the window, leaving his imprint.
Imprint of a bird strike on door of classroom building at Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Cape Cod, 5 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
I hope the bird survived.
Sadly these optical illusions are why glass kills one billion birds every year in the U.S. That’s 2.7 million birds each day.
p.s. The lady at the front desk at Mass Audubon said they know about this problem, which is more extensive than the door, but have not had the money to solve it yet.
Habitat is everything. We tend to forget this because humans are versatile and avoid places where we cannot survive (Antarctica). Many species, though, require a specific habitat for their livelihood. When it becomes scarce, they have nowhere to live and may go extinct.
Less than 200 years ago grasslands dominated much of the continental U.S. where fires and less rainfall kept them open. Since then most grasslands have been converted to farmland, cattle ranges, or suburbs and now more than half of what remains is at risk of range-wide collapse. Relict grasslands support the last remaining species. The relicts themselves would disappear were it not for prescribed fire.
On Wednesday November 19, 7:00pm – 8:30pm, Phipps Conservatory is hosting a screening of the new nature documentary The Little Brown Bird, which tells the story of the Florida grasshopper sparrow, one of the most endangered birds in North America. A few years ago, there were as few as 50 Florida grasshopper sparrows remaining – today, there are as many as 200.
The 30-minute film focuses on the work of wildlife biologist Fabiola ‘Fabby’ Baeza-Tarin and a coalition of conservation partners who are working to rescue this sparrow back from the brink. The film’s director and cinematographer, KT Bryden, will join attendees virtually for a discussion after the film, and a panel of local speakers—including Ryan Miller, a wildlife biologist with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy; Julie Travaglini, the director of education for the Allegheny Land Trust; and myself, Andrew Moore, a nature writer and author.
In addition to the Florida grasshopper sparrow the panel discussion will touch on the plight of grasslands and the endangered species they host, such as the massasauga rattlesnake in Pennsylvania.
Join Phipps for a screening and discussion of The Little Brown Bird. Price is $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Click here for tickets.
p.s. There are 12 subspecies of grasshopper sparrows. We see Ammodramus savannarum pratensis in Pennsylvania as it breeds in the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada. The Florida grasshopper sparrow is non-migratory and only occurs in a small part of Central Florida.
In the world of birding a Life Bird, or “Lifer,” is a species seen for the first time in one’s life. For many years I kept a handwritten list but I didn’t know the count. Once I started using eBird the software automatically kept my Life List so every time I open the website eBird presents me with my current Life Bird count.
On 30 October I noticed that my Life List had jumped from 1,569 to 1,574 birds. I’d heard the whimbrel would split into two species during eBird’s taxonomy update last week, so I expected to gain one Life Bird without any effort. But FIVE Armchair Lifers?
With the help of eBird News I found 4 out of the 5 additions but I’ll have to spend lots of time with the 2025 eBird Taxonomy Update to find the fifth. (Update on 16 Nov: Found the 5th; see the end.)
In the meantime, here’s what I gained in taxonomic order. All of them are “travel” birds (no splits in Pittsburgh) but you, too, may have gained a Life Bird within the U.S.
Formerly “Striated Heron” everywhere
This bird split three ways. I saw two of the three species in Panama and Southern Africa. The Central and South American bird retains the original common name.
I’ve seen Hudsonian whimbrels in the Western Hemisphere and the Eurasian whimbrel in Spain. This Hudsonian whimbrel has a brown rump which is not visible.
One in the east, one in the west. According to eBird: The breeding range splits roughly at the Rocky Mountains, breeding habitats differ somewhat, songs differ substantially. I saw the western one in Montana.
Eastern Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) a bird of lowland watercourses from the Great Plains eastward, usually in areas with cottonwoods, willows, and other riverside vegetation.
Western Warbling Vireo (Vireo swainsoni) Rocky Mountains and westward. Occurs in mountain forests—especially riparian forest adjacent to pines.
Yellow warblers are extremely common in spring in eastern North America. I saw the mangrove yellow warbler in Panama. It’s the one with the little rusty cap (photo at top).
Northern Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva)—the migratory northern population that breeds in shrubland and riparian habitats across Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
Mangrove Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)—the resident southern population that lives year-round in mangroves along the coasts of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, and on the fringes of Caribbean islands.
Update: I found my additional Armchair Lifer by running eBird’s Personalized Taxonomy Report at https://ebird.org/downloadMyData. Make sure you’re logged into eBird when you click on the link.
Formerly “Collared Aracari”
Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus) used to be in both Central and South America. It split into…
This bird’s normal range is Eurasia in the summer, Africa and southeast Asia in the winter. The immature bird found on Long Island was on its way to Africa when it went off course.
We found out about the bird because a golfer, who is not a birder, thought it was unusual and texted a photo to his ornithologist nephew.
The Rare Bird Alerts were galvanizing. The cuckoo’s location on the eastern end of Long Island was only a two hour drive from Manhattan. Hundreds of birders and photographers came out to see it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 24-26 October.
