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.”
This April Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) found lead and heavy metal pollution in Blue Hole Creek in Somerset County, a shocking discovery because the creek was an Exceptional Value waterway with clean water and abundant stream life.
At that sampling location the lead concentration was 30 times the lead found in Flint, Michigan in 2014! As MWA wrote:
This is very concerning due to the proximity of the Grindle Ridge Shelter Area, where many hikers spend the night. The water pumps at the shelter areas are known to have high iron concentrations, so hikers often use portable water filters at nearby streams for drinking water. Blue Hole Creek is one of the closest permanent water sources to the Grindle Ridge Shelters. Other hikers and several of our staff members have used this source while recreating on the LHHT in the last couple years.
Apparently the state knew about problems in Blue Hole Creek for perhaps a year but no signs were posted by the state agencies. MWA writes in Blue Hole Creek: FAQ & Updates: “DEP wasn’t aware that hikers were using the creek for drinking water [since] the agency doesn’t recommend drinking surface water for any reason.” Oh no!
The Solid Waste Dept at DEP has issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Highlands Sporting Clays for failure to comply with the Shooting Range Stewardship Best Management Practices, resulting in the contamination of Blue Hole Creek with Lead, Cadmium, Aluminum, Zinc, and Manganese. …
Highlands Sporting Clays has been completing preliminary site remediation, which is permissible under the Shooting Range Stewardship plan. These efforts include removing the spent shot wads and clay pigeon debris from the course surface and applying lime and phosphorus to reduce the amount of toxins leaching into Blue Hole Creek.
Here’s how close Highlands Sporting Clays is to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and Grindle Ridge Shelters. The map even shows Blue Hole Creek beginning near the sporting club.
Woolly mammoth figure at Kuopio Museum, Finland, July 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)
21 July 2025
On our previous trip to Finland we visited Kuopio Museum where one of the main attractions is the woolly mammoth replica, above. Unveiled in 1999, he was modeled after a well-preserved frozen mammoth found in 1799 in Siberia’s Lena River valley. At its death the frozen mammoth was about 30 years old, weighed 5,000 to 5,500 pounds (more than 2.5 tons) and stood over three meters (over 10 feet) at the shoulder[1]. For a sense of scale that’s my husband gazing at the mammoth.
When I saw the Kuopio mammoth I couldn’t help but think of a 2006 New Yorker cartoon by Alex Gregory that shows a caveman and his wife looking at a slain beast he’d brought home for dinner. And she says, “This is mastodon. I told you to get mammoth.”(<– Click the link to see the cartoon) Her shopping complaint has stayed with me ever since and made me wonder about the animals.
Were mammoths and mastodons alive at the same time?
Did their ranges overlap? If so, where?
Did humans encounter both beasts?
Supposing #3 is true, how did Mrs. Caveman tell the difference between a mammoth and a mastodon?
Mammoths (Mammuthus sp.) are 4 evolutionary splits away from a common ancestor with mastodons, and they have a living relative, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Mastodons (Mammut sp.) were a stand alone branch that went extinct without splitting into descendants.
1. Were woolly mammoths and American mastodons alive at the same time? Yes.
Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) first evolved from steppe mammoths in eastern Siberia around 700,000 to 300,000 years ago and spread across northern Asia, Europe, and North America. Most of them went extinct 11,000 years ago. The last population remained on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean and went extinct 4,000 years ago.
Mastodons (Mammut sp.) first appeared around 27 to 30 million years ago. A well known species, Mammut americanus, became widespread in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.78 million to 11,000 years ago) and went extinct about 11,000 years ago.
2. Did their ranges overlap and where? Yes. Notably in North America.
The woolly mammoth had a circumpolar range as shown on this map from arcticportal.org. Amazingly mammoths were present in both southern Finland and Pittsburgh (top edge of map). (Click on the image to see an annotated version that points to both locations.)
I have been unable to find a range map for mastodons but this fossil site map of two species, M. americanum and M. pacificus, shows that mastodons were widely distributed in North America. The northern part of their range would have overlapped with the woolly mammoth.
3. Did humans encounter both beasts? Yes. A Wikipedia excerpt about mastodons explains that they killed both. With so many woolly mammoth kill sites compared to mastodons, did Clovis people prefer mammoths? Or were they just easier to catch?
As of present, 2 definite Mammut [mastodon] kill sites compatible with Clovis lithic technology have been recorded compared to 15 of Mammuthus [woolly mammoth] and 1 of Cuvieronius [yet another elephant relative].
Some of these cows have udders so heavy that they wear bras, near Lake Rikkavesi, Finland, July 2017
19 July 2025, in Finland
Pennsylvania is a big dairy farming state, ranked 8th in the U.S. in dairy production, yet for all the cows I’ve seen grazing Pennsylvania fields I’d never seen one wearing an udder support bra until I visited Finland eight years ago. Obviously this cow has a very large udder so she benefits in several ways.
prevent damage or further elongation of the suspensory ligaments in large udders
prevent mastitis (inflammation of the udder)
prevent the cow from stepping on its teats when it stands up and/or dragging them on the ground because they hang so low.
Siberian and Nordic dairy farmers sometimes cover cow udders in winter to keep them warm so it wasn’t a stretch for a Finnish dairy farmer to adopt the support net. It’s even been adopted at a farm in Brazil after the Brazilian manager visited Iceland. See Dairy Global: Unique udder support method in the spotlight.
