Crows staging near Frick Fine Arts, 9 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
13 December 2025, Pittsburgh, PA
Crows: On Tuesday evening I counted more than 4,000 crows in the first 15 minutes of staging at Frick Fine Arts at University of Pittsburgh. Thousands more showed up after that but they were too hard to count because they kept swirling. See photos and videos in Wednesday’s article: So Many Crows!
Deer: Yesterday in Schenley Park I saw a herd of seven deer on a wooded hillside near the Westinghouse memorial, a mix of bucks and does. The bucks had already shed their antlers, however their interactions attracted my attention. Two or three deer frequently snorted and chased the others. I could tell that one chaser’s head used to have antlers. Apparently his hormones were waning but he was still feisty.
This photo from February 2014 will have to substitute for what I saw. Yesterday’s herd was too quick and camouflaged to photograph with my cellphone.
Deer in Schenley Park in winter, 22 Feb 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
Hole in the Road: Workmen arrived yesterday to fix a water main break near where I live. The small hole on the right is the sinkhole. The enormous hole on the left is what they’re digging to hook up the source. The jackhammer is digging the slab the guys are standing on inorder to join the two holes. Scary thing: The surface concrete is about a foot thick but beneath it is nothing but air for more than 6 feet! Apparently the intersection is a “bridge” over … what?
Hole in the road at N. Craig and Bayard, 12 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Under the thick street-level concrete … Nothing! at N. Craig and Bayard, 12 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Red-tailed hawk in Schenley Park, 14 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate 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.
Red-tailed hawk at eye level, almost hidden, 14 Nov 2025
Red-tailed hawk at eye level, looks up
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)
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?
A pair of mallards with The Odd Duck in the background, Panther Hollow Lake, 13 Nov 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)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.
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
Black tupelo fruits and fall color, Schenley Park, 6 November 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
8 November 2025
Fall color faded quickly after yesterday’s gusty winds blew all the best leaves off the trees. The colors were brilliant in Schenley Park on Thursday 6 November as seen in these photos.
Fall color in Schenley Park, 6 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Fallen sweetgum leaf, Schenley Park, 6 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Fall color in Schenley Park, 6 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
We found yellow black walnut leaves at Moraine State Park on Monday 3 November. The leaves and stems felt soft because they are fuzzy.
Fall color on black walnut leaves, Moraine State Park, 3 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday Schenley Park was at “Half Leaf” — about 50% of the leaves had fallen — and the remaining leaves were not as brilliant. The colors have faded fast.
Beech trees are the last to show fading fall color, Schenley Park, 7 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Soon the only brilliant colors will be in the sky.
Fall color in the sky at sunrise, 7 Nov 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Green hawthorn fruits (probably Winter King cultivar), Frick Park, 28 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
1 November 2025
This week the brightest fall color disappeared from the landscape as rain and wind took down the reddest leaves. This showed off many colorful fruits to attract attention.
Above, a hawthorn tree at Frick Environmental Center is loaded with bright red fruit. I believe this is a cultivar of the green hawthorn (Crataegus viridis) chosen for its winter hardiness.
Below, on Flagstaff Hill I found one tree that still had red leaves on Wednesday. Thursday’s rain and wind probably stripped it bare.
One red tree left on Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, 29 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) was so colorful that even the bud scales looked red.
Fragrant sumac leaves and buds near Phipps, 29 Oct 2025 (photo by Kate 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
White-throated sparrow colors and sexes — green arrows show the only combinations that can mate successfully (photos from Wikimedia Commons)
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)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)
