Again, I found myself watching a Bewick’s wren hop, tumble and leap between the branches. Suddenly it popped out onto this twig and posed as if it was the completion of its acrobatic routine. It stuck the landing! With the dappled afternoon sunlight in the background, I quickly snapped a photo and silently cheered its wonderful performance.
Blend in with Nature
I aspire to be the bird in the photo. Flitting through the understory, staying close to the earth. Exploring all of the sensations—the leafy, green fern fronds, the soft, spongy moss, the humid scent of the soil, and the sounds of insects rummaging through fallen leaves. Peering out through windows in the vegetation as I merrily skip in and out of view, in constant awe of what new wonders could be awaiting me.
“Few people have the imagination for reality.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Bewick's Wren
Meet the Bewick’s wren. It is a year-round resident that feels right at home in the thickets and shrubby areas in the open country of the oak savanna landscape of Mt. Pisgah arboretum.
It has a brown back and wings, and its underside is gray and white. A distinguishing feature is its bold, white eyebrow stripe. Its tail is long, black-barred, tipped with white spots, and is often cocked upwards. Its bill is fairly long, pointy, and slightly downcurved.
It is a spirited, acrobatic bird. It tumbles, hops, and bounds its way through the landscape as it forages for food. It effortlessly flits from limb to limb in the underbrush, clings to the sides of trees, and hangs upside down as it explores. Most of its diet is “the eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of insects and other small invertebrates (All About Birds).”
Its lively character also comes through in its song, which I can hear from a fair distance. Here is Peterson’s description of its voice: “Song suggests Song Sparrow’s, but thinner starting on two or three high notes, dropping lower, ending on a thin trill; calls a sharp vit, vit and buzzy dzzzzzt.” Click here to go to All About Birds to listen.
This is a great bird to get to know. If you walk slowly and quietly, it is quite tolerant of your presence. Also, it is easy to observe because It usually forages less than 10 feet off the ground. So you don’t get a kink in your neck scanning up in the tree canopy for it.
Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. Hope to see you out there.
References
Bewick’s Wren Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren/lifehistory. Accessed 9 Nov. 2022.
Ehrlich, Paul R., et al. The Birder’s Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds: Including All Species That Regularly Breed North of Mexico. Simon & Schuster, 1988.
Peterson, Roger Tory, et al. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. 4th ed, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.
Steller's Jay & California Bay Laurel
Last weekend I heard the familiar sound of Steller’s Jays squawking, and I went over to have a look. I saw them hopping on the ground and through the limbs of the bay tree out by the barn. Not long after I arrived on the scene, one flew off with one of the green fruits of the tree. It flew down to the ground, buried the fruit, and quickly returned for another one. Another jay had found one on the ground and had managed to extract the seed from inside. It was on a lower limb breaking off bits and eating them. They were mostly gathering the fruit and flying away to cache them. There are quite a few trees that have sprouted up nearby from ones that weren’t retrieved. Steller’s Jays stash many seeds throughout the year and it seems highly possible that they would forget where they buried some of them. Also, if the jay should die sometime during the winter, the unrecovered, buried seeds could sprout thus dispersing the plant.
Seeds
Walking along the incense cedar trail there are thousands of cones and seeds scattered on the path. As I walk underneath an incense cedar, there is a carpet of woody cones like fresh mulch has been applied. The cone has a rich reddish-brown color. Its shape splits open into 3 segments freeing the seeds inside that have a light-colored wing attached.
As I knelt down to pick up one of the seed pods, I thought about the incredible volume of seeds that are produced throughout the arboretum. I realized that I am constantly seeing birds eating seeds. Today I watched a flock of juncos eating seeds on the ground out at the barn. Goldfinches were foraging on or near the ground out in the south meadow. I am sure they were finding seeds from plants such as grass, tarweed, and thistle that grew out there over the summer. Seeds are a huge part of the food chain for animals such as birds, mice, voles, squirrels, chipmunks, and many insects.
Seeds are usually small and easily disappear when they fall to the ground. So, they can quickly fall out of awareness. That said, I feel like I am reminded of their presence every morning when I put on my tennis shoes. Walking through the meadow over the summer, my shoes collected seeds that seem permanently imbedded in the fabric. Truly an amazing part of the life cycle of plants.
