Caldonia Lichen

I found these lichens growing on a fallen incense cedar tree. When I look up close at this miniature environment, I am fascinated by how much terrestrial life reminds me of the sea. This lichen's structure and vibrant colors look like a coral reef. It is easy to imagine small fish, eels, and other creatures darting in and out.

Lichens are such a mysterious life form. They are a symbiotic union between an alga and a lichen. They grow in a myriad of beautiful shapes, sizes, and colors. As you walk around the arboretum, look for them hanging from branches, wrapped around limbs, and encrusting tree trunks. You can also find them clinging to the surface of rocks. They live in a diverse range of habitats from the desert to the alpine tundra. There are approximately 3600 species in North America!

Robin Building a Nest

The sun was shining Thursday, and it nicely warmed the day. It felt like spring had arrived.

I watched a female robin building her nest. She was collecting mud, grass, lichen, and other plant material. It was fun watching her build it. Sometimes she would land above the nest, drop the material into it, and then hop down to arrange it in the nest. As I watched her, she seemed free-spirited and joyful. She took a break every so often to forage and check in with her mate. He was always nearby watching and ready to chase off any intruders.

Caddisfly Larva

While looking in the small pools in the parking lot for frog eggs, I found a caddis fly larva. It was waddling around the pool searching for algae and other organic debris to eat. It makes the most beautiful, mobile home in the larval stage.

Depending on the environment, the larva gathers plant material, leaves, twigs, sand, small rock fragments, or other detritus, to build its temporary home. It cements it together with salivary silk forming a cylindrical tube. It lives inside this camouflaged, protective casing as it develops. When it is fully grown, it closes the tube ends and pupates inside. After this stage, it will cut open the case, rise to the surface of the water, undergo a final molt, and begin flying. As an adult, it usually only lives for a few weeks. During this time it focuses on reproduction. Most species do not eat as an adult, but a few species will visit flowers for nectar.

I have a photo of the adult somewhere in my album. When I find it, I will post it.

Pacific Tree Frog Eggs

There are small, shallow pools in the lower parking lot. The Pacific tree frogs love to lay their eggs in the sunny, warm puddles. It is the perfect nursery. Algae grow in the pools for the tadpoles to eat, and they have places to seek shelter under leaves and other vegetation.

If you are lucky, you might see one of the tree frogs in or around the water. It is a small frog measuring from ¾ to 2 inches. It varies in color from green to light tan and has a distinctive black or dark brown stripe through the eye. It also has notable, large toe pads.

Frogs are very susceptible to pollution. So it is interesting to see them successfully using these pools in the parking lot. The runoff of grease, oil, etc., must be minimal at this end of the lot.

I’d like to give a friendly public service announcement. Please remember to keep dogs out of these pools and the seeps along the quarry road. Along with frogs, they are filled with many fragile creatures.

Pileated Woodpecker Pair

Standing at the top of the zigzag trail, I could hear hammering resounding through the forest. I walked down the path to find a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers on a dead tree. They were excavating small holes in the wood using their chisel-like bills as they searched for food.

They will make holes in trees to get to the tunnels of carpenter ants or wood-boring beetles and termites. The holes are often in a rectangle shape and can be quite deep—a good sign that a Pileated Woodpecker is in the area. You will see these characteristic holes on the older Douglas Fir trees near the juncture of the zigzag and hillside trails.

When a Pileated Woodpecker discovers an insect path inside the tree, it has an incredible tool to procure its food. Its tongue is part of a fascinating system of small bones and muscles that wrap around the back and top of the skull to its forehead. In What It’s Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley writes, “The long tongue has a barbed and sticky tip, and tiny muscles that allow the bird to bend the tip of the tongue in any direction, so it can follow twisting tunnels, trap prey against walls, and pry insects and larvae out of their hiding places deep inside a tree.” That is truly amazing!

In addition to the sound of pounding on trees, you can also hear the vocalizations of the Pileated Woodpecker reverberating across the landscape. Click here to listen to their calls on Cornell’s website All About Birds.

Once its sound has clued you into its whereabouts, you will be in for a real marvel. Assuming that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is extinct, the Pileated is the largest woodpecker in North America. Both the male and female have flaming, red crests. The red on the male includes the forecrown, and he has a red mustache mark. Good luck in finding this spectacular bird!

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. Hope to see you out there.

