Category Archives: Schenley Park

Seen This Week: Wind, Water, Melting Ice

February 21, 2026Schenley Park, Weather & SkyKate St. John

Panther Hollow Lake thawing and overflowing, Schenley Park, 20 Feb 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

21 February 2026

Yesterday it was windy when I took a long walk in Schenley Park. By the end of the walk I’d peeled off my coat, so warm it felt like spring. Nothing was greening up yet, but it was the perfect day for melting old patches of ice and snow.

All the streams were running fast with melt water and Panther Hollow Lake was overflowing its western, downstream edge (photo at top), both typical for this time of year.

These waterfalls are flowing to Panther Hollow Lake while the wind lifts leaves in the background.

Schenley Park, 20 Feb 2026, video by Kate St. John

When I reached the bottom of the valley Panther Hollow Lake looked somewhat ice covered but it is completely ice free among the cattails …

Panther Hollow Lake thawing, Schenley Park, 20 Feb 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

… and ice free around the edges.

Wind pushed the water in the opposite direction of flow.

Schenley Park, 20 Feb 2026, video by Kate St. John

Panther Hollow Lake freezes early and thaws early because it is so shallow. Though named a “lake” it has all the characteristics of a small pond. About a 1/3 of the area inside the concrete edge is thick with cattails — a wetland — and the open water is only about 4 inches deep with a maximum depth of 2 feet in one small spot.

Ice walking season is over. If you ever contemplated doing it, consider this from the blog Lake Ice: Lake Ice from a Recreational perspective.

Small or shallow ponds present some hazards that are often unexpected. Their size and shallowness allow the water in them to cool quickly and catch [freeze] easily. They often provide early season ice. They also come in early enough in the season that they are likely to see significant warm spells with the attendant risks of ice weakened and thinned by thawing. During a thaw in ice less than three inches thick, grain boundary melting can take place in a couple hours in warm conditions, especially in the spring when the sun is strong and the days are long. If the ice was weak yesterday from thaw conditions but feels hard and strong in the morning it may be an illusion. The only hard ice is on the surface. It is called overnight ice. The sun only has to soften the hard top layer to make the ice sheet much weaker.
— Lake Ice: Lake Ice from a Recreational perspective

p.s. If you ever walk on Panther Hollow Lake’s ice and fall through you’re for an unpleasant surprise. The bottom is covered in a thick layer of sediment which, I’ve heard, is so mucky that you will sink into if you try standing on it. You’ll have to leave your boots behind.

Seen This Week: Moss, Waves and Snow Melt

January 10, 2026Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Weather & SkyKate St. John

Moss in a Pittsburgh front yard, 8 Jan 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

10 January 2026

Lots of yo-yo weather in the past two weeks!

7 days above freezing starting Christmas Eve: Highest was 64°F
6 days below freezing at the New Year: Lowest was 10°F
Another spate above freezing this week: : Highest was 66°F.

The plants may be shocked by this up and down weather but some low-lying moss (above) was as green as Ireland on Thursday before the next cold snap.

Meanwhile, beautiful altocumulus undulatus clouds at 3pm on Thursday 8 January made waves in the sky. This type of cloud can predict rain within the next 20 hours and indeed it started to rain on Friday just before 9:00am.

Waves in the sky over Pittsburgh, 8 Jan 2026 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yo-yo weather keeps the streams open and running. This brook at Bowers, PA made happy sounds as it ran with snowmelt.

Babbling brook at Bowers, PA, 3 Jan 2026 (video by Kate St. John)

A Hawk, A Croc, and The Odd Duck

November 17, 2025Birds of Prey, Schenley Park, Water and ShoreKate St. John

17 November 2025

In Schenley Park …

A Hawk:

My friend Andrea and I were walking up the Lower Trail on Friday morning when she told me to pause. Right in front of us was a red-tailed hawk at eye level, hunting for breakfast. The chipmunks and squirrels laid low. When we walked past he flew up to the mossy branch pictured at top and resumed his hunt. All of these photos were taken with my cellphone; he was that close.

A Croc:

On Thursday the wind was so strong that it blew all the duckweed to the east end of Panther Hollow Lake, making it easier for ducks and geese to eat it. While Canada geese browsed the duckweed I noticed a small pink something … ? … near them. Shadows were in the way.

Canada geese eating duckweed on Panther Hollow Lake, 13 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

When the shadows were gone it was easy to see that the small pink thing was a child’s Croc. Someone went home without her shoe.