Leaf Gall Smorgasbord
Chickadees have an intimate knowledge of the trees. They never stop investigating every nook and cranny of a tree. They will explore the very top of the tree and everything in between to the base. I will even see them on the ground around it.
The other day I was watching a flock of them eating heaps of these leaf galls. Every single leaf that I could see on this oak tree had galls on the underside. Within a matter of seconds, a chickadee would pluck one, hold it with its feet, open it, and eat the small larva inside. I can’t even imagine how many insects one chickadee consumes in a day.
August Jackson at the arboretum just put together a small brochure of Mount Pisgah oak gall wasps. It is at the kiosk just before you walk across the bridge into the White Oak Pavilion. It has great photos. Check it out.
Great Horned Owl
The wind is gently sweeping across the hillside. It swirls around sturdy trunks of trees in a murmur. Its current is slow and soft as it flows through carpets of mossy limbs. Leaves lightly brush together. Shrouded in a cloak of quietness, the Great Horned Owl listens to the song of the forest.
The last rays of sunlight are slanting through the evening sky. Dragonflies are darting back and forth over the meadow. Leaves whirl and spin as they fall from the trees. The shadows are deepening as the night awakens. Shrouded in a cloak of stillness, the Great Horned Owl watches the day come to a close.
The rain has awoken the moss from its summer slumber forming cool, spongy beds. The shady woods are damp. The air feels refreshing to breathe. Afternoon sun breaks are a pleasant warmth on the body. Shrouded in a cloak of awareness, the Great Horned Owl absorbs the sensations of the changing seasons.
The hours of daylight are waning as we revolve into the starlight, beckoning a time of reflection. May we hold the essence of the Great Horned Owl within our spirit as winter approaches—watching, listening, and feeling nature to its fullest.
Paper Sediment
If asked to imagine a bald-faced hornet, most people would probably think of its bold black-and-white markings and have feelings of unease and wariness. If you get near their nest and they feel threatened, they will fiercely protect their home by administering a painful sting that definitely leaves a mark on your memory.
On the flip side, there is more to a bald-faced hornet than its ferocity. They are masters at crafting beautiful, sturdy homes made out of paper. An up-close look at their pendant nests reveals magical striations of chewed wood fibers. It is amazing to see all of the strands pasted together to form a fibrous mat.
So next time you see a bald-faced hornet, may you have reverence for its skill in building a home and a healthy respect for its ability to protect it.
Black-and-yellow Argiope Spider Egg Sac
I went to check on one of my spider friends to see how she was doing. She has a home close to the ground in a cluster of thistles out in the meadow. When arrived at her doorstep, I found the web collapsed, and she had disappeared. As I surveyed the area to see if she had built a new web nearby, I noticed a brown, papery egg sac suspended by silk filaments zigzagging in all directions.
After the female mates, she creates 1 to 4 of these sacs which contain 300-1400 eggs. I found another one close by hidden within vegetation about 3 inches from the ground. Interestingly, the eggs hatch in the fall, and the baby spiders will overwinter inside and emerge in the spring. The sac must be tough and well-insulated to protect them all winter, exposed to the weather out in the meadow.
I think this egg sac is so fascinating and beautiful in the way it is attached and supported. I find it interesting that she can create this tough, papery cover. From what I could find searching around on the internet, this egg case is made of silk. I am guessing is somehow made differently from the silk used to make her web, because it seems so structurally different. I want to find out more about this, and when I do, I’ll pass it along.
Resource
Hammond, George. “Argiope Aurantia.” Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Argiope_aurantia/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
Northern Pygmy-Owl
The other evening as I was walking back to my truck I came across some chickadees and nuthatches in an oak tree. They were flitting around through the tree and their behavior and vocalizations caught my attention. They seemed nervous as they moved about the tree and they were calling to each other frequently. I watched them for about 10 minutes as I slowly moved closer to the tree. A hummingbird suddenly appeared and zoomed over to the lower part of the tree canopy. It hovered and moved back and forth as if investigating something. It then lit on a small branch nearby. I then noticed a small silhouette on a limb. I moved to better view the area and brought out my binoculars. Focusing in, I discovered a Northern Pygmy-Owl was the source of the commotion. A moment later with a burst of energy, it flew up the hillside into another oak tree. Wanting to get a photo, I followed. It took me about half an hour to locate it with the help of the hummingbird again.