Northwestern Salamander Eggs

Out in the wetlands, northwestern salamanders have been laying their eggs. The eggs are encased in a gelatinous mass that is roughly the size of a small grapefruit. They are attached underwater to small branches, grass, or other aquatic plants.

The eggs hatch in 2 to 9 weeks. During that time, algae will start to grow inside mass which provides them with oxygen. When the larvae hatch from eggs they swim using a tail fin and breathe with filamentous, external gills. When the larvae mature, they usually transform into salamanders that live on land. That said, Northwestern salamanders can develop into neotenic adults. This means that they stay in the water throughout their lives and retain their gills and finned tails. This phenomenon is seen more in higher altitudes.

The terrestrial adults spend much of their lives in moist places underground. They stay in and under rotten logs and often utilize the tunnels of burrowing mammals such as moles. This is probably why I don’t see them. I have only seen one out in the wetlands, and it was being eaten by a red-spotted garter snake.

There are bullfrogs out in the wetlands, and I was worried they might eat the salamanders. I was relieved to read that the larvae and terrestrial adults are mildly poisonous, so they can generally survive alongside predatory species, such as bullfrogs. Hopefully, the eggs will be safe. Perhaps they hatch out before bullfrogs are very active.

Indian Plum Flowers

Indian Plums are dioecious plants, which means the male and female flowers are on different plants.

I went out over the weekend to photograph the flowers to show you. The top two photos below are male. You can see the stamens loaded with yellow pollen. The bottom two photos below are female. They have 5 pistils in the center. Interestingly, it looks like small stamens surrounding the pistils that appear to be not viable.

Another interesting characteristic about these flowers is their fragrance. The scent is described as something between watermelon rind and cat urine. There is something more to be said about that peculiarity, but I’m not sure what at the moment. It requires more research. If you have a chance to smell them, let me know what you think.

Junco Taking a Bath

The Birder’s Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds is a great resource. It has information on the biology of bird species “known to nest regularly on the continent, north of the Mexican border (with the exception of some exotic species that have escaped from captivity) and all the now-extinct birds known to have nested here since the arrival of Europeans.” The book is also full of essays covering different biological topics. Here is an excerpt from the essay “Bathing and Dusting:”

“…Feathers are marvelous and intricate devices, but keeping them functional requires constant care.
A bird is considered to be bathing whenever it uses any of several stereotyped movements to wet its feathers. One pattern, wading, is commonly observed in birds with strong feet and broad, short, flexible wings. In a typical sequence a bird stands in the water, fluffs the feathers to expose the bare skin between their bases, and rapidly flicks the wings in and out of the water. The breast is submerged and rolled vigorously back and forth, and then, as the front end emerges, the head is thrown back, forming a cup with the partially elevated wings and tail, and dousing the feathers of the back. Those feathers are elevated so that the water reaches the skin, and then lowered, forcing the water between them. The sequence may be repeated, with the bird submerging farther in each cycle, until it is a mass of soaked, disarranged feathers.
…Songbirds shake themselves to throw off water by vibrating wings and tail and ruffling feathers. All birds normally follow bathing with preening.”

The water in the creek is lightly flowing at the moment due to the lack of rain over the past couple of weeks. There are plenty of stretches where the water is shallow. The depth is perfect for songbirds to wade out into the creek and take a bath. I love watching them splash around in the water.

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge and scroll through them.

Hermit Thrush

The hermit thrush blends well into the winter landscape. Its head and back are medium-brown and are accented by a warm, rufous tail. Its breast is patterned with brown spots that appear slightly smudged.

To further help in identifying this bird, look for behavioral clues. It will occasionally cock its tail, slowly lower it, and slightly flick its wings. When foraging, sometimes it will pick up leaf litter with its bill or shake the grass with its feet. Its diet consists mainly of insects such as beetles, caterpillars, bees, ants, wasps, and flies.

Recently, I walked up the creek trail, and I saw one perched in a tree patiently observing its surroundings. Eventually, it flew to the ground and started foraging along the edge of the path. It picked through the leaves, uncovered a few juicy worms, and gobbled them up.

At the arboretum, I only see the hermit thrush in the winter. It is a short-distance migrant that breeds throughout North America (click here for a range map). So if you miss seeing it at Mt. Pisgah this winter, there is a good chance that you can see one nearby on an adventure this summer.

