Monthly Archives: September 2016

Signs of Fall 3: This Year’s Hummingbirds

Back in the summer of 2012 Deborah and I really became committed to hummingbirds. We had the pleasure of watching a female ruby-throated hummingbird (whom we named “Hubert”) swoop into our yard in May and take over all of our … Continue reading

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Signs of Fall 2: Cavity Nesting Team!

Over the past two years I have written three blogs about our Cavity Nesting Team study up at Harrison Hills Park in northern Allegheny County. We followed up our very satisfying 2015 season with a second round of spring and … Continue reading

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Signs of Fall 1: Changing Leaves

(parts of this week’s post were first presented in a September 14, 2014 blog!) During the last week of July the red maples and the yellow poplars along the Roaring Run Trail began to shed their leaves. On a few … Continue reading

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Signs of Summer 15: Monarchs (and summer’s end!)

I saw my first monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) three weeks ago. I was driving along on one of my favorite back roads between my house and campus, and I spotted it fluttering out over a diverse old field that was … Continue reading

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Signs of Summer 14: Words

A good friend sent me a link to a Wall Street Journal article the other day. The article (“Why You Can’t Say Where You Are” by Tom Shippey) reviewed Robert MacFarlane’s new book, Landmarks.   In this book Macfarlane explores the … Continue reading

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