Category Archives: Water and Shore

Costa Rica’s Everglades

January 22, 2026Costa Rica, Travel, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Sunrise at Caño Negro (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

22 January 2026: Day 4, Natural Lodge Caño Negro — Road Scholar Birding in Northern Costa Rica: Tanagers to Toucans

For the next two days we’ll be birding in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, 25,100 acres of wetlands in northern Costa Rica less than eight air-miles from the Nicaraguan border. Similar to Florida’s Everglades it is home to many of the same species including roseate spoonbills, anhingas, and great egrets. It also attracts migratory birds during North America’s winter.

map of Caño Negro wildlife refuge embedded from SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, Costa Rica)

“Caño Negro” means “black creek” in Spanish and was so named because the Frio River that feeds it was black from tannins and Raffia palm fruits. The river is browner now due to sediment, and so are Caño Negro waterways, but the original name has stuck. (See the lodge website for a flyover.)

During the rainy season the Frio floods the wetlands but in the December through April dry season it’s reduced to little lagoons, channels and beaches. With better weather (for us) and a lot more birds, this is the time of year to visit.

Birding is the top reason and pretty much the only reason that anyone ventures into the heart of Caño Negro where the only way to travel is by boat.

Birdwatching banner on the Natural Lodge Caño Negro website

Our lodge offers boat tours where these are the top 8 species.

Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)

Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Black-collared Hawk (Busarellus nigricollis)

Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria)

Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona)

Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis)

— bIRDWATCHING AT cAñO nEGRO — FROM nATURAL lODGE WEBSITE

Many of the birds found here are also in Brazil’s Pantanal region. The two sites have similar habitat.

If I’m lucky I’ll see at least five Life Birds, shown in the slideshow below.

Russet-naped Wood-Rail (Aramides al b iventris): 42% chance
Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica): 31% chance
Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria), whose name comes from the Tupi–Guaraní language and means “swollen neck” … 30% chance
Green Ibis (Mesembrinibis cayennensis), 51% chance
Black-collared hawk (Busarellus nigricollis), 47% chance

p.s. Yesterday I saw a Life Bird in the falcon family –> a pair of bat falcons.

Bat falcon in Columbia (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

A Falcon That Eats Bats

Breaking Up Is Easy in the Iceberg Graveyard

January 16, 2026Climate Change, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Iceberg A23a in Weddell Sea, 30 Nov 2023 (photo from Sentinel-2 satellite via Wikimedia Commons)

16 January 2026

A year ago the world’s largest iceberg was on a collision course with South Georgia Island, home to millions of penguins including king and macaroni species. A23a was larger than Rhode Island back then and if it lodged against the South Georgia shore it would block ocean access for all the penguins and they would starve.

In February 2025, A23a (the square white thing) seemed to dwarf South Georgia Island.

Iceberg A23a near South Georgia Island, 21 Feb 2025 (image from MODIS satellite, photo on Wikimedia)

But the dire predictions never materialized.

As NASA satellites continued to track A23a, it wandered and spun its way around South Georgia Island, then struck bottom west of the island in March 2025 where it has been melting in place ever since.

NASA map of A23a’s path up to 16 Nov 2024. I drew the remainder of the path to Jan 2026 by consulting other maps. South Georgia Island is highlighted in yellow.

NASA sometimes describes this area of the South Atlantic as the “iceberg graveyard.”

Water at this latitude—about 54 degrees South—is generally warmer than the Southern Ocean [that surrounds Antarctica] and is deadly for icebergs. When Southern Hemisphere winter ends in late September / early October the return of abundant sunlight further warms the water. The lack of sea ice in the vicinity of an iceberg implies that the water is above the freezing point.
— (paraphrased) NASA: A Place Where Icebergs go to Die

This month it was obvious, even from satellite, that A23a is disintegrating. Meltwater is ponding on the surface — visible as blue water — and trickling through the cracks in the ice, further weakening it.

Meltwater turns A23a blue, 26 December 2025 (satellite image from NASA)

This closeup shows striations and melt ponds.

