Sunlight breaks through the leaves at Bartlett Tufa Bridge, Schenley Park, Sept 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)

23 September 2025

Cooler weather ahead! Let’s get outdoors.

Join me for a bird & nature walk in Schenley Park on Sunday, 28 September 2025, 8:30a – 10:30a(*). We’ll meet at Bartlett Shelter on Bartlett Street.

Forbes and Fifth Avenues will be closed for the Pittsburgh Great Race so plan your route accordingly. See road closure information below.

I expect to see blue jays, chipmunks and porcelainberry fruit. Also …

Porcelain berry fruits, some eaten (photo by Kate St. John)

I’m hoping for several species from BirdCast’s late September Expected Migrant List for Allegheny County:

• Eastern Wood-Pewee
• Swainson’s Thrush
• Blackburnian Warbler
• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Least Flycatcher
• Philadelphia Vireo
• Chestnut-sided Warbler
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Green Heron
• Ovenbird
• Gray-cheeked Thrush
• American Redstart
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Nashville Warbler

Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them. NOTE that re-construction of the Serpentine Road retaining wall has changed the landscape and forced a limited trail closure. If the group is not too large we’ll walk the creek bed trail.

Visit my Events page before you come in case of changes or cancellations.

(*) If the birding is suddenly good at 10:30am we’ll have the option to continue to 11a.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Information on Great Race road closures on the morning of 28 September 2025

For a zoom-able closeup of the 2025 Great Race map, click here or on the screenshot below.

screenshot of 2025 Great Race map

Barricades will be set up throughout the city to clear the race route which stretches along Forbes Avenue from Frick Park in Squirrel Hill to Morewoood Avenue at Carnegie Mellon (Morewood is the Forbes to Fifth connector). It then uses Fifth Avenue through Oakland and the Boulevard of the Allies into Downtown, ending at Point State Park.

Approximate closure times are as follows:

• Zone A (green): Forbes at Beechwood Blvd to Forbes at Morewood: 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. This is where the 10K run starts at 9:30am
• Zone B (purple): Forbes at Morewood to Fifth & Bigelow Blvd: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• Zone C (orange): Fifth & Bigelow to Fifth & the ramp to the Blvd of the Allies: 6:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. This is where the 5K run starts at 8:00am
• Zone D (red): Fifth & Blvd of the Allies to Commonwealth Place & Liberty Ave: 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Finish line of both races.

Since I live north of Fifth I’m going to move my car south of Forbes early in the morning so I can get to Bartlett.