Shows / Outside My Window
Episodes
- Outside My Window
Another Tick Magnet: Wineberry!
23 August 2026 Ticks have been in the news a lot lately, especially on the East Coast where lone star ticks are causing alpha gal syndrome, an unpleasant and…
- Outside My Window
Evading a Falcon
21 August 2026 When migrating shorebirds evade a falcon they form very tight flocks that twist and turn in the air to make the flock look like a solid blob. If…
- Outside My Window
Remembering An Unusual Visitor
20 August 2026 Seven years ago an unusual bird, completely unafraid of humans, spent seven evenings at an industrial park in Duquense, PA. Read his story in…
- Outside My Window
Early Signs That Winter is Coming
19 August 2026 Though the growing season hasn’t ended yet, it is waning fast in Alaska. The Fairbanks area has already lost 5 hours and 45 minutes of…
- Outside My Window
It Only Lasts One Night
18 August 2026 My sister has a night-blooming cereus plant that produces beautiful flowers with a lovely scent. Each flower lasts only one night. The bud…
- Outside My Window
The North Pole is Running Away, But Not as Fast as it Used To
17 August 2026 Yesterday I described how rock pigeons and rock lobsters navigate using earth’s magnetic field. Behind the scenes I learned how much the…
- Outside My Window
What Do Rock Pigeons and Rock Lobsters Have in Common?
16 August 2026 Answer: It’s more than just the word “rock.” Pigeons are known for their ability to fly home even when dropped off in an…
- Outside My Window
Seen This Week: Butterflies and Fruits
photos by Mary DeVaughn 15 August 2026 Seen this week were … Butterflies: On Friday morning, 14 August, I got a message from Mary DeVaughn: “Just…
- Outside My Window
Shorebirds at the Beach
14 August 2026 Going to the beach? You’re certain to see shorebirds but who are they? They may be difficult to identify if they’re not in breeding…
- Outside My Window
Funnel Webs!
13 August 2026 Late July through September is the best time of year to see funnel webs in Pittsburgh. The spiders that build these webs have been present since…
- Outside My Window
AI’s Threat to Science Media Archives
12 August 2026 “Is it real or is it artificial intelligence (AI)?” A decade ago only dedicated photographers and videographers had good editing…
- Outside My Window
Foxtail Grass
11 August 2026 On a walk last week on Joncaire Street near Schenley Park I was struck by the size and diversity of the weeds by the sidewalk, especially the…
- Outside My Window
This Tiny White Ball on a Thread is a Carnivore
10 August 2026 In August in southwestern PA you may notice a tiny white ball floating above the trail, maybe at eye level. If you walk into it you discover the…
- Outside My Window
MegaTsunami was Triggered by Glacial Retreat
9 August 2026 A year ago, on 10 August 2025, a mega tsunami flooded the Tracy Arm fjord south of Juneau, Alaska. It began at the foot of the South Sawyer…
- Outside My Window
Seen This Week: Insects and the Scarlet Pimpernel
8 August 2026 Spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) became more abundant this week but are still just a handful compared to 2023. In fact I had to go…
- Outside My Window
A Little Bit of Hummingbird Heaven
7 August 2026 Candice Burke posts wonderful bird photographs at @candiburke on X. In the past two weeks her yard in Hyrum in Utah’s Cache Valley has been…
- Outside My Window
Have You Seen This Wavy Leaf? Report it!
