As I walk up the creek trails at the arboretum, I come across small thickets of rose bushes that are adorned with brilliant red hips. Standing back from the bushes, the hips are small, floating hot air balloons. As I step in for a closer look, they are luminous sea creatures with bulbous red bodies and tentacles. They are suspended in clusters like a child’s mobile. Today I watched a flock of bushtits and a few chickadees darting between the stems presumably gleaning small insects. It was a joyous sight.
Spider Webs in the Morning Fog
In the cool, foggy morning at the arboretum, I was greeted with dazzling spider webs adorned with water droplets. There were thousands of orb-weaver spiders in the meadow that had built webs between grass stalks and old plant stalks like Queen Anne’s lace. They had even built them up in the trees. Another type of spider had woven compact, cotton-like webs close to the ground. They were scattered throughout the meadow cloaked in a light blanket of water. It felt like a magic spell had been briefly cast to reveal all of the spider webs. Once the sun broke through, the spell was lifted and the water droplets vanished into the air. The webs blended back into their surroundings and the sun-warmed spiders were ready to catch their prey. I was grateful that the arboretum had left this meadow untouched this year and allowed the ecosystem to flourish, more full of life.
Beaver - Cut Branches
Beavers are North America’s largest rodent. One of their notable features, besides their long flat tail, is their large chisel-like incisors which are each about a quarter inch wide. The beaver has a extensive list of foods that it eats, and one of its favorites is the cottonwood tree shown here. Out at the arboretum, I can usually find these small branches cut off at an angle, and I often see branches that it has stripped lying around the bank of the river. Beavers eat the inner layer of bark (cambium), buds, leaves and twigs. Beavers are a keystone species and through their dam construction, they create a diverse ecosystem. I highly recommend reading more about these remarkable creatures.
Color, Texture & Shape
Big-Leaf Maple leaves are forming rich, brown blankets on the ground. The air is carrying the sweet, earthy aroma of decaying leaves.
Soaked from the recent precipitation, tranquil beds of moss are a bursting, vibrant green.
Down by the river, stones are becoming rounded by the flowing water. They are cool and smooth. As you walk across them they clank together. Sometimes you can hear them tumble down the stream as they are moved by the current.
In contrast up on the hillside, the wind is rustling golden, linear grass stalks. The grass is light and crisp as the sunshine.
Incense-cedar Cones
Yesterday afternoon I was sitting out at the incense-cedar exhibit. There was a small breeze, and everything was damp from the recent rains. The deck of the exhibit was becoming scattered with these beautiful, amber cones falling from the incense-cedar. Usually a seed or two popped out as the cone landed and tumbled over. Mixed in the delightful precipitation of cones were bits of lichen, cedar leaves, small twigs and other vegetation. I retrieved a seed from the ground, and as I opened it, a golden liquid was released that was mildly sticky. I have yet to observe any animals eating these seeds, and I wondered if this lightly resinous juice helped deter them. I look forward to learning more about this tree.
Pacific Sideband Snail
In the cool, moist shade of a decaying log, soft chunks of wood, soaked from the recent rain, beckoned forth this little snail to come out of hiding. I peeked over its shell and could see that it was just a little on the outside of its mobile home. It was latched onto one of the pieces of decaying wood, presumably having a meal. More rain is in the forecast, and hopefully, it will draw more of these beautiful creatures out for us to watch and admire.
Feathers
Mt. Pisgah is a great place to go bird watching. Occasionally, I’ll get lucky and find a feather. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They can have patterns on them too. Birds have different types of feathers on their bodies and each type of feather has a specific function. For example, wing and tail feathers help with flight. It is always interesting to try and figure out what type of feather I have found and maybe, what bird dropped it there.
Yellowjackets Making Paper
Along the path next to the river I still see Yellowjackets scraping wood fibers off the fence with their sturdy mandibles. They will then chew these fibers and make a paper pulp in which to build their beautiful, study nests for the season.
