Birds Eating Poison Oak Berries

After last Sunday’s mushroom festival, I decided to walk along the river back to my car. There was a nice rain shower to conclude the festival and most people had taken off. It was quiet as I walked down the path and I could hear birds calling to one another ahead of me. As I rounded the corner, I saw a flock of yellow-rumped warblers flitting around a patch of poison oak eating the berries. They were so beautiful in the late afternoon light, and I watched them for quite a while. The light must have been just right because I was profoundly struck by their elegant shape, colors, and feather patterns. Honestly, it felt as if I just saw the bird for the first time. They eventually moved down into the willows by the river and I decided to return the next day to see if I could get some photos of them.

When I returned the next morning, I didn’t find any yellow-rumped warblers at the poison oak patch, but many other birds were feasting on them, to my surprise. I quietly stood on the trail for about 45 minutes and watched as they came and went. Here’s is the list of birds I saw eating them: Spotted Towhee, Golden-crowned sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, Bushtit, Song Sparrow, and the Yellow-rumped Warbler from the day before. Some American Robins popped out of the thicket from on the ground and I imagine they were eating them too although I didn’t directly see them.

There is so much poison oak at the arboretum and I am not always enthusiastic about its abundance. So I am happy to see that it is an important food source for birds in the fall. Happy birding!

Circuitry Conundrum

I haven’t the slightest idea of how things work, so all I can say is that my computer has been under the weather these days. I am not sure what has been happening, but the synapses inside the brain of this gizmo have been firing so slowly. It seems to be constantly contemplating every little thing I do to the point that writing a post has been pretty much impossible. That said, I was finally able to get this message out to let you know that I have not abandoned my post!

I love the pattern of the vascular system of this Oregon Ash leaf. It’s pulsing with electricity as it manufactures energy from sunlight beaming down on its surface.

Dogwood Sawfly Larvae

On an insect walk guided by Karen Richards we went and looked at the larvae of the dogwood sawfly. They have fly in their common name, but they are actually wasps. We found them curled up on the underside of red-osier dogwood leaves where they hide out and rest during the day. At night when it is safer from predators, they will come out to eat the leaves. Starting at the end of the limb and working downward, the leaves were completely eaten. Where the leaves were only partially chewed, we found the larvae were usually resting underneath. The shrub wasn’t completely infested. There was only a few branches where they could be found. The larvae were all white with a little cotton-like fluff on their bodies. It was like they had on a fleece to keep them warm at night. This fleece is molted as the larva enters its last instar and becomes green with black spots on the upperside of its body and yellow on the underside. Soon the larvae will drop down to the ground and create a chamber in the soil or soft wood to pupate. It will overwinter in the pupal stage and emerge as an adult in the spring. From photos online, the adult wasps were black or amber with antennae and feet that were white on the end. The female uses her ovipositor to saw or cut into the edge of a dogwood leaf or stem, hence the common name. She then inserts her fertilized eggs into the small opening. When the eggs hatch out, the larvae will begin feeding on the leaves.

The ground around the red osier dogwood where these larvae were found can often be flooded during the winter during rainy periods. Either the larvae know to seek out areas to pupate that are above the water or the cocoons are able to withstand being submerged in water temporarily.

Inner Nature

Paul Cezanne said, “For an Impressionist to paint from nature is not to paint the subject but to ‘realize’ sensations.” I love this time of year as summer transitions into fall. The day starts cool and clouds hug the earth diffusing the light of the sunrise. As the day emerges, the sun dissipates the fog and warms the air. It feels good to walk in the sunshine. The leaves are turning shades of red, yellow, and brown. Their crisping bodies rattle on the trees and are beginning to fall. The occasional fall rainshower percolates through the layers of leaves on the ground emitting a sweet aroma of decay. Crickets are chirping in the late afternoon and grasshoppers are still leaping through the grass. As you spend time in nature during this magical time of year, I hope that it paints your heart and spirit full of sensations bringing you serenity, wonder, and joy.

Reference
The Editors of Realites, Impressionism. Chartwell Books Inc., 1973.

Yellowjackets

In the spring, a few yellowjacket traps were set out at the arboretum to try and capture some of the queens as they emerged to start new colonies.

As a brief side note, yellowjacket nests die off in the fall here. New queens are created at the end of each summer, mate with males, and then find sheltered places to overwinter. In the spring, the queens will emerge, find a nest site, and start a new colony. Once the nest starts to become established with workers they will take over the tasks of continuing to build the nest and tending to developing larvae.

