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)
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 …
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)
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)
This group of seven crossed a lot of roads to end up in a yard on Ellsworth Avenue.
7 deer in a yard on Ellsworth Ave, 20 Sept 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
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.
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them. NOTE that re-construction of the Serpentine Road retaining wall has changed the landscape and forced a limited trail closure. If the group is not too large we’ll walk the creek bed trail.
Visit my Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations.
(*) If the birding is suddenly good at 10:30am we’ll have the option to continue to 11a.
(photos by Kate St. John)
Information on Great Race road closures on the morning of 28 September 2025
For a zoom-able closeup of the 2025 Great Race map, click here or on the screenshot below.
Barricades will be set up throughout the city to clear the race route which stretches along Forbes Avenue from Frick Park in Squirrel Hill to Morewoood Avenue at Carnegie Mellon (Morewood is the Forbes to Fifth connector). It then uses Fifth Avenue through Oakland and the Boulevard of the Allies into Downtown, ending at Point State Park.
Approximate closure times are as follows:
Zone A (green): Forbes at Beechwood Blvd to Forbes at Morewood: 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. This is where the 10K run starts at 9:30am
Zone B (purple): Forbes at Morewood to Fifth & Bigelow Blvd: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Zone C (orange): Fifth & Bigelow to Fifth & the ramp to the Blvd of the Allies: 6:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. This is where the 5K run starts at 8:00am
Zone D (red): Fifth & Blvd of the Allies to Commonwealth Place & Liberty Ave: 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Finish line of both races.
Since I live north of Fifth I’m going to move my car south of Forbes early in the morning so I can get to Bartlett.
Gabrielle Marsden releases a zebra swallowtail at Schenley Park, 31 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 September 2025
This week I couldn’t help but notice the landscape looks very dry and plants are wilting.
Unwatered grass is brown in the drought, 2 September 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Orange jewelweed at Schenley Park is wilting in the drought, 31 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
And now it’s official. Pennsylvania is in a moderate drought in Elk, Cameron, northwest Clearfield, western Allegheny, Beaver and Greene counties. Notice the pink arrows I added to this map from U.S. Drought Monitor at UNL.
Gabrielle Marsden (@gobbism on Instagram) raises many kinds of butterflies, especially zebra swallowtails. She brought three adults to Schenley Park to release during the Botanical Society walk last Sunday. (See top photo) The butterflies’ host plant, the pawpaw tree, grows in Schenley.
Zebra swallowtails ready for release, 31 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania walks focus on plants but the outings do not ignore the rest of nature. Bugs are often associated with specific plants so when we found cool bugs we took a look … and found a planthopper. He was easy to see because his bright green disguise doesn’t work in a drought.
Planthopper is too gren for the drought.
We also found the remnants of a scissor-grinder cicada who left his exoskeleton behind on a leaf.
Scissor-grinder cicada exoskeleton, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sometimes the bugs found us. Steve Tirone had to stop in his tracks to avoid hurting the katydid on his shoe.
Katydid on Steve’s shoe, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
p.s. I forgot to tell you what we saw on the Schenley Park outing last Sunday, 31 August.
Schenley Park outing, 31 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The birds were quiet and generally hard to find. We saw only 15 species. Best Birds were two immature red-tailed hawks that chased each other.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 75 on Flagstaff Hill Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 3 Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2 Immature hawks lazily chasing each other up the creek Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 3 Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 6 Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) 1 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 8 Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1 European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 20 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 25 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 16 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 3 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 4 Adult & fledgling were not the color we expected. Both had a rumpled appearance as if they got dirty somehow. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4
What moth? Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
30 August 2025
This was certainly the week for insects, especially on Thursday when cold temperatures made them sluggish. Here are a few that I’ve seen this week, some of which I cannot identify.
At top, what moth is this at Frick Park on Thursday? Google Lens gives so many answers that I am not sure which one to pick.
Below, not-a-moth this is an end-banded netwing beetle (Calopteron terminale). Most, but not all photos, show a black band in the middle too.
End-banded netwing beetle, Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
An old spider web is draped like a curtain on a twig and stinging nettle in Frick Park.
Spiderweb on stinging nettle, Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
When I got back to my car there was a weevil on the window (yes, my car is dirty). I don’t know what species.
A weevil but which one? Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Aphids have been sucking the juices out of Schenley Park’s false sunflowers for about a month now. Our abnormally dry weather makes the plants less juicy.
Aphids on false sunflower, Schenley, 29 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Reminder! I’ll be leading an outing at Schenley Park tomorrow, 31 August, starting from the Schenley Park Visitors Center at 8:30am. More info here.
Can you see the hawk? We’ll look for him tomorrow. He was watching near Panther Hollow Lake yesterday.
Ironweed at Frick Park, 14 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
16 August 2025
There were so many things to see this week that it was hard to choose my favorites.