I wish you luck in finding this beautiful bird. I also hope that you have the opportunity sometime to hear its peaceful, sylvan song. Click here to listen.

Bird Silhouettes

To identify birds successfully, many aspects are helpful to be in your awareness. In the front of Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of Western North America 4th Edition, there is a section of excellent questions to consider with illustrations. For example, “What is its shape?” Peterson has two illustrations side by side and asks, “Is it plump like a starling (left) or slender like a cuckoo (right)?”

To cap off the end of the book, Peterson included three panels of illustrations of the silhouettes of birds—shore, flight, and roadside. This is an important reference when determining what bird you’re watching because the lighting isn’t always ideal. Can you guess the ones in the photos?

When it came to identifying birds in the field, Roger Tory Peterson was an expert and created an invaluable guide to help us learn and enjoy our time birding. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!

Nature's First Green Is Gold

Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

————————————————

The Indian plum is a small, airy shrub that is one of the first plants to bloom as winter comes to a close. On the ends of its curving branches, new leaves are sprouting. The sunlight shining through them is creating luminescent, green flames. The shrubs are becoming brilliant candelabrums to light the pathway to spring.

The forecast for this Tuesday is a nighttime temperature of 16 degrees! Hopefully, our first green will stay.

Oregon White Oak

When David Douglas visited Oregon in 1826, he noted that the low hills of western Oregon were covered by Oregon White oaks and grass. This oak savanna land was formed through fires set by native people and lightning. The mature oaks were able to resist these mostly low-intensity fires that cleared the ground vegetation.

As a result of fire suppression, coniferous forests have closed up these open landscapes. Because the Oregon white oak is intolerant of shade, the oak savanna habitat has declined. That said, small remnants of this landscape can still be seen out at the arboretum and throughout the Willamette Valley.

In the forest above the White Oak Pavilion, there is an example of this phenomenon. An old, dead oak tree can be seen in the shadows of towering Douglas fir and incense cedar trees that have taken over the hillside.

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Underneath a thick carpet of moss was a trunk. Its lid was etched with a mosaic of primordial soup. I looked over the gaseous, wooden shroud carefully. As I sat wondering what was inside this mysterious vessel, a wind blew through and swept all thought from the corridors of my mind. At that moment, I found myself able to step inside. Upon entering, I could see the radiating concentric rings of time. I saw innumerable ripples interlacing into one another. Creating one fabric into which all life was woven.

Fog

Lately, we have been stuck in a beautiful blanket of fog. Here’s a snippet of information about fog from The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather:

“Stable air develops when the atmosphere becomes stratified, with a layer of warm air overlying a layer of cold air. Along the meeting line, a thin cloud will form; it may thicken into a solid layer of the stratus type. This arrangement creates an inversion, so called because it is the opposite of the more typical situation, in which cold air lies above warm air. In an inversion, the warm air puts a ‘lid’ on the lower atmosphere, and convection cannot take place. If the layered air at the earth’s surface is cooled enough overnight, fog may occur. The fog, which is actually a cloud on the ground, will persist until the rising sun warms the air to above the condensation point and the fog evaporates.”

The weather is fascinating.

Embodiment of Spirit

With all the elements of weather and the forces of decay interacting with this leaf since it came to rest on the ground, I find it remarkable that its framework remains intact.

Its ethereal form reminds me of the presence of the spirit in all things. A translucent veil that can be passed through from the stillness and quietness of mind. Opening a world of beauty and connection to Nature.

Townsend's Chipmunk

Chipmunks are diurnal, which means they are active during the day. You will see this pocket-sized creature quietly scampering over the forest floor as it curiously searches for food.

Its diet consists of seeds, berries, tree and shrub buds, grass, fungi, roots, insects, and bird eggs. It gathers food in internal cheek pouches as it forages. Then, it stores the food in its den or natural cavities.

For safety, it usually stays close to the ground where it can quickly disappear under a log, a canopy of sword fern leaves, a tangle of brush, or its burrow.

It is well-camouflaged to evade predators. Its coat is an array of subtle browns ranging from warm cinnamon to sandy. It also has stripes on its face and back to help it blend into the patterns of shadows.

In addition to being nimble and well-camouflaged, it takes safety measures to conceal the whereabouts of its burrow. First, the entryway is located in thick brush, at the base of a tree or stump, or a crevice in a rock pile. Second, it doesn’t leave a dirt pile at the entrance. The original opening it uses to excavate its home and discard the dirt is sealed when it is finished building. Then, it will open another hole to the burrow that is debris-free.