As I was saying, this would hopefully reduce the number of nests, thus reducing the number of yellowjackets during the summer months when events were taking place at the pavilion. A few yellowjackets were captured and I thought they were the queens based on the size. I have been stung by plenty of yellowjackets over the years, and I was certain they weren’t that big. I showed the yellowjackets to some people, who weren’t sure if they were queens or workers. So, I took them to the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension in town and asked them. They concluded that they were workers, not queens. Well, I decided to wait and capture more yellowjackets during the summer once the nests became more established and compare them to the ones we caught in the spring. And here are the results. The one captured in the spring is on the left and the one captured in the summer is on the right. It looks like the ones caught in the spring were indeed queens.

Spider Retreat

There are lots of spiders out in the fall getting ready for Halloween. They are building webs everywhere for you to walk into and getting bigger and more hairy and more scary! I’m just playing around, spiders are amazing creatures and are a vital part of keeping the ecosystem healthy.

Out at the arboretum today I took a little walk with my friend Patrick and we saw an orb weaver resting in the middle of its web. Patrick decided to take a photo of it and as he was trying to get his camera to focus on it, it got scared and scurried to the side of the web where it hid under a leaf. As we investigated its hideout, we noticed that it had built this shelter by bending over the leaves with its silk. I imagine it builds this little refuge as a place to escape to if it detects danger from a predator or during inclement weather like a chilly fall rainstorm. Just down from this one we found another orb weaver spider and it had one too, as you see in second photo.

Flatsedge

This sedge grows on the rocky shoulders of the river. I was drawn to the plant by its floral arrangement, which reminds me of a small bottlebrush. The flattened spikes radiate outward from a central stem. The spikes looked like they could potentially be a little prickly, but when I touched them, they were fairly soft.

This appears to be a flatsedge in the Cyperus genus, which, if so, isn’t native to this area. Many non-native plants seem to be dispersed and sown along the Willamette River corridor. It makes sense that streams carry seeds and uprooted plants and when the higher waters of winter recede, they are left on the bank in rich sediments to sprout and grow.

My hope is that this plant isn’t too vigorous and doesn't overtake habitats, preventing native plants from thriving. Also, maybe it is similar enough to a native plant and it might be suitable to eat and/or act as a host plant for some insects.

At this moment, I am trying to stay open to learning about it and appreciating its form and beauty.

Gall Wasps Galore

Check out how many galls are forming on the underside of this oak leaf! They remind me of brightly colored candy sprinkles you would use to decorate a cupcake for a kid’s birthday party.

While holding this leaf up to take a photo, it was noticeably heavy from all these galls and it seemed like it could easily become unattached from the additional weight. The top of the leaf was still dark green, so all of these galls didn’t seem to be affecting the leaf’s ability to photosynthesize.

As you can see, two kinds are forming. The Pinched Leaf Gall Wasp looks like a basket or small pastry pinched shut at the top. They can vary in color from tan to red. The other one is a saucer-shaped gall with a brown bump in the middle. That one is identified as an Undescribed Plate Gall Wasp #8. The galls are small and I imagine the wasps that emerge from them are only a couple of millimeters long.

I took this photo where a few small oak trees are growing along the edge where the forest meets the meadow. Many of these young oaks were adorned with leaf and stem galls. I’m not sure why the wasps chose to lay their eggs on these oaks. For some reason they found this area a more suitable location than the oaks out in the meadow where I saw far fewer.

Brown Creeper Nest

Two big cedars are growing next to each other and have joined at the base over the years. The bark on the outer part of one of the trees slightly separated from the tree’s base. It created a sturdy structure protected from the weather and was the perfect location for brown creepers to nest. I observed this nest over the summer but wanted to stay back from it while it was used. The fledglings left the nest about 6 weeks ago, so now it was okay to check it out. I waded through a little poison oak to get a better look at the location. The nest was near the top of the opening where it was about two fingers in width. Below the nest, there was material that probably fell during the construction as they started to anchor it into place. There was a considerable amount down there, enough to make another nest. I wonder why they didn’t retrieve more of those pieces to weave them back into it. I took the nest out and placed it on a bench to look at the materials used to make it. The nest was mostly made of small, thin pieces of cedar bark. The top of the nest consisted mostly of soft, tiny strips of bark fibers with a few feathers tucked in here and there. This created a soft place to lay the eggs and formed a cozy home for the babies.

