Hazelnut Flowers

Here we are, approaching mid-January, and the hazelnuts are blooming. The female flowers are shy. Their delicate, red stigmas quietly reach out from an olive-green vase. They are sweeping the air in hopes of collecting the golden pollen releasing from the male catkins. Some of the catkins are cascading open and are noticeable from a distance in the wintery landscape, while others have yet to open and remain tightly compact.

The flowers are wind pollinated and need to be from a separate, compatible, pollinating variety.

Tracks

Animals are bare footed with mud squishing between their toes!

One of the benefits of the rain is that it creates an excellent canvas of mud to capture the tracks of animals. Even though the maker of the tracks is gone, they still emanate life and mystery. Animals are in intimate communication with the earth. I imagine that immense knowledge of the landscape is absorbed through their direct connection with the ground. A track is a gift. It teaches me to also learn and understand life through my sense of touch. It reminds me that we are sharing this world with other creatures.

Indian Plum Buds

The buds of the Indian plum are beautiful. Their color is soft and subtle. They have a quiet luminosity that emit a soothing balm of peacefulness in these uncertain times.

This shrub grows throughout the landscape at the arboretum, and it is one of the first plants to flower in the spring.

Its Latin name is Oemleria cerasiformis. It is also known as osoberry.

Bewick's Wren

The limb of an oak tree partially broke away from trunk and is now being supported by the ground. The limb is still alive and provides cover and foraging habitat along the edge of the meadow. I will often see a bird perched on this oak limb surveying the area before it flies down to the ground to look for food.

This Bewick’s Wren was regularly disappearing into the thick grass and after a few minutes it would pop back up on to the tree limb to check its surroundings. Once, I didn’t see it for about 10 minutes, and I thought it had flown away without me seeing it. As I was walking away, it sprang up out of the grass. I was surprised that I didn’t at least see the grass moving or hear it rustling in all that time.

This is an exciting, little bird. I love to watch it acrobatically move through the landscape. It has a long tail, and it usually cocks it in the air after it lands on a perch.

Click here to listen to its call and song:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren/sounds

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I wish you health and happiness in body, mind and spirit this coming year. May we strive to be better stewards of the earth, have peace in our hearts and have goodwill towards all people.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

I love seeing this bird at the arboretum during the winter. It is so beautiful with its striking black and golden crown that is bordered by white on the sides and front. It is usually foraging in mixed flocks with chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets, nuthatches and brown creepers. They frequently call as they move through the forest. Peterson describes it as a, “high, wiry see-see-see.”

I am reading David Allen Sibley’s new book What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing—What Birds Are Doing, and Why. One of the things that he says about this bird is: “A bird as small as a Golden-crowned Kinglet has a resting heart rate of over six hundred beats per minute (ten per second), about ten times faster than the average human, and during activity the heart rate doubles to over twelve hundred beats per minute.” That is truly fascinating!

Red-breasted Sapsucker

What a beautiful bird! I heard a single call, wasn’t sure who made it and found this sapsucker when I went to investigate. Other than the one vocalization, this bird was quietly making its rounds between trees foraging for food. It flew between trees where it had previously made, what looks like, thousands of holes. While photographing this bird, I noticed that it would often cock its head sideways when foraging in holes that it made. I wonder why it choses to approach it this way? I loved following this bird around. I am so pleased that it was tolerant of my presence while I captured these photos. Thank you.

In The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior he says, “Sapsuckers mainly eat the inner bark of trees, lap sap that oozes from small wells that the bird drills in a tree trunk, eat invertebrates trapped in the sap produced at these ‘sapsucker wells,’ and also flycatch invertebrates.”

Peterson says its voice is similar to a Red-naped Sapsucker, “nasal mewing note, cheerrrr.” The Cornell Lab says the call is a “harsh mewing ‘waah’.” Click on the link to have a listen:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Sapsucker/sounds

Golden Keys

As I wandered around the arboretum, I noticed that some of the Big Leaf Maple trees still had many clusters of seed samaras or keys. The wings are a golden paper. The seed is enclosed in a protective shell that has a fuzzy husk. I’ll be waiting to see when they decide to take flight and land in an opportune spot for germinating.

Up close, the fuzz on the seed casing takes on the feeling of a potentially irritating quill.

Elegantly Wrapped

I watched a Downy Woodpecker exploring a tree branch and waited for it to move into better light for a photo. It restlessly searched around and then moved on into the woods where I wasn’t able to follow. I stood there watching to see if might change its mind and circle back around for a photo op. While waiting, I was struck by the beauty of the Big Leaf Maple’s buds. It’s a crimson crown adorning the top of a forest spirit’s staff.

Solstice Snakes

In my walk around the arboretum today, I came across a bank where a few snakes were soaking up the warmth of the sun. I initially paused in this spot to watch a mixed flock of song birds that were moving through the landscape foraging insects. I heard a slight rustle in the leaves and looked down to find the vibrant head of a red-spotted garter snake glowing like a burning coal. The day felt so calm, and I hoped for peace in the coming year.

There were a couple of other garter snakes moving through the leaves, and a gopher snake was curled up nearby. What beautiful, mysterious creatures they are!

Black Phoebe

This little flycatcher has been consistently hanging around the old barn out at the arboretum. I often see it perched on the equipment of the workspace on the south side. It usually will perch close to the ground within three to seven feet. That said, I also observe it sitting on top of the silo or at the apex of the roof. It spends time on a small brush pile at the entrance to the south meadow and next to the river catching insects.