This little owl can be observed out during the day. Interestingly, All About Birds by Cornell had this to say: “Most owls have asymmetrically placed ears as well as flattened facial discs around the eyes. Both of these features are adaptations that give them better hearing. Interestingly, Northern Pygmy-Owls lack these features, and this may be an outcome of their diurnal habits and greater reliance on vision.”
In my opinion, these owls are pretty fierce hunters of small birds. They are fast and fly in a similar pattern to woodpeckers—an undulating pattern of rapid wing beats interrupted by closed-wing glides. I saw one a couple of summers ago hunting around the meadow next to the White Oak Pavilion. It seemed to easily catch a couple of songbirds. I remember counting 30 birds surrounding it as it perched on a limb eating. Check out the varied diet listed on All About Birds: “Northern Pygmy-Owls mostly eat small birds, such as hummingbirds, chickadees, warblers, and sparrows, as well as small mammals, including shrews, moles, and chipmunks. However, they occasionally attack prey much larger than themselves, such as Northern Bobwhite and California Quail. They also eat insects such as beetles, butterflies, crickets, and dragonflies, as well as reptiles such as lizards and skinks.”
Note
I haven’t been able to get out as much these days. Due to the smoke from the nearby forest fire, the poor air quality has had me reluctantly sticking to home when not at work. Hopefully, the rain will come to our aid soon.
Leaf Landscape
As I look at a leaf with its veins fanning out across its undersurface, I feel like I’m flying over a landscape. The cool, green chlorophyll along the main ridge lines fades into valleys parched with warm yellows and browns. The leaves on the deciduous trees, such as this Oregon ash, are transforming.
They have fulfilled their role. They created food and energy for the tree and shade for animals to keep cool in the summer. They provided forage for hungry insects and made music as the wind blew across their bodies.
Now their function is shifting as they fall. They form a cozy blanket on the ground to protect the tree’s root system and provide an insulative home for insects that overwinter in the soil. Many animals forage under this protective layer as it decays, recycling nutrients back into the soil.
I love this metamorphosis. They curl and twist in unique and interesting shapes. Their music becomes rustling and crisp. They release a magical apothecary of aromas, a sigh of gratitude upon the arrival of the first rains of fall.
Bird Tracking
I came across what appeared to be bird poop. I started wondering what berry has these seeds. I didn’t have to look far to find Oregon grape berries. I brought one over and opened it to find what I believe are matching seeds. Over the next week or so, I would sit by patches of Oregon grape when I was walking past. I wanted to see what birds were eating them. One morning, I watched cedar waxwings and American robins swooping in and gobbling up the berries. Towhees were hoping around down low through the shrubs and on the ground. I didn’t see them eating them, but I suspect they were foraging on them too.
At this moment, I think of the book Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking. It is filled with heaps of great information and exercises to improve your awareness and become more tuned into the natural world. I credit this book with helping to spark my curiosity and wonder about nature.
Western Tree Cricket
Walking through the meadows of the arboretum, I am serenaded by tree crickets. I have been able to find two different kinds. I posted a video last fall (Tree Cricket Singing, 10/18/21) of what I believe is a snowy tree cricket. It has a melodic, pulsing chirp. I think the one I found this year is the western tree cricket. It has a continuous trill that has a crisp, ringing note. You can see from the video that they fan their wings forward and rub them together. The sound resonates quite far across the landscape for such a small, delicate creature.
The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger had this to say about the songs of insects: “Singing insects produce sounds in a variety of ways. Members of the order Orthoptera typically create sound by ‘stridulation,’ which is the rubbing of one body part against the other. Among crickets and katydids, the base of the forewings is specially modified for sound production. A sharp edge, or ‘scraper,’ at the base of one front wing is rubbed across a bumpy ridge, or ‘file,’ located at the base of the opposite wing.” In the section on tree crickets, they mention that “males of a number of species often sing from the underside of a curled leaf, from the edge of a leaf, or from a hole in a leaf, in order to reduce acoustic interference and thereby increase the intensity of their songs.”