Canada goose near the pink Croc floating on Panther Hollow Lake, 13 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

The Odd Duck:

Also on Thursday, Charity Kheshgi and I counted 3 mallards and The Odd Duck. She was paired with a male mallard so he knows she’s his type but what type is she?

The Odd Duck with her mate in the background, Panther Hollow Lake, 13 Nov 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

The Odd Duck, Panther Hollow Lake, 13 Nov 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

We speculated that she was an American black duck X domestic duck hybrid, but in fact there are domestic mallard breeds that approach or match this plumage:

chocolate brown back, wings and head
warmer brown speckled undertail coverts and sides
white chest.

My guess is she’s a domestic duck escapee, perhaps a white domestic duck mish-mashed with a Dark Campbell or Cayuga Duck. She has doppelgängers in Kitchener, Ontario in 2018 and 2011. –> In the comments, Candy Morgan suggests she’s a Swedish Black Duck.

Domestic mallard, Kitchener, Ontario, July 2018 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Domestic mallard, Kitchener, Ontario, Feb 2011 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Seen This Week: Yellows and Gold

November 15, 2025Phenology, Schenley Park, TreesKate St. John

Ginkgo leaf with beads of water, 14 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

15 Nov 2025

After my 11 November article about The (Pittsburgh) Ginkgo Map I kept my eye out for local ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba) but I was already too late to see them drop their leaves.

That afternoon I went back to photograph the Garetta Street trees, shown in my article from 11 November 2017.

Ginkgo trees at Jewish Association on Aging, Garetta Street as seen from JHF Drive, 11 Nov 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

But the 11th of November was too late this year. All the leaves had fallen and the landscaping crew was sucking them into the red truck (at right, below). Oh no! I was just in time to see part of their yellow carpet.

Ginkgo trees at Jewish Association on Aging, Garetta Street as seen from JHF Drive, 11 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Friday I photographed the ginkgo leaf carpet at Phipps Conservatory’s lawn. Someone had picked up a bunch of leaves and made a smaller pile in the distance. I picked up one leaf beaded with water, above, and took its photo.

Carpet of ginkgo leaves at Phipps Conservatory lawn, 14 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Ginkgos weren’t the only yellow.

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is blooming in Schenley Park. Its pale yellow flowers are fertilized at night by owlet moths that survive cold weather by hiding under leaf litter during the day. They shiver to warm up and fly at night.

Witch-hazel in bloom, Schenley Park, 14 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

The wind made waves in Panther Hollow lake on 13 November, turning the sunlight from yellow to gold.

video by Kate St. John, 13 Nov 2025

Light reflects on wavy surface of Panther Hollow Lake, video by Kate St. John, 13 Nov 2025

Yesterday at Schenley Park

October 27, 2025Deer, Schenley ParkKate St. John

Almost the whole group (5 out of 6) at the Schenley outing, 26 Oct 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

27 October 2025

Yesterday morning six of us came out to look for birds at the Bartlett end of Schenley Park. I had high hopes for sparrows but we only saw song sparrows. It was cold and the birds did not become active until the day warmed up at 10:15am. By then we were done.

At first we stayed in the sunlit warmer areas, then walked the interior up the Falloon Trail and walked to Circuit Drive on the golf course. That’s where things got interesting.

We saw an 8-point buck in a tiny woodlot sandwiched between the road and the now-closed hole near the maintenance garage. He posed nicely for several of us and leapt away while Roger Day snapped this action shot. This buck was the second 8-point I’ve seen in four days; their antlers were different.

8-point buck leaps out of the tiny woodlot at Schenley golf course, 26 Oct 2025 (photo by Roger Day)

Further down the road I found stark evidence of deer damage in the park. These northern white-cedars (Thuja occidentalis) would normally have branches and greenery all the way to the ground (click here to see what I mean) but cedars are a favorite food of white-tailed deer who eat them up as far as they can reach.

Deer damage to northern white-cedar at the golf course, Schenley, 26 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Best Birds were two immature Cooper’s hawks (Astur cooperii) flying together and calling. Shortly thereafter we briefly saw an adult Coopers hawk hunting in the same area. Perhaps the youngsters were whining for food. No wonder the birds were hiding!

Here’s our checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S281480409. Most birds were heard and not seen.