It has a call that Peterson describes as “a sharp slurred chip.” It makes this call quite often, and I will usually hear it calling before I spot it. As I was taking these photos, it was constantly shifting its head as it watched for insects, and it would often turn to look over its shoulder.

Pacific Wren

I love this little bird. This year I noted that I hadn’t seen Pacific wrens around all summer. This fall I started seeing them and read that during the nonbreeding season, some males move to lower elevations. So, maybe these birds are breeding higher up in the Cascades or the Coast Range and wintering down in the valley.

A couple of days ago in the late afternoon I was lucky enough to catch a photo of this action-packed creature. It moves so swiftly and lightly as it flits through the ground vegetation gleaning insects. As I am watching this bird forage along the forest floor, it will often disappear under a log or the fronds of a sword fern. It will often reappear unexpectedly out of the underbrush beside me, as if it travelled through a secret passageway.

I usually get clued in to their location when I hear their call which Peterson describes as “a hard, two-syllable timp-timp.” They have a beautiful song that Peterson characterizes as “a rapid succession of high tinkling warbles, trills.”

Click here to listen to their calls and song:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pacific_Wren/sounds

Mourning Doves

This beautiful bird is often foraging along the gravel paths around the White Oak Pavilion. Its quiet demeanor and earth-tone coloration enable it to blend in well with its surroundings.

There were always doves around my home when I was growing up, and they will always remind me of my childhood. They have a gentle, peaceful song. When it takes off and lands its wings make a soft, whistling sound.

It’s comforting to see them around Mt. Pisgah, and I always look for them. The last few years I have seen them building a nest in one of the trees around the pavilion.

Click here to listen to there song and calls:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/sounds

Hermit Thrush

I love this bird. When I come across a hermit thrush, it is because I’m moving very slowly and tuning into my surroundings. This bird blends in well on the forest floor, and it moves around quietly as it forages. In my experience, if I am quiet and still, it will usually tolerate my presence, and it will often forage quite close by where I can observe it.

While taking these photos, I noticed it would subtly shake its leg when it paused during foraging on the forest floor. The All About Birds website by The Cornell Lab states: ”They sometimes pick up leaf litter with their bills or shake grass with their feet to find insects.”

I also realized that the spots on its breast are blurry or smudged. You can see in the photo below that it has a rufous tail. As it perched on the limb, it had the behavior of cocking its tail and slowly lowering it. It would also lightly flick its wings.

Whenever I see this bird, I have a feeling of serenity and gentleness.

This bird has a beautiful, sylvan song. Click below to have a listen:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/sounds

Chickadee Foragings

Over the past couple-three weeks, I have observed chickadees eating some part of the bud of the Oregon white oak. Sometimes it breaks off the bud, takes it to a nearby branch, dissects it and appears to eat part of the bud. Other times it will just hang on the branch, open the bud and eat. It all happens with typical chickadee exuberance, so it doesn’t take them long to get at the little morsel of food they are seeking. I saw them yesterday, for the first time, doing the same thing to the cottonwood trees along the river.

In The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, he had this to say about the Paridae family to which chickadees belong: “Members of the Paridae share several diagnostic feeding behaviors. Specialized leg muscles enable these birds to feed acrobatically (they often feed while hanging upside down), making them particularly adept at exploiting resources in difficult locations, such as buds at the ends of twigs.”

Gratitude

The past few days, chilly mornings have evolved into pleasantly warm afternoons. As I entered the arboretum, I was greeted by the melodic notes of the song sparrow. The sun sure felt good, and a song was well suited for the moment. Thanks.

Chipmunk Hollow

Along the Lilly Pond trail, I keep crossing paths with this little chipmunk. As it navigates its way along the forest floor searching for food, I am impressed by its agility and ability to move quietly. On a number of occasions I have watched it climb up this tree, disappear into this small cavity and then return to the opening a few minutes later. Sometimes it will climb back down and return to its activities on the forest floor. I’m uncertain of the purpose of this cavity. Is this a place of shelter, a food cache or a lookout? I would like to spend more time observing my little friend and learn more about its life. I had my camera with me the other day and was lucky enough to take a reasonable photo of it peering out of its hollow.

Bird's Nest Fungus Update

I have been watching this patch of bird’s nest fungus since my post first post about it on Oct. 24. I realized that the new fruiting bodies were the small, light brown forms growing next to the old “nests.” The top of a new one has a thin shell and once it became broken open, I could see it filled with a watery substance that probably keeps the peridioles moist. The peridioles, which resemble tiny eggs, contain spore sacks. I can already see where rain drops have splashed some of them out into the surrounding area spreading the fungus.

Winter Gems

This bird’s common name is Steller’s Jay. Its Latin name is Cyanocitta stelleri. When I searched for the translation , I found that the name Cyanocitta is a combination of the Greek words kuanos, meaning "dark blue", and kitta, meaning "jay".

I love watching this beautiful bird. I caught it here, quietly perched on a branch in the sun observing its surroundings. Lately I have watched them busily collecting acorns and burying them in the forest. They have strong legs and can often be observed hoping around the branches of a tree.

Steller’s jays can be very vocal birds. Peterson’s field guide describes it this way: “Loud shook-shook-shook or shack-shack-shack or wheck-wek-wek-wek or kwesh kwesh kwesh; harsh jjaairr and many other notes. Frequently mimics hawks.” Try making these sounds.