By Rob

I don’t think the old phrase, “familiarity breeds contempt” applies to nature conservation.  If anything, it’s the opposite.  Years ago, when I had first moved from the suburbs to the city for college, I often saw pigeons congregating in disorganized flocks.  They strutted around, not even caring about cars barreling down the street.  Once they did become bored and decided to move on, they often left a mess behind.  I heard quite a few other folks refer to them as “rats with wings.”  Yes, they are indeed as ubiquitous in a city as the rodents that people fear will infiltrate their food cupboards.  They’re brazen, willing to swoop around an unsuspecting tourist like mosquitoes seeking a quick blood meal.  They’re unwanted, with the only way to keep them off historic landmarks is by placing sharp metal spikes.  Why should anyone care for these messy, bothersome birds that probably harbor mites? Continue reading →

Hi folks!

It’s been quite a while since I updated this blog, but I’ve been working through a great opportunity to write on a different platform. If you’d like to keep up with my work, you can subscribe from the most recent of the posts. And, as always, keep exploring!

A Seasonal Tradition of Citizen Science – Outside the kitchen window, the sun was rising over the snowy, tree-covered hillsides — streaks of pink light contrasting with the blue-tinted shadows of the early morning. Inside that kitchen in Hampton Township, just north of downtown Pittsburgh, a group of seven finished gulping down their coffees and hot chocolates, ready for their adventure to begin.

A Tale of Winter’s Opposites: Urban Heat Islands – Have you ever noticed how it’s often warmer in a city than even just a few miles outside of it? Why is that? Let’s explore!

Drowsy December: Hibernation, and Acorns, and Bears-Oh My! – When the temperatures drop, some of us might want to curl up under a warm pile of blankets and hibernate like one of Western Pennsylvania’s black bears until spring! But true bear hibernation might not be the long winter’s nap that it seems.

Year-round Feathered Friends – Most of us can recite the conventional wisdom that birds fly south in the winter without even thinking about it, but we also know that, really, not all birds do. Why do some birds stay put here in Pittsburgh while others migrate?

Any opinions that appear on Linnaeus and the Lamppost are purely my own, and do not reflect that of any other organization.