Meltwater turns A23a blue, 27 December 2025 (satellite image from NASA)

Poseidon Expeditions paid a visit to A23a before the surface turned blue.

video embedded from Poseidon Expeditions on YouTube

By now A23a is 40 years old but its days are numbered. Breaking up is easy to do in the iceberg graveyard.

Orcas Scratch an Itch in the Shallows

January 7, 2026Mammals, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Orca at Johnstone Strait, Canada (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

7 January 2026

Orcas (Orcinus orca), sometimes called killer whales, are the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family and like their cousins, bottlenose dolphins, they shed their skin continuously.

Shedding is so important that those who live in frigid polar water cannot shed effectively so algae builds up on their skin. To solve this Antarctic orcas make very fast 5,000-mile round trip migrations to tropical waters off the Atlantic coast of South America where their skin sheds quickly. It takes so little time to get a whole new skin in warm water that they are back home in only 40 days.

Not all orcas need to visit the tropics for their skin health. Resident orcas on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada use a scraping technique to shed skin. On 2 January (human) residents of Sunshine Coast, BC were treated to this unique behavior when a pod of orcas swam for 20 minutes in shallow water, scraping their bellies on smooth submerged rocks like these.

Waves rolling over round rocks at French Beach, BC, Canada (photo by James Wheeler via Flickr Creative Commons license, souvenirpixels.com)

Pod of killer whales seen rubbing bellies on rocks off B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, 2026 | CBC News

The resident orcas are so well known that were easily identified.

The group of whales has been identified as northern resident killer whales (NRKW) and the A5 pod, which comprises three different families, according to Jared Towers, the executive director of Bay Cetology.
— CBC News

Orcas scratch their itch in shallow water.

p.s. Here’s a little more background.

(a) We’re familiar with what orcas look like when they jump in deep water.

Orcas jumping near Unimak Island, Alaska (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

(b) The Sunshine Coast district in British Columbia, Canada is north of the city of Vancouver and across the strait from Vancouver Island, BC

Location of the Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada (embedded from Google Maps)

Orcas near Vancouver Island, BC, Canada (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

No Ice? Heavy Snow

January 4, 2026Travel, Water and Shore, Weather & SkyKate St. John

screenshot from 3 Jan, 2026 Snow Report in Sandy Creek, NY by CNY Central on YouTube

4 January 2026

In Case You Missed It

“As of early Saturday morning, January 3, some areas in Oswego County, including Pulaski and Sandy Creek, had received as much as 4 feet (48 inches) of snow within a 24-hour period since New Year’s Day.” — Syracuse.com

CNY Central TV shows what this looks like!

video embedded from CNY Central on YouTube

This huge snowfall, called “lake effect snow,” happens when cold air moves over warm, open water on the Great Lakes.

Diagram of Lake Effect Snow from weather.gov

The path of the storm determines which community gets hit and the storm’s intensity. Meteorologist Eric Snitil shows how the storm picked up moisture from four bodies of water.

NOTE: If you’re viewing this on mobile: There is a Facebook bug since October 2024 that prevents displaying embedded Facebook posts on mobile devices. Until Meta fixes it click here to see a photograph of this post.

Indeed all the Great Lakes were ice free. Here’s the storm’s path superimposed on GLERL’s ice map. Pale blue means open water.

Ice cover on the Great Lakes, 2 Jan 2026, added orange arrow for wind path of storm. (Original Map from NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab)

Where is Sandy Creek, NY? It’s at the arrowhead on the map above. Click here to see its location on Google Maps.

Skating on Thin Ice

December 30, 2025Water and Shore, Weather & SkyKate St. John

Black ice on a canal in the Netherlands, 2007 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 December 2025

After nearly 60°F yesterday morning we now have snow on the ground.

When temperatures suddenly drop below freezing the National Weather Service warns us of black ice on the roadways. This dangerous transparent thin ice cannot be seen until our cars slide on it.

Black ice also forms on still water such as canals in the Netherlands, above, and a small lake in Sweden, below. It is dangerously thin to skate on it but it makes weird noises when this intrepid skater passes over it. Turn your sound up to hear it.

video embedded from National Geographic on YouTube

Also Seen + Common There, Not Here

December 28, 2025Phenology, Water and Shore, Weather & SkyKate St. John

Winter Solstice sunrise in Pittsburgh, 21 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

28 December 2025

The painted bunting was not the only thing seen last week but it grabbed the headlines. In other news the Winter Solstice was unusually sunny (photos above and below) and I saw an Infrequent duck at Duck Hollow on Christmas Eve.

