Eastern Fox Squirrel

I noticed something falling from a tree. I looked up to find this squirrel busily opening the samaras of a bigleaf maple and eating the seeds. I was amazed at its ability to balance on such a small branch as it ate. It sat there so effortlessly, even though apparently it was only gripping the limb with its toes. Its tail was an integral part of the high-wire act. At this moment, it tucked its tail forward to act as a counterbalance. For awhile I continued to watch its arboreal performance as it climbed around and fearlessly navigated its way throughout the tree. It was at home up there.

I opened the end of one of the wings to examine its contents. The seed had a thin, brown skin that encased what appeared to be a bundle of tender, green leaves.

Red-flowering Currant

It was a cold, winter’s day. The evening sun broke through the cloudy sky. Its rays set aflame the buds of the red-flowering currant — a torch lighting the way for spring.

Dark-eyed Junco

There are small flocks of juncos moving around the arboretum. I often see them foraging out at the barn. There is a low growing plant on the road that produces an abundance of seeds that the juncos enjoy eating. If someone or a dog gets too close they will often fly up to the beam under the edge of the roof to monitor the situation.

Juncos have a behavior of flashing their tails when they fly. Their outer, white tail feathers are a burst of light as they quickly flit through the air.

For me, juncos are a warm-hearted, peaceful little bird. They can be fairly tolerant of my presence if I am quiet, move slowly, or sit still. I am looking forward to hearing their gentle, trilling song in the spring.

Brown Creeper

This gentle, little bird quietly moves around on the trunks and larger limbs of trees with furrowed bark. It will often “creep” up a tree searching crevices and carpets of moss with its slender, slightly curved bill. Once it climbs up into the middle or top part of the tree, it will often fly back down near the base of a different or the same tree. I also see it fly only part of the way down the tree or out onto a larger limb. As it flies back down, I will often hear it give a twittering call. Sometimes I will see it do a slight shuffle motion when it is on a thick mat of moss. I wonder if it is possibly trying to stir up insects or if it is simply trying to get its footing. Their diet mostly includes insects, insect larvae, spiders and spider eggs.

The brown creeper has exceptional camouflage. The top half of its body has a beautiful, mottled pattern that resembles dappled sunlight. The Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America says the brown creeper is “like a piece of bark come alive.” It has stiff tail feathers that it uses to brace itself as it forages, similar to woodpeckers.

Their subtle vocalizations are bright and pleasant. Click the link to All About Birds by the Cornell Lab to listen:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/sounds

Plants Sprouting

The weather this winter has been mild, and as the amount of sunlight increases each day, plants are already deciding to emerge. These fresh, vibrant sprouts are a welcome winter sight, and I hope that they are hardy enough to endure the cold temperatures still to come this season.

Douglas-fir seeds

This Douglas-fir tree laden with cones was a frenzy of activity yesterday. Black-capped chickadees, chestnut-backed chickadees, pine siskins and red-breasted nuthatches were busily harvesting the seeds in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. The chickadees and nuthatches seemed more interested in stashing the seeds, while the pine siskins were eating them.

It is interesting to note how long the seeds stay in the cones once they are mature. It seems like the tree is holding onto to them as a food resource for animals for the winter. Likewise, as the birds were foraging, many of the seeds were dislodged and were whirling through the air to the ground. It’s as if the birds were sowing seeds for future generations. The woody cones are well designed to protect the seeds from the weather. I investigated some seeds that fell to the ground, and they were in excellent condition.

Voles

The south meadow of Mt Pisgah is a network of well-worn paths connecting entrances leading to small burrows. This is the work of voles and they are active during the day and night. During the summer at dusk, I would watch the meadow come alive. As I stood on the road, I would see this little brown animal quickly dash in and out. They only leave the safety of their burrow for a few seconds. Sometimes I saw a dozen or more at once. I’m hoping to capture a photo of one this summer. Their small tubular scat is seen along their trails, especially near the burrow entrance.

While looking around this sea of holes and pathways, I came across many slugs and a rough-skinned newt. I also noticed small, perfectly round holes around many of the burrow entryways that were maybe made by worms. Additionally, I see American kestrels, great-horned owls, coyote scat and snakes all around this meadow. This grassy field is a fascinating and thriving world!

Varied Thrush

I was slowly walking along the pond lily trail when I saw a couple of varied thrushes foraging on the ground. I watched them move along the edge of the trail foraging through the leaves. They are usually quiet and very aware of their surroundings. I heard someone coming from the opposite direction and one of them popped up onto this fallen tree to look around. I was able to capture a couple of photos before it flew away.

I don’t see this bird very often in my birdwatching excursions, so it is always exciting to see one. In my experience, varied thrushes show up at Mt. Pisgah in the winter, especially during stormy weather. I imagine that they come down to lower elevations to ride out the inclement conditions.

For me, the varied thrush is an iconic bird of the Pacific Northwest. The male is so elegant with its bold markings and coloration — a black breast-band across its orange body, an orange eye stripe, orange wing bars and a blue-gray back. I love to hear its song resonate through the forest in the early morning.

Incense-cedar Pollen

As I was walking around today, I noticed the ground scattered with small, amber cones under the incense-cedar. I lightly poked a group of them on the tree, and a wispy curtain of fine dust floated into the air. The male cones of the incense-cedar tree are starting to release their pollen! It is interesting that certain trees will pollinate in the wintertime.

The female cones will develop from the ends of the previous year’s growth. At the moment, I was unable to determine from where they might spring forth.

Note: The cones are 4 - 7 mm, which is only around a quarter of an inch long.

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!