26 July 2024 On Tuesday off the coast of Rye, New Hampshire, small fish called menhaden or pogies (Brevoortia tyrannus) were running in big schools. Pogies are a favorite food of all the larger fish and those fish, plus a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeanglia), were out there to eat them. This attracted lots of human ..read more

25 July 2024 The question sounds foolish but … Can pigeons play Wordle? Seven years ago a pigeon behavioral study found that the birds can recognize 4-letter English words and tell the difference between real words and mere jumbles of letters. This was the first time anyone knew that a non-primate species had this ability ..read more

Adult boxelder bug, Pittsburgh, 2017 (photo from Wikimedia Commons) 24 July 2024 July is certainly Bug Season! Yesterday Mike Fialkovich sent news that it’s a big year for boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata) where he works in New Stanton, PA. Huge numbers of box elder bug nymphs, New Stanton, 23 July 2024 (photo by Mike Fialkovich) There was a big gathering of Boxelder Bugs at my workplace today. Most were nymphs but a few adults were present. I noticed the adults were numerous recently on the side of the building but today the numbers of nymphs were impressive. — email from Mike Fialkovich, 23 ..read more

Peregrine nesting platform at Virginia’s Eastern Shore, 2013 (photo from Center for Conservation Biology media photo gallery) 23 July 2024 The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) has been monitoring Virginia’s peregrine population every year since the late 1970s. Because they track individual adults, they know who breeds where and when they go missing. This year the news was disturbing. Peregrine adult turnover statewide more than doubled in one year to a new rate of 40%. Forty percent of the adults disappeared (died) and were replaced by a new bird. The only good news is that the high rate ..read more

Metallic green bug on spotted knapweed, July 2013 (photo by Kate St. John) 22 July 2022 Insects are singing while songbirds are quiet as they wrap up the breeding season. Join me for a bird & nature walk in Frick Park on Sunday, July 28, 2023, 8:30a – 10:30a. Meet me at the Nine Mile Run Trail Parking lot. We’ll check out the birds, flowers and bugs in the Nine Mile Run trailhead area before heading over to the boardwalk. NOTE: If you park in one of the small dirt lots near a Frick Park entry gate, cross the road and walk under the arching Parkway Bridge to join us. Park anywhere along Com ..read more

New York ironweed, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John) 20 July 2024 Yesterday was my first opportunity to visit Schenley Park in more than a week. Deep purple flowers on New York ironweed (Veronia noveboracensis) Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) in bloom, a non-native plant from Eurasia. Eastern bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) with tiny spider threads. Pavement glowing in the sun? No, pond scum on Panther Hollow Lake. Dead adult spotted lanternfly nose-down with legs flexed open. Shadyside, 18 July. Oh deer … Details near their photos. Feverfew, Schenley Park, 19 July 2024 ..read more

Two Laysan albatross chicks at Midway Atoll, mid-June 2008 (photo from Wikimedia Commons) 19 July 2024 Midway Atoll hosts the largest Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) nesting colony in the world where more than 600,000 pairs raise young each year. The birds are absent in September but return to court in November, lay eggs in December, and hatch in February. There are so many birds that it’s hard to count. Laysan albatrosses incubating eggs at Midway Atoll in December 2016 (photo from Wikimedia Commons) After the eggs hatch the chicks begin to wander in March while their parents hunt ..read more

John English saw this spotted lanternfly adult outside his window on 17 July 2024 18 July 2024 They’re back. Well, actually, they never left but they haven’t looked like this since last fall. Up until now spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) in western Pennsylvania have been present as egg masses or nymphs. Yesterday a winged adult lanternfly landed on John English’s window feeder in Homestead. This is the first report I’ve received that adults have emerged. Their population will follow a well known arc. A smattering in mid July, lots more in August, an invasion in September. Have you see ..read more

Male ebony jewelwing, Frick Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi) 17 July 2024 Bug season brings pests but also beauty. One of my favorites is this delicate damselfly, the ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), named for the males’ black wings with metallic blue-green edges. Their bodies are shiny blue-green, too. The females are less flashy, darkly colored with white spots at the tips of the wings. When a female flies in the forest gloom the white tips are all you see. Female ebony jewelwing, Frick Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi) Ebony jewelwings prefer wooded habitats nea ..read more

Animation of base reflectivity showing roost rings, 2 Aug 2010, 6:10 AM to 7:17 AM (image from NWS Wilmington, OH) 16 September 2024 Our largest swallow, the purple martin (Progne subis), has a very short breeding period in North America. In Pennsylvania they arrive in late April and fledge young in mid July. Purple martins at Bob Allnock’s in Portersville, PA, July 2016 (photo by Kate St. John) As soon as the fledglings fly well, adults and young leave the nesting area and spend their nights in a communal roost. Flocking begins as soon as nestlings fledge; birds of all ages assemble in roost ..read more