Pigeons Conspicuously Court in Public
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
7h ago
Rock pigeon male (on right) struts and coos for his mate (photo from Wikimedia Commons) 28 March 2024 Most birds have a breeding season for a few months per year in spring and summer but rock pigeons, like humans, breed over and over all year long if there’s enough food to sustain their families. You can tell when they’re starting a new family because they court conspicuously. Birds of the World’s rock pigeon account, quoted in the list below, explains the steps of courtship that escalate to the moment of copulation. [Courtship] Begins with bowing and cooing, in which male stands tall, inflat ..read more
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Women Protecting Wildlife in Zimbabwe
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
1d ago
Akashinga Rangers set off on a patrol to establish an overnight observation post at Phundundu, near Nyamakate, Zimbabwe (photo by Davina Jogi embedded from akashinga.org) 27 March 2024 Before Women’s History Month draws to a close here’s some recent women’s history in Zimbabwe. Poaching is a persistent problem in southern Africa because the body parts of exotic wild animals find a lucrative market in the outside world. Without effective patrols it can even happen in a national park as for example 11 years ago, in 2013, when poachers poisoned 41 elephants at Hwange National Park by putting cyan ..read more
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No Amount of Money Can Stop The Ocean
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
2d ago
Protective dune washed away at Salisbury Beach, MA as seen 10 March 2024 (photo embedded from Salisbury Beach Citizens For Change on Facebook) 26 March 2024 A decades-old problem became acute his winter. After high winds and a historic high tide damaged 20+ beachfront homes in January at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts, the residents took up a collection to build a protective dune. It took five weeks, 14,000 tons of sand and more than half a million dollars to build the dune to protect the homes. Three days later it was gone. Completion of the dune project in early March brought high hopes to S ..read more
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Yesterday at Duck Hollow
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
3d ago
Pied-billed grebe at Duck Hollow, 21 and 24 March 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi) 25 March 2024 Yesterday at Duck Hollow it was brilliantly sunny and *cold.* Though the temperature was 27°F the light wind made it feel like 17°F. Brrrr! Charity Kheshgi and I scouted on Thursday and found a pied-billed grebe near shore who was still present in the same zone on Sunday. Alas, the seven horned grebes we saw on Thursday were long gone. Despite the cold and (shall I say “stabbing”?) sunlight we had a good time and saw 32 species. Our checklist is here https://ebird.org/checklist/S165818025 and printe ..read more
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Peregrine Incubation: The Big Sit at Pitt
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
4d ago
Carla tells Ecco it’s her turn to incubate, 20 March 2024 (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) 24 March 2024 Incubation began last week at the Pitt peregrine nest. Carla and Ecco are now 6 or 7 days into The Big Sit. To incubate their eggs and brood their chicks, birds open their warm feather coats by developing a brood patch for the breeding season. The brood patch is bare skin on their bellies that they place directly against the eggs to keep them warm. It has no feathers or down and lots of blood vessels close to the surface. When the bird is standing upright, su ..read more
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Seen This Week: Flowers and Owls
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
5d ago
Saucer magnolia bud about to bloom, Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John) 23 March 2024 This week non-native flowering trees put on a show in the city of Pittsburgh. Originally from China and Japan their growing season is earlier than our native trees. Star magnolia in bloom, Pittsburgh, 15 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John) This month’s three-day spurts of highs in the 60s and 70s prompted the red maples to flower and start producing seeds. Red maple already gone to seed, Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John) Last Saturday I visited Wolf Creek Narrows, almost an hou ..read more
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New Eagle Owl Baby at the National Aviary
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
6d ago
Eurasian eagle-owl chick at the National Aviary hatched on 15 March 2024 (photo courtesy of the National Aviary) 22 March 2024 Eurasian eagle owls Dumbledore and X are parents again at the National Aviary. Their latest chick hatched on 15 March and is growing quickly and thriving in the Aviary’s Avian Care Center. You can see the chick and his caregivers through the Avian Care Center window. When the chick hatched he weighed 55 grams (0.121 pounds, roughly the size of a small lime) but will grow so rapidly that in only eight weeks he’ll be fully grown, weighing up to 4kg (9 pounds!) with a win ..read more
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4th Egg Laid Today at Pitt Peregrine Nest
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
1w ago
Ecco and Carla touch beaks over their 4 eggs at the Cathedral of Learning peregrine nest (photo from the National Aviary Falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) 21 March 2024 Carla laid her fourth egg at the Cathedral of Learning at 10:25a this morning, 56.4 hours after Egg#3. Most of us didn’t realize it happened. Thanks to Laurie Kotchey’s sharp eyes and her comment on my blog, I knew to start looking for Egg#4 when I got home at 11:30a. The video below shows the egg-laying moment, sped up to double-time, but you won’t see the egg itself because Carla is facing the camera. Instead, watch her behavi ..read more
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Spring Checkup: Where Are We Now?
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
1w ago
Daffodils in Pittsburgh, 18 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John) 21 March 2024 After a slow start to spring in the southern part of the U.S., spring is spreading more quickly now across the central part of the country. Des Moines, IA is 20 days early, Detroit, MI is 23 days early, and Cleveland, OH is 16 days early compared to a long-term average of 1991-2020. — USA National Phenology Network: Status of Spring, 18 March 2024 Though it’s only 23°F this morning in Pittsburgh we, too, are having a very early spring. Just three days ago I photographed daffodils and many flowering trees in my neigh ..read more
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Peregrine News from East Liberty
Outside My Window
by Kate St. John
1w ago
Peregrine carrying prey at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 8 Feb 2024 (photo by Malcolm Kurtz) 20 March 2024 Back in early February, Malcolm Kurtz stopped by East Liberty Presbyterian Church to photograph the resident peregrines. He found them carrying prey, perching on the steeple and hanging out together. Malcolm first noticed the birds in December when “[he] saw an adult perched on the steeple from an overlook on Chatham’s main campus.” Good thing he followed up on it. The red aircraft hazard lights, which don’t look red from a distance, had fooled me so often that I stopped looking for r ..read more
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