As far as I can tell, the cuckoo was not seen yesterday.
p.s. Like brown-headed cowbirds, common cuckoos are nest parasites who lay their eggs in the nests of other birds –> If You Think Cowbirds Are Bad… On the plus side, their song is the sound of a cuckoo clock. The CBS video explains that this bird is too young and in the wrong season to sing.
Fur color of two early mammals = Artistic reconstruction of pelage coloration of Arboroharamiya fuscus (CUGB-P1901) and Vilevolodon diplomylos (SDUST-V0010). Science387, 1193-1198(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.ads9734 CREDIT: Chuang Zhao and Ruoshuang Li. (*)
19 October 2025
Mammalian ancestors have been around for 320 to 315 million years, but the first true mammals evolved during the time of the dinosaurs in the Late Triassic. These early mammals were uniformly nocturnal and small, no larger than a house cat, and they were furry. What did they look like? A study in Science in March 2025 examined six fossils species and found they were not as colorful as modern mammals. All of them were dark gray.
Back in 2008 we learned that dinosaurs were colorful. Studies of melanosomes found within their fossils indicated they were not only colorful but sometimes brilliant.
Using the same technique on six Mesozoic mammal fossils, researchers led by Matthew Shawkey compared the fossil melanosomes to those of 116 current (extant) mammals and found that extant mammals have more fur colors while the Mesozoic mammals were all the same color.
The diagram below shows the dark gray color scores compared to extant mammals (** see complete caption at bottom). I have added a pink line to diagram B to point out the difference. Extant mammals on left have a wider range of color (below line) than the fossil mammals (above line).
Fig. 3: Melanosome diversity and pelage coloration: (B) Width variation of melanosomes. Science387, 1193-1198(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.ads9734 CREDIT: Chuang Zhao and Ruoshuang Li. (** see complete caption below)
It’s hard to imagine these ancient mammals until you see an illustration. I have cropped it into two parts. See the complete caption (**) for the entire Fig. 4 below.
At top: Two fossil mammals that resembled flying squirrels. “The green eyes of Arboroharamiya fuscus are an artistic license of the tapetum lucidum, an intraocular reflecting structure that enhances visual sensitivity, indicating nocturnality.“
Below: Three more mammals. (**) see the caption for details.
Fur color of three early mammals = Artistic reconstruction of pelage coloration of Megaconus mammaliaformis (PMOL-AM00007), and Docodontans (SDUST-V0006 & SDUST-V0007). Science387, 1193-1198(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.ads9734 CREDIT: Chuang Zhao and Ruoshuang Li. (*)
Modern mammals are more colorful because melanosomes have changed over millions of years. But the one dark color was just fine for early mammals. They needed nighttime camouflage to hide from many much larger predators.
The full study citation –> Mesozoic mammaliaforms illuminate the origins of pelage coloration. Science387, 1193-1198(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.ads9734
(**) Complete caption for Fig. 4Artistic reconstruction of pelage coloration of five Jurassic mammaliaforms. (Top to bottom) Arboroharamiya fuscus (CUGB-P1901), Vilevolodon diplomylos (SDUST-V0010), Megaconus mammaliaformis (PMOL-AM00007), and Docodontans (SDUST-V0006 & SDUST-V0007). The green eyes of A. fuscus are an artistic license of the tapetum lucidum, an intraocular reflecting structure that enhances visual sensitivity, indicating nocturnality. Eutherian SDUST-V0008 from the Lower Cretaceous is not included in this artistic reconstruction. CREDIT: Chuang Zhao and Ruoshuang Li.
(**) Complete caption for Fig. 3. Melanosome diversity and pelage coloration across extant mammals and Mesozoic mammaliaforms. (A) Scatterplot of individual melanosome measurements from 116 extant mammals and six fossils; dot color shows RGB values derived from spectral curves measured at specific hair locations. Extant hair melanosomes, n = 2615; A. fuscus, n = 760; M. mammaliaformis, n = 103; V. diplomylos, n = 395; docodontan SDUST-V0006, n = 289; docodontan SDUST-V0007, n = 407; eutherian SDUST-V0008, n = 205. (B) Width variation of melanosomes. (C) Length variation of melanosomes. (D) Measured reflectance spectra of selected extant mammals [Vulpes vulpes (orange), Ailurus fulgens (red), Cephalophus dorsalis (brown), Pelomys fallax (darker brown), and Mephitis mephitis (black)] and predicted reflectance curves for six Mesozoic mammaliaforms (browns), highlighting their constrained brown coloration and minimal variation. (E) Detailed view of the predicted reflectance curves for the six Mesozoic mammaliaforms.
Though Pittsburgh’s air has improved since the Smoky City days, we still have heavy industry and unhealthy air too frequently. The rotten egg smell of sulfur lingers when there’s a temperature inversion, and since Pittsburgh averages 157 inversion days per year it’s likely there’s bad air somewhere here almost half the time. But not everyone smells it. It depends on where the plume goes, and that depends on the surface wind or lack thereof.
