20 April 2024
Do you ever really feel frantic within the Spring?
This week in Pittsburgh the highs have been at all times above 60°F and 3 days have been within the low 80s. Migratory birds got here in a hurry midweek whilst early-blooming flora went to seed. Spring got here so briefly that I couldn’t stay up. It’s sufficient to make you frantic.
On Monday we went to Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County the place we discovered most of the flora I’d observed at Barking Slopes. Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) used to be in complete bloom. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), that bloomed in Beaver County on 31 March, had long past to seed. There have been such a lot of flora that I had little time for photos.
There have been some stunningly transparent days this week however the partially cloudy ones have been extra fascinating, particularly at daybreak: Duck Hole on 15 April and Oakland on 19 April.
On Thursday 18 April Charity Kheshgi and I noticed nice birds in Frick Park.
The bushes on the town started the week with tiny light inexperienced leaves; Some ended the week with huge darkish inexperienced leaves. American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) used to be blooming the day before today in Schnley Park.
The pawpaw bushes (Asimina triloba) had immature inexperienced flora on Tuesday and mature darkish purple flora on Friday. The flora use their purplish-red colour and a fetid scent to draw flies and beetles, now not bees.
That frantic feeling will disappear within the subsequent two days when spring slows down. There’s a Freeze Watch this night and the following day morning.
(pictures by means of Kate St. John)