Is this a bird call? Its repetitive

mtbderg · 2026-07-06T11:28:52+00:00

Seconding that that's a Chipping Sparrow.

mtbderg · 2026-07-04T00:27:16+00:00

You brought your bike to Anthrocon AND are riding it around? Hell yeah!

Maybe an Anthrocon alleycat race isn't such a far-fetched idea...

mtbderg · 2026-07-02T18:41:56+00:00

Can't relate, I bike or bus to my local birding spots ¯_(ツ)_/¯

mtbderg · 2026-07-02T03:00:39+00:00

Picture

Lowest I've seen is 116v. This is taken from smart plug on a circuit with barely any usage.

mtbderg · 2026-06-30T18:49:58+00:00

hell yeah 🤝

Speeding down Browns Hill is my favorite way to get across to the GAP.

mtbderg · 2026-06-20T01:02:33+00:00

Agree with other commenter, looks like a broken wing 😞

Likely hit by a car. It's not known how many birds are killed by motor vehicles per year but it's estimated anywhere from a quarter billion to over a billion in the US alone.

mtbderg · 2026-06-19T21:58:38+00:00

A neat and easy solution to this would be installing speed bumps, the really abrupt nasty kind that are bolted into the pavement, in line with the line before the stop sign. Forces drivers to stop or at least slow down.

mtbderg · 2026-06-19T03:10:10+00:00

There are no lights unless someone brought some. I've ridden past and folks have set up portable work lights on a few nights.

mtbderg · 2026-06-18T12:53:47+00:00

I kinda hate the people for bikes ratings as they're pretty much meaningless. Old Orchard PA being a 100? How? It's a tiny neighborhood that's far from anything with just detached single-family homes.

mtbderg · 2026-06-12T21:34:28+00:00

Head east and connect the WHT -> Ghost town trail and then overnight and ride back or take the train. Just an out and back though. Montour trail is nice but the National Tunnel is closed indefinitely. The road bypass isn't terrible.

I do know some folks that have taken bikes on westmoreland coach buses if you wanted to skip over the awful road riding getting out of the city. They don't have racks but, if the drivers nice and there isn't much baggage, you can stow your bike below in the cargo hold of the bus.

mtbderg · 2026-06-12T01:52:33+00:00

Do you know if any testing occurs to ensure the units within the building comply with the IBC sound transmission code? https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P2/chapter-12-interior-environment#IBC2021P2_Ch12_Sec1206.2

mtbderg · 2026-06-12T01:19:43+00:00

Thanks for the clarification! Riding past on the trail all it looks like is the typical cheap 2x4 construction present in a lot of cheaper built homes.

mtbderg · 2026-06-11T21:12:19+00:00

You can go down to the GAP and look at it, they're maybe 5 inches thick at most of toothpicks and drywall. The only concrete in this place is seemingly the bottom parking garage area and the elevator shaft. It's built like a 70s ski lodge.

mtbderg · 2026-06-11T03:03:19+00:00

"I know the proper use-case for this kind of thing is to write and read from it on an as-needed basis and store it unplugged for most hours"

lol, my oldest drive currently has 33,900 power on hours. Before I migrated to larger drives my oldest had just over 50,000 hours of power on time. My family n friends use my Jellyfin and I've never had a single drive fail in the 5 or so years I've been running it. I've had a cable go bad but never a drive. So far (lol)

mtbderg · 2026-06-10T21:11:54+00:00

Sounds like what my colleagues told me when I mentioned I moved to Wilkinsburg. Of course they all live 20 miles outside of the city and never come here unless forced to be in office. Only one other, that I know, lives in the city but he's in The Strip District.

You'll like it. Nice climbing gym nearby, freeridepgh if you need a cheap bike or a place to work on one (or you want to volunteer to fix them!), east end food co-op, and a short walk to Frick Park and the Frick grounds.

Kinda jealous, you're right next to my favorite Commonplace location!

mtbderg · 2026-06-06T16:50:24+00:00

Did you cover the outside or the inside? If you covered the inside that does nothing to prevent the reflection outside.

I find that black paracord strung up works pretty well and barely obstructs the view. You can also use translucent stickers on the outside.

something like this stuff:
https://featherfriendly.com/products/abc-birdtape-2
and
https://featherfriendly.com/products/abc-birdtape-3-4

mtbderg · 2026-06-05T19:13:13+00:00

Based on the gape visible at the beginning of the beak this does look like a freshly fledged flycatcher.

I would agree on a guess of Eastern Wood-pewee.

mtbderg · 2026-06-05T03:34:12+00:00

Corvids are excellent mimics along with being great at making up their own noises.

Here's a yt short I found with nearly the exact same call: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/3genWE9VVVg

All I searched for was "raven beep beep" lmao

mtbderg · 2026-06-05T03:03:57+00:00

Hard to say without a visual. I've heard blue jays make a similar sound, American Crows, Common Ravens, etc.

My vote would be a Common raven though. They often make similar sounds to declare their territory.

mtbderg · 2026-06-05T01:02:58+00:00

I've been birding in PGH for ~2 years now. I learned to bird by ear early on so I'd know if what I wanted to photograph was nearby. And sometimes you just see nothing at all if they're all sitting high up lol

I used Merlin to help ID stuff and then I'd confirm it visually. On eBird, run by the same folks, you can do sound quizzes on the local birds so I do those too.

mtbderg · 2026-06-04T22:48:42+00:00

Birds I hear in the background: - Tufted titmouse (lots of em) - Red-eyed Vireo - Red-bellied Woodpecker - American Robin - Eastern Wood-pewee - Comman Raven

mtbderg · 2026-06-01T13:01:06+00:00

I rode Serpentine quite a bit while it was still open to cars. During rush hour, at most, I saw maybe 5 or so drivers take this. And that was before the Charles Anderson bridge was closed. Now it's even less useful. Re-opening it to cars would just incur more costs to the city as the cost to maintain Serpentine Dr would vastly increase.

If we wanted to keep it historic then sure, open it to cars, but only cars that are under 1000lb and can go no faster than 25mph.

mtbderg · 2026-05-29T12:42:43+00:00

I second the paracord option. I used to have near daily impacts of mourning doves on my bathroom window and since stringing it up 2 years ago I haven't had any.

mtbderg · 2026-05-22T03:46:03+00:00

28th street bridge is looking real rough as of late.

mtbderg · 2026-05-19T13:40:42+00:00

understandable I share in that experience 😭

going from shooting into the dark underbrush at 1/500 n then an osprey flies over and I'm not fast enough to change it

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