To communicate danger, it will use a chirping vocalization to sound an alarm. Look for it posted on the lower branch of a tree, the end of a log, or a stump.

In the northern or high-altitude parts of its range, the Townsend's chipmunk hibernates all winter. Here in the mild climate of the Willamette Valley, it is active all year. To brighten your winter day, keep an eye out for this beautiful, little animal.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. Hope to see you out there.

Sources
Eder, Tamara. Mammals of Washington and Oregon. Canada, Lone Pine, 2002.
Moskowitz, David. Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest: Tracking and Identifying Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates. Oregon, Timber Press, 2010.

Saving Birds

One of the biggest hazards to the health and safety of birds is windows. The estimated number of birds killed every year by striking a window is 365 million to 1 billion.

Birds are unable to see the glass in the window as a solid object. In addition, the glass acts as a mirror. The reflection makes it appear that the surrounding sky and landscape continue.

The White Oak Pavilion at the arboretum was constructed with many windows to be able to connect with the surrounding landscape. To help deter birds from colliding with the windows, the arboretum decided to install vertical nylon cords to give birds the visual cue that it isn’t an open landscape. The cords are spaced out close enough to keep birds from flying through them. I have already seen chickadees land on the cord as they curiously poke around looking for food.

Lane County Audubon Society publishes a monthly newsletter called The Quail. In the November 2021 issue, Jim Maloney wrote a great article about the project at Mt. Pisgah to prevent bird collisions on the White Oak Pavilion. Click here to read it.

I am posting this now because migrating birds will soon be here. For some, Mt. Pisgah Arboretum is their destination. For others, it is a brief stopover to rest and fuel up before continuing on their journey. Birds can collide into windows year-round, but it happens more frequently during nesting season. Birds’ hormones become elevated as they start to establish and defend territories, find a mate, etc. So start thinking about installing a deterrent to window collisions, like the nylon cords. I’d like to give a shout-out to Karen in Minnesota. After visiting the arboretum, she decided to install something similar on the windows of her home. Way to go! The American Bird Conservancy has a list of resources to help to decide the best solution for you. Click here to check it out.

There are some informative and interesting articles about birds colliding with windows and research to prevent it. I have included links below to some of them.

Article on the All About Birds website by The Cornell Lab: “Glass Action: Advances In The Science Of Making Windows Safer For Birds, “ by Pat Leonard.

Article on the American Bird Conservancy website: “Birds Flying Into Windows? Truths About Birds & Glass Collisions From ABC Experts, “ by Christine Sheppard, Ph.D., and Bryan Lenz, Ph.D.

Article on the Audubon website: “Making Buildings Safe for Birds,” by Julie Leibach.

Douglas-fir Needles

I was walking down the trail and the blue-green needles on the ends of the branches caught my eye. They were remarkably contrasted to the fairly dark yellow-green of the older needles. As striking as it was, I felt like I hadn’t really noticed it before. As I went over to have a closer look, I saw that some of the needles right above it were a lighter yellow-green on the end.

The book National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Western Region, says that the needles can be dark yellow-green or blue-green.

Naturally, I wanted to know why this color range occurred so I could pass on some cool info. At this point, I am unable to find out more about it. So, for now, it is about observing it and hopefully, in the future, I can tell you more about it.

Earthworm Castings

With all of the recent rains having flushed worms out onto the surface, I am reminded of their invaluable service to the health and well-being of ecosystems in temperate and tropical soils where they are found.

You can see evidence of their presence in open areas along the paths. Certain types of earthworms expel mud from their burrows leaving bumpy mounds called castings.

As organic matter passes through their bodies, earthworms perform the important task of breaking it down. In addition, they turn over and aerate the soil as they tunnel through it. This increases the soil’s water-holding capacity and provides channels making it easier for roots to penetrate and grow through the ground.

Below, I provided a link to a short article about their benefits to the soil. Check it out.

USDA Website
Natural Resources Conservation Service - Soils

Indian-plum Blooming

The rain was soft, drizzling.
It was saturating everything.
Pendent drops of water decorated the landscape.
Humble with beauty,
graceful, white lanterns
nodded to the spirit
of Nature in gratitude—
a brief moment in time
to shine its light.