The outer layer of the fence has turned gray and softened. The lighter parts are where Yellowjackets have removed a thin layer of fibers to expose the unweathered wood below.
Banded Woollybear Caterpillar
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Woollybear! I encountered this beautiful little creature traveling along the path in a rush like it was headed to the depot to catch the next train. Was it late for something? It had such determination and purpose in its movement. How did it know where it was going? I was fascinated by the thought of its senses reading the environment and charting its path through the landscape. Life is so full of mystery and wonder.
Fork-tailed Bush Katydid
I was walking out near the barn at the arboretum when this jolly, green giant sprung into the air. I went over to take a look, and it had poised itself to look like a blade of grass (photo right). I am continually amazed at how creatures in nature camouflage themselves by mimicking their surroundings through shape, color, and patterns. This katydid was slow moving, and thankfully not shy about having its picture taken.
Pacific Gopher Snake
I love the crisp, cool mornings and the warm, sunny afternoons of early fall. As I was walking along the river path, I came across another creature enjoying the warmth of the sun - the Pacific Gopher Snake. I’ve read that they get their name from using gopher borrows as habitat. That said, they will eat gophers, other small mammals, birds, and lizards. Gopher snakes are constrictors and nonvenomous. To scare off predators, they will mimic a rattlesnake by coiling, hissing, striking, and vibrating their tails.
Earlier in the summer, I heard the mild agitation call of a robin, and when I went to take a closer look, I saw a Pacific Gopher snake climbing a tree.
Click on photo to enlarge.
Camas Pocket Gopher
If you go above the White Oak Pavilion at the arboretum, you will see mounds of dirt everywhere. This is the industrious work of a pocket gopher. They dig extensive tunnels and all that dirt gets deposited out in these fan-shaped mounds. If you sit quietly and wait, you will see them shoveling dirt out of a hole, and with a burst of energy, launch the soil away from the entrance. They get their name from fur-lined cheek pouches that they use to transport plant food that they gather in their underground tunnels. Sometimes when I am walking along the trail, I will see vegetation moving and then slowly disappearing as it is pulled underground. I often see them pausing at the entrance of the hole, cautiously sniffing the air. At that moment, I noticed that there was a white patch on its chin. When I looked it up, this species of pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus) is endemic to the Willamette Valley.
Grasshoppers
As you walk along trails next to open, sunny fields of grass, you are likely going to trigger a few grasshoppers to jump. They are well camouflaged, and they usually see you before you see them. The recent rains have caused new, tender grass shoots to emerge, and the grasshoppers can be seen nibbling off the tips. Along the trails I see the females laying eggs - I imagine the recent moisture helped soften or loosen the soil to make it easier for her. You can see her in the photos extending her abdomen into the ground to deposit her eggs.
Garter Snake Mealtime
I was walking down the trail and a little flash caught my eye. It was a Bewick’s wren flitting through the tangled vegetation along the ground. As I was standing there watching it maneuver through the branches, I heard a gentle rustle on the other side of the trail. I took a few steps forward and saw a red-spotted garter snake backing out from underneath some leaves. As its head came out from under the leaves, I saw that it was eating a rough-skinned newt. The snake would move backward and then with a slight push forward it would swallow a little more of the newt. After it swallowed the newt, it stretched out in the dappled sunlight and rested. I watched for about 5 minutes and decided to move on to let it digest its meal in peace. I was grateful to have witnessed the event and to get a few photos.
Unfurling Ferns
A couple of rainstorms at the end of summer and the beginning of fall are sprouting vibrant green licorice ferns. The fern grows from a rhizome which seems to prefer the protective shelter under a blanket of moss. If you start down the Pond Lily Trail and loop around through the wetlands, you will see this fern sprouting on the mossy tree trunks of the Oregon Ash and Big Leaf Maple. On one fallen tree, there is a lush forest of ferns sprouting forth.
Click on photo to enlarge.