This two minute video explains how it works showing air movements on 10 December 2020. Back then the Cheswick power plant (orange plume) was still in operation; it closed on 31 March 2022.
To whet your appetite for the PlumePGH website, here are still shots from a recent bad air day on Saturday 4 October 2025. A screenshot of the SmellPGH map on 4 October shows that the air was really awful and a lot of people noticed it.
Flysch in the Mediterranean at Torre del Guadelmesi, Andalusia, Spain, 12 Sept 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
8 October 2025
A year ago on a birding trip at the Strait of Gibraltar we stopped at the Torre del Guadelmesi a watchtower on the Spanish coast. Below us in the Mediterranean was an odd formation of parallel rocks called flysch.
Flysch is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building episode.
The layers erode at different rates so the formation looks striped. If it was not so eroded the rocks could look like this formation in Basque Country, northern Spain.
What fascinated me was not the rock layers but the fact that they were tilted up, proving the relentless power of plate tectonics at the Strait. This animation shows how the horizontal layers became vertical.
The Eurasian and African plates are moving in generally the same direction but you can see on the map below that the African plate is moving a little faster so it is ramming into Spain.
Geologists say that plate movement at the Mediterranean is complex and it has stalled so the plates may be changing places.
The continents are converging; and for many millions of years, the northern edge of the African tectonic plate has descended under Europe.
But this process has stalled; and at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting last week [April 2011], scientists said we may be seeing Europe taking a turn.
If they are correct, this would signal the start of a new subduction zone – a rare event, scientifically fascinating.
“It looks possible that on the appropriate timescale, we are witnessing the beginning of subduction of Europe under Africa,” he told BBC News.
When (or if) this happens, tilted rocks will rise on the African side of the Mediterranean. It will happen relentlessly but very very slowly. None of us will be around to see it.
Northmoreland Park in Apollo, PA has a lake, walking paths, mountain bike trails and playing fields but is rarely visited by birders because there are few species of interest, just the usual suspects. All of that changed on 16 August when Mark McConaughy photographed a Baird’s sandpiper on the mudflat at the lake.
Baird’s sandpipers (Calidris bairdii) are rare in Pennsylvania because they breed in the arctic, winter in southern South America, and migrate over the Great Plains.
Something diverted this individual from it’s normal route, perhaps bad weather or the wildfires in Canada. It veered east, entered southwestern Pennsylvania, and looked for a good place to land — a mudflat — just before dawn.
If southwestern PA wasn’t in a drought there would have been no mudflat and the Baird’s would have kept going. Instead he stayed for two days and attracted 9 more eBirders.
This time of year is shorebird migration season so birders continued to stop by to check the mudflat. “A rare bird was here and conditions are right for another one, so I’ll take a look just in case.” I like to call this The Rare Bird Effect. In Arizona there’s a similar concept called the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect. (Thank you, Deb Grove, for reminding me of it.)
The Rare Bird Effect paid off at 7:11pm on 4 September when Susan Miller photographed a phalarope. Merlin said it had to be a red-necked phalarope, which is rare but not impossible, but Susan thought that didn’t look right. Her photos helped identify it as a red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) a super-rare bird in the continental interior because it winters on and migrates over the open ocean. Here’s what she saw.
The red phalarope stayed two days, 5 and 6 September, and generated 40 more eBird visits including the photo at top by Steve Gosser and photos below by Phillip Rodgers. The bird came close to shore for great photos!
Some of us showed up on 7 September, the morning after it left. Alas!
Right now Northmoreland’s mudflat is quite a birding hotspot so it’s worth checking just in case. “You see a lot by looking.”
It’s been almost 100 years since penicillin was discovered and 70-80 years since it’s been widely used but penicillin’s effectiveness waned as bacteria evolved resistance to it. This has happened to many antibiotics so researchers are looking for new sources to kill bacteria. They recently found some in an unlikely place.
Archaea are microbes that thrive just about everywhere, including in our guts and in extremely harsh environments such as hot springs, pictured above. They were initially thought to be bacteria until scientists looked more closely.
Archaeal cells have unique properties separating them from Bacteria and Eukaryota, including: cell membranes made of ether-linked lipids; metabolisms such as methanogenesis; and a unique motility structure known as an archaellum.
In their search for antibiotics two recent studies looked for hardy organisms that co-exist with bacteria and have chemical defenses that may potentially kill bacteria. Archaea in hot springs are one such group.
The first study used an AI algorithm to scan the complete amino acid sequence of each organism, searching for fragments called encrypted peptides that often have antimicrobial properties. Scanning 233 archaea species revealed more than 12,600 likely encrypted peptides. They tested 80 of the most promising, 93% of which showed antibacterial activity in vitro against dangerous human pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus(1) and Klebsiella pneumoniae(2).
The second study looked for enzymes that could break down the bacterial cell wall peptide shield called peptidoglycan. The group found these enzymes in 5% of the more than 3700 archaea species they surveyed. When exposed to bacteria in the lab, some of the enzymes shredded the bacterias’ peptidoglycan and killed them.”