Tall ironweed, above, was halfway gone to seed at Frick Park but was gorgeous despite the spent flowers.
Two rare-to-Pittsburgh bird species showed up at the mouth of Flaugherty Run. I stopped by to see the sanderling (Calidris alba) on Sunday but missed 15 avocets (Recurvirostra americana) on Tuesday because I did not go see them immediately. Avocets in Pittsburgh are a One Day Wonder; they never stay more than a few hours.
Sanderling at Flaugherty Run along the Ohio River, 10 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
At Schenley Park on Wednesday I encountered six deer: one buck, 3 does and 2 “teenage” fawns. One of the does was closely associated with the buck and stayed with him when he crossed the valley. Here they are eating.
Buck at Schenley Park, 13 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Doe at Schenley Park paired with the buck, 13 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
On Thursday at Frick Park the field of wild senna was humming with at least 100 bumblebees. It was awesome to see so many in one place. (I counted!)
Three bumblebees on wild senna, Frick Park, 14 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Venus and Jupiter spent the week in conjunction and trading places. The process began with Venus on the right, then Jupiter ultimately moved above her as seen in this day-by-day slideshow.
Jupiter, Venus, 10 Aug 2025
Jupiter, Venus, 11 Aug 2025
Jupiter, Venus, 12 Aug 2025
Jupiter, Venus, 13 Aug 2025
Jupiter, Venus, 14 Aug 2025
Jupiter, Venus, 15 Aug 2025
It’s unusual to have clear skies night after night in Pittsburgh but we’re in an almost-drought so we have no clouds and no rain — except for a thunderstorm on Wednesday. Despite that precipitation, dry conditions continue in the city.
Drooping poison ivy in our abnormally dry weather, Schenley Park, 13 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The U.S. Drought Monitor now acknowledges we are Abnormally Dry as of 12 August.
Insect(s) ate holes in this morning glory, Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
2 August 2025
This week every flower had a bug on it. Even when I didn’t see insects I heard the drone of cicadas and found evidence of bugs munching on plants and flowers.
The symmetrical holes on the morning glory, above, probably indicate that a bug ate it at night when the petals were closed.
Butterflies were everywhere on Thursday along the trail of black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta) at Hays Woods, but they were difficult to photograph with a cellphone. I spent a lot of time trying to get a good photo of this silver-spotted skipper.
Silver spotted skipper on black-eyed susan, Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
… and even longer trying for this butterfly who would not show to good advantage. Jeff Cieslak suggests it’s a hackberry emperor. You can see the “bug” looking at me.
Butterfly on black-eyed susan (Which one?) Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
A true bug — a leaf-footed bug — rested on my window for several hours on 28 July.
Leaf-footed bug outside my window, 28 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Deer and Deer Damage in Schenley Park:
Alas there are still too many deer in Schenley Park for they’ve browsed these yews down to woody stems outside Phipps Conservatory.
Deer damage on yews, Schenley Park, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Inside the park they’ve eaten all their favorite native plants and are now trying “novel” foods. It took them years to discover that the young shoots of Japanese knotweed are acceptable forage.
Deer damage on Japanese knotweed(!), Schenley Park, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
As expected, Schenley’s deer have come out of hiding this month as they wait for the rut to begin. In this photo I’ve circled four does resting in dappled shade along the Upper Trail.
One fawn in dappled shade along Schenley’s Upper Trail, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Nearby a single fawn rested alone. Can you see the fawn near the center of the photo?
One fawn in dappled shade along Schenley’s Upper Trail, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Doe in Schenley Park, 4 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
7 July 2025
Lest you think you don’t have to worry about ticks in the City of Pittsburgh, consider this:
On a walk in Schenley Park last week I saw two does and a fawn along the Upper Trail. The doe pictured above looked healthy but the other one, further away, had very red ears. Why? Through binoculars I saw that the insides of her ears were lined with hundreds of red-colored engorged ticks! There were ticks on the backs of her ears, on her face and on her neck as well. It was the worst tick infestation I’d ever seen. Ick!
Red-colored ticks? Red is the color of blood. It’s likely they were engorged blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), the ones that carry debilitating Lyme disease.
The infested doe is not spreading Lyme disease to ticks because deer are never infected by it. However she is spreading ticks — hundreds of potentially infected ticks — throughout Schenley Park. They will drop off in a new place when they’ve had their fill.
This spring and summer the Allegheny County Health Department is conducting black-legged tick sweeps in the City parks and so far they’re finding quite a lot of them.
At Pennsylvania’s Tick Research Lab — which is based at East Stroudsburg University with study locations all over the state — experts say they are tracking significantly more ticks this spring.
The Tick Lab recorded roughly two and a half times more ticks this May compared to the same time last year.
Spray Your Clothes to repel ticks (photo by Kate St. John)
In my experience wearing long pants, long sleeves, and socks sprayed with Permethrin is far safer from ticks than if you use insect repellent on your skin.