It is interesting to see a nest that isn’t supported on the top or the bottom. All About Birds by The Cornell Lab says, “She builds the frame of the nest by layering twigs and strips of bark. She uses insect cocoons and spider egg cases to stick those materials to each other and to the inner surface of the tree bark.” I didn’t notice any cocoons or egg cases being used to hold the nest together and in place. It seemed held there simply by friction from wedging the debris into the bark crevice. The inner part of the bark is rough and I am sure provides some support in helping hold it in place. I love finding one of these nests. They are always in fascinating locations.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. I look forward to seeing you out there.

Resources
Brown Creeper Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/lifehistory. Accessed 2 Sept. 2024.

Kingfisher Nest Cavity

I found these holes in the river bank recently that look like former nesting sites of belted kingfishers. The diet of belted kingfishers consists mostly of fish, so naturally, they usually choose a nest site near water. The nest location is in an earthen bank that is free from obstacles such as tree roots or rocks, which makes for easy digging. You can see in the photo that there aren’t any tree roots and the burrow is in a soft layer of silt that is above the layer of river stones. They’ll also pick a place high up on the bank to avoid potential floodwaters. This looks like a great location.

The kingfishers will create a burrow 3–6 feet into the bank that is angled upwards so that rainwater doesn’t drain down into the nest. At the end of the tunnel is a nesting space 8–12 inches in diameter and 6–7 inches high. The nestlings of Belted Kingfishers are able to digest the bones and scales they consume. Curiously, as they mature and are ready to leave the nest their digestive ability changes. The fish skeletons and invertebrate shells seemingly become undigestible and they start coughing up in pellets.

I waited until after the breeding season to venture along the river, especially in places where I was aware of potential nesting areas. In my experience, most birds prefer that people stay back from their nests. A good pair of binoculars is great for observing nests at a distance. That said, I feel kingfishers are exceptionally sensitive to human activity. So please avoid areas where you might suspect nesting kingfishers. One of the biggest threats to wildlife is the loss of habitat. I have to remind myself too that we need to be responsible stewards of nature and respect other creatures and their need for space to live and raise a family.

Watching Clouds

I want to fly like
the albatross,
effortlessly over the oceans
surrounded by
the immense gravity
of endless blue.
Propellers of air
sweeping off the surface
of the water
carrying me
over the curve
of the horizon.
Me—a white crescent sail
of peace circling the earth
reminding all that
we can live in harmony
with nature and
each other.

Bijou the Emerald Dragon

Inside the darkness of the earth,
there is a molten inferno of stones
coursing through her veins.
It is surging with each
beat of her heart.
The rhythmical pulse is
drumming—a percussive mallet
forging armored suits
of emerald.
It is where dragons are born.
They rise out of the
fiery core of the planet
into the watery environments
on the surface.
An igneous jewel darting
through sun rays,
dazzling
in the summer sky.

Licorice Ferns & Summer

I disturbed a moth while walking across one of the bridges in the wetlands. I was watching it flutter around hoping that it would land nearby so I could get a look at it. It went under the bridge and as I peaked over the edge to see where it went, I saw two licorice ferns growing out of moss underneath the side rail. At the arboretum and probably most of the Willamette Valley licorice ferns are considered summer deciduous. When the dry, hot summer comes, most of these ferns will die back and go dormant. When the rains of fall start, usually in September, they will sprout new leaves that last until next summer. That said, every summer I find a couple here and there that keep growing in shady areas where there is enough moisture. After I found the ones on the bridge, I decided to go and find some more. I found them growing down low at the base of trees where they escape direct sun. I also found them growing on the sides of mossy rocks where it is cooler and out of the sun. More rain and mild termperatures are on the way this week, so licorice ferns might decide to start sprouting a little early this year. I’ll be out there watching to see.

Coast Redwood Sprouts Erupt From Stump

There is a small grove of Coast Redwood trees at the beginning of the river path in front of the White Oak Pavilion. During the ice storm, two of them sustained significant damage, and they cut them down for safety reasons I suppose. As a survival mechanism, heaps of sprouts have erupted from this stump transforming it into a small shrub.