Resource
Elliott, Lang, and Wil Hershberger. The Songs of Insects. Houghton Mifflin Co, 2007.
Camas Pocket Gopher
Above the White Oak Pavilion at the arboretum, the ground is covered with freshly dug soil. This is the industrious work of a pocket gopher.
Pocket gophers are fossorial rodents named for their fur-lined, external cheek pouches. A fossorial animal is one adapted to digging and lives primarily, but not solely, underground. They have prominent, yellow incisors that are always exposed. They have small eyes, ears, and noses which probably leaves them vulnerable to predators when they are at the surface. I often see them pausing at the entrance of the hole, cautiously investigating their surroundings. They don’t leave their burrows open for very long, so you will usually see them plugged with a mound of dirt.
They prefer moist soil that is easy to excavate but can also be found in rocky landscapes. The dirt excavated by pocket gophers behind the White Oak Pavilion is littered with rounded stones, revealing that a stream once flowed through there. They have large, curved front claws for digging, and their protruding incisors probably come in handy when penetrating the dry, hard soil during the summer.
They dig extensive tunnels and the dirt typically gets deposited out in fan-shaped mounds. As they shovel the dirt to the surface, they will launch the soil away with a burst of energy.
Pocket gophers are herbivores. They forage on roots, tubers, and surface vegetation which they collect in their cheek pouches. When walking along the trail, I often see vegetation moving and then slowly disappearing as it is pulled underground.
The species we have at the arboretum is the camas pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus) which is endemic to the Willamette Valley. Its distinguishing characteristic is a white patch surrounding its bottom two incisors.
Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. Hope to see you out there.
Resources
Burt, William Henry, and Richard Philip Grossenheider. A Field Guide to the Mammals: Field Marks of All North American Species Found North of Mexico. 3d ed, Houghton Mifflin, 1976.
“Pocket Gophers.” National Wildlife Federation, https://www.nwf.org/Home/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Pocket-Gophers. Accessed 28 Sept. 2022.
Yellowjackets in Full Force
The yellowjackets are out in full force in the warm, autumn sun. Lately, the moment I step out of my truck in the parking lot, one is there to greet me. They must be nearsighted because they always want to hover back and forth close to my face to see who I am. I’m not sure what this close encounter is all about, maybe they think an insect is stuck in my teeth from the drive out there. They usually investigate the front of my truck and remove insects from there. The other day when I was taking a photo, one landed in between my fingers and begin chewing on a small flake of dried skin. That said, yellowjackets only tend to be aggressive towards people if you get near their nest. They are part of a healthy ecosystem to keep the balance of nature. The adults feed on nectar, so presumably, they will be pollinators of flowers. The larvae feed on pre-chewed insects like the grasshopper in the photo. This helps to keep the insect populations in check.
In the late summer, males will mate with new queens. As autumn progresses towards winter and the cold weather sets in, all the yellowjackets die except for the mated females. These will overwinter in the soil or litter of vegetative matter on the ground like leaves.
Resource
Milne, Lorus Johnson, and Margery Milne. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Knopf : distributed by Random House, 1980.
Stewardship
Nature: the sum total of the forces at work
throughout the universe.
We are a part of nature.
We belong to nature.
We are surrounded by nature.
Nature is wrapped around us.
We are inseparable from it.
It is the air we breathe. The water we drink.
It gives us food and shelter.
It is my whole body.
It is filled with infinite beauty and wonders.
To preserve, protect, restore, and honor it is to preserve, protect, restore and honor ourselves.
Let’s be stewards of nature, of ourselves.
Nature definition from dictionary.com
Goldfinch & Thistle
Clouds of downy thistle seeds have been billowing out onto the landscape and flying up into the sky. The seed is attached to an umbrella of feathers that enable it to float away in the slightest breeze. Goldfinches are on the scene to forage before the seeds sail away.