Schenley Park, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Oct 26, 2025, 8:30 AM – 10:20 AM
17 species

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1
Cooper’s Hawk (Astur cooperii) 3. 2 immatures together, vocalizing. 1 adult nearby
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 5
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1 Heard
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 1 at CL
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 5
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 1 <—- this was a bonus bird at the end
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 16
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 6
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 4
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 6
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 1

A Hard Summer for Panther Hollow Lake

October 21, 2025Schenley Park, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park, documentation photo, 10 October 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

21 October 2025

It was a hard summer for Panther Hollow Lake in Schenley Park. In early July I wrote What’s Wrong With Panther Hollow Lake? about the many challenges it faces due to sediment, low water and the concrete edge. Its problems were exacerbated by summer’s drought and heat making it impossible to ignore the pond’s ugly surface of filamentous algae (pond scum) and duckweed. This month I noticed another challenge lurking below.

Last Friday duckweed (Lemnoideae) covered most of the water.

Panther Hollow Lake, duckweed documentation photo, Schenley Park, 17 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

But we have two helpers eating it now. A pair of mallards.

Mallard pair eating duckweed from the surface of Panther Hollow Lake, 17 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

This is what they’re eating.

Duckweed from Panther Hollow Lake, 22 June 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

At the railroad (west) end of the pond I could see into its shallow depths and finally realized that Panther Hollow Lake is choked with invasive hydrilla (waterthyme).

The water looks stagnant but the plants do move.

video by Kate St. John

Hydrilla is a problem in many Pennsylvania waterways.

video embedded from PA Fish and Boat Commission on YouTube

Hydrilla moves from lake to lake on boats and gear. Fishing gear is a likely source of it since hydrilla is in the shallows at Duck Hollow, another a nearby fishing spot.

Despite its man-made origin Panther Hollow Lake is passing through the normal life cycle of a natural lake and is now doing its best to turn into a swamp and ultimately a meadow.

diagram from The Life of a Lake at NHLakes.org

If we want an artificial lake or pond in a place where nature wants a meadow, we will have to spend a lot of money to make it that way and a lot of money over and over again to keep it that way. Money is tight, even for basic things … so that’s why Panther Hollow Lake is the way it is for now.

Read more about Panther Hollow lake at What’s Wrong With Panther Hollow Lake?

Sparrow Time! Schenley Park Outing, Sun Oct 26, 8:30am

October 20, 2025Books & Events, Migration, Schenley ParkKate St. John

White-throated sparrow, tan-striped morph (photo from WIkimedia Commons)

20 October 2025

I can tell it’s fall because warbler migration has given way to sparrows. The first indication was an influx of yellow-rumped warblers at Frick on 12 October, who arrive late in warbler migration, followed by a few white-throated sparrows on 15 October.

It’s sparrow time! Join me for a bird & nature walk in Schenley Park on Sunday, 26 October 2025, 8:30am – 10:30am. We’ll meet at Bartlett Shelter on Bartlett Street.

We’re sure to see fruits, seeds, and fallen leaves, acorns, chipmunks and blue jays. Will we find white-throated sparrows? I sure hope so. See why below.

Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them.

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

White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) come in two color morphs — tan-striped and white-striped — and because look-alike morphs will not mate with each other, this effectively means there are four sexes of white-throated sparrows, shown in the table below. Click here to learn more.

Seen This Week: Glasswort, Cormorants and a Puffball

October 11, 2025Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park, Travel, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Cape Cod view at the end of Navigation Road, Banstable, MA, 4 October 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

11 October 2025

A week ago at Cape Cod I was birding with Bob Kroeger along Navigation Road in Barnstable when we popped out at this beautiful salt marsh scene at the end of the road.

I took the red foliage for granted until I got close. Glasswort’s succulent leaves provide the clue that it thrives in saline habitats. In spring and summer this plant is green so I probably didn’t notice it. In October it turns a beautiful red. I think this is Virginia glasswort (Salicornia virginica).

Virginia glasswort, Navigation Road, Cape Cod, 4 October 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Succulent leaves of Virginia glasswort, Cape Cod, 4 October 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I’d been telling my sister-in-law about the crows that roost in Pittsburgh in the winter and she said, “You ought to see our cormorants.” As sunset approached we followed the bike trial to the Bass River in South Dennis and found 300 double-crested cormorants with more coming in all the time. I’ve heard that people aren’t happy that the birds roost on the wires over the river, but this is certainly a case of build-it-and-they-will-come.

Cormorants coming in to roost at the Bass Rover, South Dennis, MA, 4 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Back home in Pittsburgh, 10 October: While walking in Schenley Park yesterday I saw something white in a splash of sunlight in the woods. Was it trash?

What’s that white thing in the woods? Schenley Park, 10 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

When I bushwhacked to examine it I found a large puffball mushroom with a corner broken off. The last time I saw one in Schenley Park was 10 years ago!