Two conifers on the West Coast produce sprouts from the base if they are cut down or sustain injury, the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia). A side note, the Pacific Yew is “grouped with the conifers because it has needlelike foliage, its fruit is not a cone. Instead, it’s an aril—a large, single seed surrounded by a soft, fleshy, bright red pulp (Jensen, pg. 58),” which are highly poisonous.

In an article by the Penn State Extension, What Makes Some Tree Species Prolific Stump Sprouters?, it says: “Stump sprouts come about from suppressed dormant buds at the root collar of a tree – the meeting place of the stem and roots – that become active in the case of injury or extreme environmental changes that induce stress. While there are dormant buds that exist all over the tree, sometimes referred to as epicormic buds, they typically have a short lifespan after emergence and give rise to branches, not new stems (trunks). Dormant buds at the root collar, however, have traces all the way to the pith and in some species may live just as long if not longer than the main stem. They formed when the tree first put out roots and shoots.

The dormant buds grow slowly along with the tree; staying near the surface of the living wood beneath the bark. They also are believed to be genetically more juvenile which means that these buds are not necessarily a continuation of the tree's life but more of a revitalization, rebirth.”

If you look on the left side of the shrubby stump, you will see a small trunk that was sprouting from the base of the tree that wasn’t cut down or damaged. You can see in one of the photos below that this small trunk developing doesn’t look to be in that great of condition, but I need to go back and take a closer look at it. I will be interested to see how the sprouts on this stump continue to grow and develop over the next few years. Will they revitalize the already developing small trunk and die off or will one of the sprouts become a trunk and develop into a new tree?

Resources
Jensen, Edward C., et al. Trees to Know in Oregon. Rev. April 2005., Oregon State University, 2005.

What Makes Some Tree Species Prolific Stump Sprouters? https://extension.psu.edu/what-makes-some-tree-species-prolific-stump-sprouters. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.

Beaver Dam

Beavers are undeniably amazing creatures, and I am always filled with wonder and awe when I come across one of their dams.

They are mostly constructed of many sizes of limbs that range from small twigs to ones up to 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Within this organized chaos of sticks are rocks, mud, grass, leaves, and other plant material. I was most surprised by the amount of river stones used and their size. Some of them were big and heavy enough to require some effort to grasp and hold in one hand.

Beavers build dams to establish a place to construct a lodge where they can live and raise a family. The lodge location, in or next to deep water, protects against predators. The lodge will have underwater entrances that provide an escape from predators such as bears, wolves, and mountain lions. Beavers will also store food at the bottom of the pond which also helps them avoid predators. They are excellent swimmers and are safer in the water because they aren’t exposing themselves on land. In addition, in areas where the water freezes in winter, the beavers will have access to food under the ice through their underwater entryways.

The dam cradles the water's side channel, creating a nursery for plants, insects, fish, birds, and other mammals that thrive in slower-moving water. Additionally, this small pond permits more water to seep into the groundwater allowing the surrounding riparian area to flourish especially during dry periods.

From what I have read, beavers can build watertight dams. At the moment, this dam holds back a significant amount of water but doesn’t completely impede the flow. Small cascades of water trickle over and through the dam creating pleasing waterfalls to listen to and watch.

Beavers are a keystone species and I am happy to see they have chosen to live around the arboretum. My intentions are to write short blog posts that inspire you (and me too!) to be out in nature and follow up with more in-depth research if you are interested in the particular topic. For me, beavers are fascinating creatures, and I am definitely off to the library to find a book to read more about them.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. I look forward to seeing you out there.

Gumweed

The plant list for the arboretum records the species of gumweed Grindelia integrifolia. When I look it up in Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Pojar and MacKinnon, under ecology of the plant it writes: “Beaches, rocky shores, salt marshes, mostly maritime habitats; frequent from the Queen Charlotte Islands south; also moist open non-maritime habitats in the Strait of Georgia-Puget Sound area through the Willamette Valley.” The plant I have photographed here is growing along the road in dry, hard soil in full sun. Also, it is blooming at the driest time of year. Something seems to be amiss. I wonder if this is a different species of gumweed not recorded on the plant list because based on the description of its habitat, it seems like this species wouldn’t be growing along a dry, sun-baked roadside.

All that aside, this plant is awesome! It is in the aster family and has bright, yellow ray florets radiating around the outside and golden disk florets packed in the middle. The flower is bulbous with a spiky involucre that is sticky or gummy. The stems are reddish and the leaves are alternate, without stems, and dotted with resin. It is a perennial herb that would be great to grow in an unmanaged part of your yard, like along the parking strip in front of your house. It will brighten the space around your home and provide insects with another nectar source in the latter part of the summer when there aren’t as many flowers.