Sunny Winter Solstice day, Pittsburgh, 21 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

The common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is a relatively small duck, closely related to buffleheads. The female has a chocolate brown head, a golden tip on her beak, and of course a golden eye. All three tipped me off to her identity.

Female common goldeneye at Duck Hollow, 24 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Common goldeneyes are far from abundant in the Pittsburgh area but actually common in Canada in the breeding season and at the Great Lakes and waterways in the American West in winter as shown on their North American abundance map below.

Common goldeneye year-round abundance map in North America from eBird Status and Trends

I had thought that, like buffleheads, goldeneyes were only found in North America but I saw them in Finland last summer. In fact they have a disjoint range on three continents as viewed from the North Pole: Europe, Asia and North America.

Common there, but not here.

Double Swan Day at Duck

December 7, 2025Migration, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Tundra swan at Duck Hollow, 18 Nov 2025 (photo by Jim McCollum)

Mute swan in the Netherlands (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

7 December 2025

Yesterday Chapin Czarnecki discovered a lesser black backed gull (Larus fuscus) at Duck Hollow that drew birders to the site all afternoon. This rare visitor from Europe, Greenland and the Atlantic coast is easy to identify because he is slightly larger than ring-billed gulls, has a black back, yellow legs and a smudgy eye in non-breeding plumage. Chapin got a good photo of him for his checklist.

Birders soon noticed that there are now two species of swans at Duck Hollow, the immature tundra swan who’s been there since mid-November, and now a mute swan as well. John Flannigan captured both in the same cellphone photo. The immature tundra swan is in its typical butt-in-the-air feeding position while the mute swan bends its elegant neck to touch the water.

Mute swans were introduced to North America from Eurasia because they are pretty (see photo from the Netherlands at top), but they are also aggressive, voracious, and drive away other waterfowl during the breeding season, thus rating them as invasive in North America.

These two are at peace because it’s winter, and perhaps because they are the only swans around for many miles.

So it’s Double Swan Day at Duck.

PROOF! Here they are together down near Sandcastle, merely dots in my scope as seen from Duck Hollow on Double Swan Day.

Tundra swan and mute swan on the Monongahela River, 7 Dec 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

p.s. Will Duck Hollow ever see more than two swan species at the same time? Extremely unlikely! However, it’s possible to see three swan species in winter in northwestern Ohio near Magee and Howard Marshes: Mute swan (introduced), trumpeter swan (reintroduced) and tundra swan (overwintering).

p.p.s. There are six swan species on earth. Three at the same time is about the best you can do. I was curious about the ones I’ve seen so I made a table.

Species	Native to	Last Seen: When?	Last Seen: Where?
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)	Eurasia	7/22/2025	Helsinki, Finland
Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)	Australia	2009	(introduced) Ponderosa Golf Course, Hookstown, PA
Black-necked Swan (Cygnus melancoryphus)	southern South America	------	(never seen)
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)	North America	5/9/2025	Magee Marsh, Ohio
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)	northern Eurasia	11/30/2025	Duck Hollow, Pittsburgh, PA
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)	Eurasia	7/21/2025	Outokumpu--Sysmäjärvi, Finland

At Duck Hollow: The Buddha Squirrel and More

December 1, 2025Mammals, Water and ShoreKate St. John

Very fat fox squirrel, like a Buddha, Duck Hollow, 30 Nov 2025 (photo by Ed McKaveny)

1 December 2025

Yesterday it was cloudy and cold when seven of us gathered at Duck Hollow. While we looked for birds we found several surprises.

Six of us at Duck Hollow, 30 Nov 2025, 8:30am (photo by Joe Fedor)

Most amazing was the very fat rusty-orange fox squirrel (at top) who posed like a Buddha — the fattest squirrel I’ve ever seen. I’ll bet he’s overeating at a feeder in the Duck Hollow neighborhood.