Puffball mushroom, Schenley Park, 10 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I can’t tell you what species this is but there are many examples in this Wikipedia article on puffballs.

Yesterday at Schenley Park: Warblers in the Fog

September 29, 2025Migration, Schenley ParkKate St. John

Warblers chasing each other in the fog, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

29 September 2025

Yesterday morning it was very foggy when three of us began birding at the Bartlett end of Schenley Park. I thought the birds would be sleeping but newly arrived warblers and a hummingbird chased flying insects and each other. They also gleaned tiny bugs from wet leaves.

The birds were so awesome that we stood still for half an hour while they flew around us. Jeff Cieslak took many photos that were essential for identifying the birds we could barely see. Here are just a few of those he posted at his Facebook group: Our Daily Bird.

Despite the challenges we identified 10 warbler species and a mystery “new world warbler sp.” The birds were in fog and low light levels …

Hairy woodpecker in fog, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

with muted colors that matched the scenery …

Nashville warbler in muted fall colors, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

… and hiding in the leaves.

Black-throated green warbler obscured by leaves, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

There was harsh light and shadow when the sun broke through.

Northern parula doing calisthenics, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

And some of the warblers were incredibly active. This one was Best Bird because he zigzagged past us repeatedly while chasing a bid and then landed on a twig in a dark thicket. The photo shows he’s a blackpoll warbler.

Blackpoll warbler lands in the shadows, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2025 (photo by Jeff Cieslak)

At 10:30am the fog lifted and we saw one more flurry of warblers. Then the day heated up, Jeff took this photo and the birds retreated to the interior forest.

Schenley Park outing, 25 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Here’s our checklist.

Schenley Park — Bartlett (40.434, -79.936), Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Sep 28, 2025 8:30 AM – 10:50 AM
Protocol: Traveling, 1.0 mile(s), 28 species (+2 other taxa)

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 3
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 3
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 3
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 1
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) 1
Empidonax sp. (Empidonax sp.) 2
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 3
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 4
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 5
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 2
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) 1
Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina) 3
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla) 2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) 3
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) 3
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) 6
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) 1
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) 2
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 2
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 5
new world warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.) 2 <— Mystery warblers
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) 2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S276110409

City Deer On the Road and Into Yards

September 24, 2025Deer, Schenley ParkKate St. John

7 deer in a yard on Ellsworth Ave, 20 Sept 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

24 September 2025

From April through August the City of Pittsburgh’s overabundant deer population is generally unafraid of the humans they encounter in parks and greenways. In Schenley Park in August this buck in velvet merely looked at me as I stood close enough to take a cellphone photo.

Buck in velvet in Schenley Park, 13 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

This month he’s not visible at all.

In late September and early October, as deer hormones ramp up for the rut (mating season), does and fawns initially remain in matriarchal groups but they are on the move, crossing streets and spreading into neighborhoods. The males travel alone, searching for does in estrus. [See City Deer in the Rut for more information.]

The Cathedral of Learning seems isolated to us, surrounded as it is by wide streets and a big lawn but deer are not daunted by these barriers. They cross Fifth Avenue to browse on bushes and flowers, leaving evidence of their nocturnal visit in piles of scat (seen on 9 Sept).

Deer Were Here. On the lawn next to the Cathedral of Learning, 9 September 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Slideshow of deer crossing the road (photos by Starley Shelton via Flickr Creative Commons license)

This group of seven crossed a lot of roads to end up in a yard on Ellsworth Avenue.

Their switch from parks to neighborhoods exposes them to the dangers of cars and dogs while it takes them out of the city parks hunting zones. The City of Pittsburgh Deer Management Program, which began with archery hunts in Frick and Riverview in 2023-2024, expanded last year to Schenley, Highland, Riverview, and Emerald View, and expanded again this year to include Hays Woods (yay!), McKinley Park, Hazelwood Greenway, Southside Park and Seldom Seen Greenway.

Archers for the 2025-2026 season have already been selected and assigned their zones within the parks. Archery began Saturday, September 20, 2025.

I encourage you to learn about bow hunting in the city parks and greenways at WPXI: Deer management program returns to Pittsburgh, expands to more city parks and TribLive: Controlled deer hunt expands to 10 Pittsburgh parks; hunters target overgrown herd.

For all the details, click on City of Pittsburgh Deer Management Program or on the screenshot below.

screenshot from City of Pittsburgh Deer Management Program website

Meanwhile, watch out for deer crossing the road! Chances are way too high that are you’ll hit a deer in PA during the rut in October/November. October is just one week away.