I love the form of the flower heads, and I am looking forward to checking out the seeds!
Resources
Pojar, Jim, and Andrew MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Revised ed, Lone Pine, 2004.

Bird Nest

I was out poking around the lower limbs of oak trees looking for galls and found this little bird nest. It is mostly constructed out of moss with catkins from the male flowers of the oak tree woven in. Around the rim, there appear to be strips of bark, and the inside is lined with fine grasses. I was amazed that it was remarkably sturdy and built from such soft plant matter. I’m sure all of the moss made excellent insulation and created a cozy and warm nest. The moss also helped camouflage it. It was neatly perched on a small limb, and a canopy of oak leaves sheltered it from the blazing summer sun and the infrequent rain shower. A few developing acorns had fallen off the tree early and landed in the nest.

If I had to guess, I would say it is a goldfinch nest based on the size, location, and plant material. That said, most goldfinch nests that I find are pretty funky in the end. There is usually a substantial layer of bird poop around the top and outside of the nest from when the baby birds start to get crowded and sit towards the top. So maybe this nest wasn’t successfully used, or it could be another bird’s nest.

Finding this nest makes me want to go back and reread Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I can’t remember if she talked about birds gathering moss and contributing to its dissemination.

I love finding a bird nest. They are all so unique and beautifully made. I hope you are enjoying your summer. See you out there.

I was old when I was new.
It is not a riddle,
or maybe it is.
I got up in the night
to write down
the song of the cricket
fiddling outside my window.
I forgot everything
as soon as I grabbed
my pencil and paper.
I did remembered
with a sigh of relief
that there aren’t words
for it anyway,
as I lay awake
dreaming
in the moonlight.

Sculpin

While turning over rocks in the river, I found an interesting fish called a sculpin. Naturally, they can be startled when their hiding place is revealed, so I had to turn over rocks slowly. They usually stayed out in the open briefly while I looked at them before quickly darting away to hide under another rock.

Sculpins mostly remain hidden under rocks, logs, or other river debris during the day. Also, their skin is well camouflaged with beautiful patterns that help them escape detection. At night, they come out to find food which mostly consists of small invertebrates, especially aquatic insect larvae.

Sculpins are found on the bottom because they don’t have a swim bladder that helps fish maintain buoyancy. Essentially, if they stop swimming, they sink. Their pectoral fins fan out to the side to help prop them up, grip slippery surfaces, and propel themselves along rocks.

I read that some sculpins can breathe through their skin which is known as cutaneous respiration. For example, there are saltwater sculpins that live in tidepools that can become drained at low tide.

When the summer temperatures are hot, it’s time to be in the river at the arboretum. While you are out there staying cool, turn over a few rocks and see what you can find. Try to place the rocks back as you found them so that the aquatic ecosystem remains as undisturbed as possible.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. I look forward to seeing you out there.

Resource
Sculpins (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/sculpins.htm. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Walking along the creek trail the other evening I found an Ash-throated Flycatcher bebopping through the oak trees. This hip little bird has a slightly bushy head and occasionally whistled sprightly little notes as it merrily foraged in and out of the branches. As it swooped between perches, I caught glimpses of the cinnamon color on the underside of its tail. When it landed, its two faint, whitish wing bars and pale, yellow belly became more visible.

It lives in semiarid country with dry scrub and open woodlands of oak, pinyon pine, juniper, mesquite, etc. There is only the occasional sighting of this bird here at Mount Pisgah. According to the range maps, this part of the Willamette Valley appears to be the upper part of its range west of the Oregon Cascades. A testimony to their suitability for dry habitats is that they don’t need to drink water. They get it all from the food they eat.

Its diet consists mostly of insects and spiders that it catches in midair or gleans from foliage. It will supplement its diet with small fruits such as mistletoe berries found in the oak trees throughout the arboretum.

The bird activity has slowed down at the arboretum as we get into the middle of summer and the nesting season wraps up. It is best to get out early in the morning before it gets hot or go out in the evening as the day cools down. Good luck and happy birding.

Resources
Ash-Throated Flycatcher Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ash-throated_Flycatcher/lifehistory. Accessed 19 July 2024.

Peterson, Roger Tory, et al. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. 4th ed, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.