The immature tundra swan first seen in mid-November was still present, though far across the river. After our group broke up Ed McKaveny crossed the Monongahela for a closer look.

Immature tundra swan at Duck Hollow, on Homestead side of river, 30 Nov 2025 (photo by Ed McKaveny)

Even from a distance we saw the swan tip up and paddle to keep its head down while it fed on underwater plants. Here it is up close.

Immature tundra swan at Duck Hollow, tipping to feed, 30 Nov 2025 (photo by Ed McKaveny)

On the subject of raptors: We started off with an immature bald eagle flyover and a young Cooper’s hawk on the hunt.

video embedded from Ed McKaveny on YouTube @edtechfoocus

That’s when I put in my Wish for two more raptor species including my favorite bird

We saw a red-tailed hawk, as I expected, but where was the peregrine I’ve seen at Duck Hollow since November?

After more than half the group had left, three of us were puttering in the parking lot when I saw a peregrine approaching from upriver. Ta dah! This bird has a full crop; none of the songbirds need to worry.

Peregrine falcon flyby at Duck Hollow, 30 Nov 2025 (photo by Ed McKaveny)

View our checklist below and online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S286805518

Duck Hollow, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
Nov 30, 2025 8:30 AM – 10:05 AM, 7 participants

Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 1 Immature, continuing
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 15
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 4
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 5
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 3
Cooper’s Hawk (Astur cooperii) 1 Immature
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1 Immature
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 4
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 4
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 3
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 150
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 350
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 3
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 1

(Thanks to Ed McKaveny @edtechfocus for sharing his photos.)

Finding Treasure When It’s Windy

November 30, 2025Water and Shore, Weather & SkyKate St. John

Rough waves on Lake Erie on a windy day (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 November 2025

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and can be very calm, but when the wind kicks up in November the waves start crashing and the lake reveals its hidden treasures.

On the day before Thanksgiving the wind blew steadily from the west-southwest at 25-30 mph, gusting to 50 mph in Ohio.

map of the Great Lakes (illustration from Wikimedia Commons with markup by Kate St. John)

Since this is the same direction as the length of Lake Erie, the wind moved the water away from the lake’s western end.

Wind Set Up Event forces water to one side of the lake (illustration from Wikimedia Commons)

Those in the know went treasure hunting on Wednesday and Thursday in Kingsville, Ontario and Avon Lake, Ohio.

Lake Erie satellite image with places of interest in Nov 2025 (from Wikimedia Commons, markup by Kate St. John)

At Kingsville, a local resident found a shipwreck that hadn’t been seen for many years.

video embedded from CBC News Windsor on YouTube

At Avon Lake the wave action tossed treasures above the high water mark, perfect for beach glass hunting.

video embedded from News5 Cleveland on YouTube

The lake hit its high water mark at Erie, PA at 2:42pm on Wednesday 26 November.

Lake Erie water levels at Erie PA, 1 to 29 Nov 2025 (preliminary figures from NOAA/NOS, markup by Kate St. John)

After that the wind died down and the lake sloshed back and forth like a bathtub. This effect is called a seiche. You can see this on the lake level graph, rising and falling stepwise after the high water mark.

Seiche: sloshing after the wind dies down (illustration from Wikimedia Commons)

Seiches are not uncommon at Lake Erie. For more information see last year’s blog at :

Wind Makes Lake Erie Slosh Like a Bathtub

Beavers Engineer Better Habitats Than We Do

November 26, 2025Insects, Spiders, Mammals, Water and ShoreKate St. John

North American beaver swimming (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

25 November 2025

We humans love to be near water, so much so that we build water features where they didn’t exist. We make backyard ponds, scenic ponds, and improve streams.

Garden pond (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Panther Hollow Lake, Schenley Park, March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Construction at Phipps Run, Schenley Park, 20 Nov 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

All along I’ve suspected that these water features, though often beautiful, are not nearly as good as what nature creates. And now we know for sure.

Two studies find that beaver-engineered wetlands attract twice as many hoverflies, nearly 50% more butterflies, and a richer variety of bats compared to human-made ponds or free-flowing streams.
— Anthropocene Magazine: Beaver-engineered habitats are outperforming ours

When this guy builds a dam, he makes better habitat for all the locals.