6 August 2026 Have you seen this plant? Its wavy leaves are nothing like the plants I’m used to in Pennsylvania so I was surprised when I saw it at Bear…
- Outside My Window
Tobacco Hornworm Moth Can Smell with its Wings
5 August 2026 This very large green caterpillar is a tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). Though its name suggests it feeds only on tobacco, its hosts include…
- Outside My Window
Quiz: Mystery Flower
4 August 2026 On Saturday afternoon someone told me that if I went down a certain path I’d see flowers that I’d never seen before. Indeed they are…
- Outside My Window
Seeds With Hooks
2 August 2026 How many seed capsules can you think of that have “hitchhiker” hooks? #1. I was puzzled by the acorn cup, pictured above, because I…
- Outside My Window
Seen This Week: Sun Pillar and Oh, Deer
1 August 2026 There was a spectacular sunrise this morning to usher in the month of August. As quickly as it built to fiery red with a sun pillar, it was gone…
- Outside My Window
Dramatic Death of An Iceberg in Greenland
31 July 2026 This week, 25 July 2026, a massive iceberg floated into webcam view at Ilulissat on the west coast of Greenland (red arrow on map below ). The…
- Outside My Window
Fall Migration Has Begun
30 July 2026 While songbirds wrap up the breeding season, some shorebirds are already on their way south. This week at Presque Isle State Park’s Gull…
- Outside My Window
Where Are The Spotted Lanternflies Now?
29 July 2026 This week usually begins the peak of Pittsburgh’s spotted lanternfly season but I’ve seen only two red nymphs and two winged adults…
- Outside My Window
Why Are These Sunflowers False?
28 July 2026 July and August are the best time of year to see sunflowers in western Pennsylvania. Most of them are true. One is false. Why? Characteristic that…
- Outside My Window
Yesterday at Duck Hollow, 26 July
27 July 2026 Yesterday the river was a running high and the birds were subdued when three of us joined up for the Duck Hollow outing. Even so we had some good…
- Outside My Window
July Blooms
26 July 2026 Late July is the perfect time for late summer wildflowers. Fortunately the excessive heat and wildfire smoke earlier this month did not suppress…
- Outside My Window
Insects Take Center Stage
25 July 2026 July is Bug Season. This week they took center stage at Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, Frick Park and Aspinwall Riverfront Park (a.k.a. Allegheny…
- Outside My Window
Bear Encounter
video embedded from Dave Bonta on Facebook 24 July 2026 It’s been my experience that, if you stand still and are downwind, wild animals might not notice…
- Outside My Window
The Serpentine Road: Seven Years, Then and Now
23 July 2026: A look back 7 years, 2019-2026 Seven years ago this month I was walking through Schenley Park to the Squirrel Hill business district when my…
- Outside My Window
Why Do Mosquitoes Bite Me More Than Others?
22 July 2026 In June I had no mosquito bites and was congratulating myself for being careful, but in fact there must have been fewer mosquitoes. Yesterday at…
- Outside My Window
Duck Hollow Outing, Sun July 26, 8:30a
21 July 2026 Join me this coming Sunday for a bird and nature walk at Duck Hollow and the Lower Nine Mile Run Trail — 26 July 2026, 8:30am to 10:30am. A…
- Outside My Window
Let’s Fly Home
20 July 2026 Rock doves (Columba livia) were domesticated 5,000 to 10,000 years ago and are still kept today worldwide for a variety of reasons including food…
- Outside My Window
Smoke Comes & Goes & Comes Again: Here’s Why
19 July 2026 As I wrote on Friday 17 July, wildfire smoke has been plaguing the northeastern U.S. and the Great Lakes region in the U.S. and Canada. The photo…
- Outside My Window
Seen This Week Before The Smoke
18 July 2026 Before the smoke came to town I went on a long walk in Schenley Park and around the neighborhood this week. The captions tell the stories.
- Outside My Window
Smoke in Pittsburgh
17 July 2026 Yesterday while I wrote about the raging wildfires in western Ontario, 1000 miles from Pittsburgh, their smoke was blowing in our direction. By…
- Outside My Window
Fire in Canada
16 July 2026 The wildfire smoke in Pittsburgh today is from wildfires in western Ontario and the Boundary Waters of Minnesota(*). As of Thursday 16 July at…
- Outside My Window
Identifying Who They Ate
15 July 2026 Peregrine falcons eat birds for a living and leave the remains behind, usually just feathers and bones. Every once in a while they eat a banded…
- Outside My Window
Fireflies At Dusk
(timelapse photos of Photinus pyralis in flight. fly left, fly right from Wikimedia) 14 July 2026 Last night after sunset I sat on a park bench and watched…