New Kensington

New Kensington campus bloggers spot first signs of spring

Bill Hamilton and Deborah Sillman observe birds, squirrels, and turtles

UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Penn State New Kensington’s biologist bloggers Bill Hamilton, assistant professor of biology, and Deborah Sillman, senior instructor in biology, have posted the first observations of spring to their blog site, "Ecologist's Notebook: Reflections on the Natural World of Western Pennsylvania."

“Monarchs Waking up in Michoacán” and “Looking for Spring,” were written Feb. 27 and March 6, respectively. While western Pennsylvania is about to emerge from the throes of a harsh winter, Hamilton sees some things happening that remind him that the seasons are changing. One sure sign is the increased hours of daylight.

“It is not pitch dark at 6:45 a.m. when I take my dog, Izzy, out for her walk,” Hamilton said in his Feb. 27 blog. “I don’t have to carry a flashlight or risk being blinded by passing cars’ headlights as I walk along the roadside. We have added an hour and 40 minutes to our daylight since the winter solstice on Dec. 21.”

There are some other hints that the cold winter is morphing into a warm spring. According to Hamilton, there are a few birds singing in the morning.

“Titmice are pinging out their two note patterns, Carolina wrens cycle through their four phrase whistles, and northern cardinals make starts at their pulsating, territorial songs from the tops of the surrounding spruce and maple trees,” Hamilton said. “These birds are already thinking about mating. What could be a bigger sign of spring?”

Two years ago, Hamilton observed early signs of spring in mid-January, with the arrival of robins and wood thrushes. Last year, migrating birds were a bit tardy in their arrival. This year is mimicking 2014. Traditionally, the American robin arrives in the area around Feb. 14, according to Hamilton.

“This return date has been very consistent over the 25 years that I have been watching,” Hamilton wrote in his March 6 blog. “There is no sign of them around my house yet this year, though. Too much snow and ice covering all of the places where the earthworms hide! It’s just been too cold for them to ease them out of the sheltered valleys and woodlots.”

Hamilton and Sillman started blogging in 2008. Each year, they write about the birds, insects, mammals and flowers that herald the arrival of spring. They report on their observations around their Apollo house and on local nature trails, as well as the campus trail.

Their primary observation venues are the Roaring Run Trail and the Rock Furnace Trail in Apollo. The 5-mile long Roaring Run Trail follows the Kiski River and terminates at the village of Edmon. The 1.5-mile Rock Furnace Trail follows Roaring Run from its confluence with the Kiski River to Brownstown Road in Apollo. The trails are maintained by the Roaring Run Watershed Association.

In addition to blogging, the husband-and-wife team supervises the campus Nature Trail and the Virtual Nature Trail. The nature trail, constructed in 1985, is a half-mile loop located in the southwest section of our campus. It was refurbished in 1999. The virtual trail went online in 2002. A grant from Alcoa supported the refurbishing of the trail and the building of the virtual trail. Both trails serve as environmental education resources for the campus community and local school districts.

Although the robins have not arrived en masse, a few of the “sooners” have made their way to the nature trail.

“I am very happy to report, though, that my ecology students, who are surveying the birds on campus, saw a robin and several male bluebirds last Tuesday (March 3),” Hamilton wrote. “They were down at the edge of the Nature Trail woods at the end of the soccer field. Soon the big flocks will arrive.”

To view Hamilton's blogs and to make a comment, visit http://www.personal.psu.edu/hw7/blogs/nature/2014/02/

For more about the virtual trail, visit http://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/

For more about the Rock Furnace and Roaring Run trails, visit http://roaringrun.org/

A gray squirrel was spotted on the property of Penn State New Kensington biologists Bill Hamilton and Deborah Sillman. Credit: Deborah Sillman / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated March 12, 2015

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