Goldfinches mainly eat seeds, but they will also supplement their diets with small fruits (elderberry and madrone) and tree buds (cottonwoods, alders, sycamores, willows, and oaks).
I think this particular plant is a bull thistle, a non-native plant. Non-native plants can be invasive, but I had to admire the cool seed head left behind after the seeds were released. It reminded me of a straw hat that Van Gogh might have painted.
In the birdseed business, Niger seeds are sold as a popular goldfinch food. Early marketing labeled this plant seed as a thistle. People wanted to capitalize on the fact that goldfinches love thistle seeds, which Niger seeds aren’t. They are a native plant to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Malawi. They are also grown in India. You may also see the plant labeled Nyger or Nyjer on the bag of bird seed.
I wanted to mention this because I feel that it is better to grow native plants and create more habitat for birds to forage. I feel these types of small changes can have huge impacts on restoring a balance in nature. When we use native seeds, we not only create habitat, we avoid spending energy importing seeds from far away to put in our bird feeders. In addition, Niger seeds are not going to be as nutritious because they are sterilized by heat before being shipped. I am sure this is to help prevent germination and spoilage of the seed.
Common Merganser
Recently, I have been delighted to see a small group of common mergansers on the river. The male’s breeding plumage is striking. He has a white body that sharply contrasts with a black back and dark green-black head. His bill and feet are red and his breast is tinged with a rosy peach. The female and immature mergansers are gray-bodied and have a rufous head with a short crest. Their chest and a patch under the chin are white. From late summer to mid-autumn, males wear a nonbreeding plumage that looks very similar to female plumage. So at the moment, they all look fairly alike.
I usually see them paddling upstream and enthusiastically diving for food. They dip their heads just under the surface of the water as they swim and scan for prey. When they dive, they give a slight leap to help launch themselves underwater. When one bird dives, the others usually follow. They normally dive for less than 30 seconds, but they can stay under for up to 2 minutes! Their diet consists mostly of fish which are, of course, slippery. To help catch and hold them, they have serrated bills. Sometimes I see one surface with a fish in its bill, and if it isn’t quickly gobbled down, a chase often ensues.
They can also be seen relaxing on rocks or on a log out in the river. That said, there always seems to be one vigilantly standing guard for any predators. I also have seen them merrily floating downstream, looking around, and to all appearances, just taking it easy.
Find a spot by the river to quietly sit and listen to the water gurgling, the wind blowing through the cottonwoods, and hopefully, you will be blessed to see a flock of mergansers paddling around on the river.
Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. Hope to see you out there.
References
Common Merganser Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Merganser/lifehistory. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.
Peterson, Roger Tory, et al. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. 4th ed, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.
Dried Plants = Habitat
When plants die off for the year, they can take on a new life. The fibers of many plants are extremely sturdy and can remain durable for a long time. The stems can become fairly “woody” and are often hollow. For insects and spiders, these are places of refuge and homes for eggs or cocoons to be protected.
Creating a habitat around where you live is the best way to attract, observe, and support invertebrates. Native plants are the best ones to grow. After you have enjoyed watching them grow and flower, leave the dried plant stalks. I know this can be challenging for many people. It can appear messy, and they want to tidy their garden at the end of the season. If this is how you feel, maybe start by leaving a small section untouched on the periphery. I like these places because they attract birds. They are places for them to forage and can offer protection from predators.
If you don’t have an area around your house or apartment to be creative, I recommend joining and volunteering at your local arboretum like Mt. Pisgah. An abundance of beauty and mysteries are waiting to be experienced and explored.
Grasshopper Dreams
The other morning I came across this grasshopper snuggled in the top of this Queen Anne’s lace seed head. The air was cool, and the grasshopper seemed to be waiting for the day to warm up to become more active. Thus, I was able to get a photo without it hopping away. When it warmed up later that morning, I was seeing grasshoppers springing in every direction. The south meadow has been particularly active with them. It seems like a pretty good year for grasshoppers.
Seeing this grasshopper nestled in its flower roost got me wondering if insects sleep. I imagined that all life forms need rest. It makes sense that grasshoppers need to wind their springs. At the end of the day, It feels so good to lay your head down, especially under a blanket of stars cradled in the top of a flower.
