Last fall or winter (maybe it was two years ago), an old Bigleaf Maple tree split in half. The tree forked near the base and had become rotten inside. Half of it is still standing and being propped up by other trees. The other half was leaning towards the trail, so for safety, the arboretum cut it down. This opened up the canopy allowing the sun to reach into the forest that was mostly in the shade. As a result, numerous sprouts have started to emerge from the trunks of these Bigleaf Maples that were growing next to the Grandmother maple. It will be interesting to see how these new shoots develop and the landscape fills back in over the next 20 or 30 years.
Bushtit Eating Blackberry
I was watching a flock of bushtits move through the landscape. They fluttered and tumbled into a thicket of blackberries that were growing up through a cottonwood tree. As I peered through the foliage, I found some of them eating the blackberries. I captured one plucking off one drupelet at a time. I love its stance of one leg down grasping a tree limb and one nearly straight up holding onto the berry. I imagine the thorns of a blackberry are potentially harmful to birds. They have easily torn open my skin on more than one occasion when I was picking the berries. This one is playing it smart and showing off its acrobatic skills by finding a safe place to perch away from the thorns.
Favorite Tree
Every time I go out to the arboretum, I remind myself to slow down and take my time. I often begin by sitting on a bench, tuning into my senses, and letting go of all the busyness in my life. I hear chickadees calling, crickets singing, and leaves rustling. I feel the warmth of the sun and the wind brushing against me. I smell the dampness of recent rains and leaves starting to decay. I taste some ripe blackberries. I see insects buzzing in the air, and squirrels climbing through the trees. There are so many discoveries to be made in nature and it is more likely to happen if I start this way.
After sitting for a little while, I took a walk out to my favorite tree. It has so many beautiful forms, patterns, colors, and textures to behold and experience. It stands upright and its canopy is open and spacious.
The needles are long, soft, and green. They radiate outwards forming wispy brooms that sweep back and forth in the wind. The old needles turn orange and are scattered in a loose mat underneath the tree.
There are old cones still attached to the tree. They are gray and small bits of lichen are scattered across their surfaces. The scales are still nestled together at the base forming a beautiful pattern. Some old cones have partially detached leaving behind barnacled florets. The new cones have opened in the warm, summer sun. Their copper-colored bodies develop into a bouquet of arching scales. Red-breasted Nuthatches visit the cones looking for seeds to eat or cache for later.
Its catkins are tubular and dry a papery, reddish-brown.
The tree produces a sticky sap that always manages to find its way onto my body or clothes somewhere. It has a cool, sharp scent that feels refreshing.
The bark of the trunk is layered with flakes creating a furrowed, craggy landscape. It has a warm, sweet smell. The bark on the young limbs is reminiscent of a snake’s skin.
It has a gentle song and a peaceful dance as it sways in the wind.
There is so much to learn, notice, and experience with this tree. It can live to over 500 years old. This is only the beginning of its life. I will only get to know it and be friends for such a brief time.
Fishing Spider or Wolf Spider?
I was sitting along the edge of the river turning over stones, and occasionally one of these dusky, gray spiders would come shooting out from underneath one. Most of the time, they would disappear back underneath another rock as quickly as they appeared. They are lightning-fast. They could even escape by dashing across the surface of the water to another pile of rocks. It was difficult to follow one and keep up with where it went. Turning over stones to find it again was tricky. It felt like that magician’s game where a ball is placed under one of three cups, the cups are speedily switched around, and then you have to guess which cup the ball is under. The spider seemed to never be under the rock I thought it was under. I would turn over a rock and see it bolt out from the one beside it. It would disappear under another rock as it continued to play the game and give me the slip. I was very grateful when one of the spiders finally paused out in the open for a moment and kindly allowed me to take its photo.
When researching which spider this is, I narrowed it down to two similar but different kinds, a wolf spider and a fishing spider. Let’s compare them. The first area to consider is the location where they are found. They are both terrestrial, but fishing spiders are found near bodies of water and can move across the surface of water. Another thing to notice is their legs. Fishing spiders have longer legs which helps them walk on the surface of water. Wolf spider’s legs are shorter and stocker. Thirdly, is the placement of their eyes which they both have eight. Fishing spiders have two rows of four eyes. Wolf spiders have three rows—two eyes, then two larger eyes, then four small eyes. I imagine this can be difficult to discern. Color can also be a helpful clue. Fishing spiders tend to be gray or brown with banded legs. Wolf spiders are also different shades of brown or gray and frequently have a light or dark stripe running down their backs.
My spider seems to fit the description of a fishing spider more than a wolf spider. Beyond the name or category, I love the color and pattern of this spider.
Fishing Spiders
Fishing spiders don’t spin webs to catch their prey. They roam around looking for prey or they will sit at the edge of the water, place their legs in the water, and detect the movement of insects or even small fish to catch. Fishing spiders are nursery web spiders. The female carries around her egg sac and when the eggs are near hatching, she will suspend the sac in the protection of folded leaves.
Robin Eating Red-osier Dogwood
The American Robin eats a wide variety of fruits, so it is no surprise to find them eating the Red-osier Dogwood berries. One of the shrubs next to the river had an abundance of berries, and I watched a robin eating from it quite a few times on different days. It would fly in, perch, and watch its surroundings for a moment. It would then pluck a berry, hold it in its beak, slightly toss it back, and swallow it whole. I feel like it ate around 6 - 8 berries before flying off. I found it interesting that I have only seen one robin at a time eating the berries. It is not unusual to see a group of robins in a tree devouring fruit. Also, I usually see them start to gather together this time of year. For example, in the recent post Grasshoppers - August 20, 2023, there were probably a dozen robins together out in the meadow eating grasshoppers.
Common Knotweed
It hasn’t rained in a dog’s age. It is dry as a bone. This old road through the South meadow was traveled by farm equipment for years and many people walk on it daily. It’s compacted hard as a rock. It is gravelly and bakes in the full sun. It seems unlikely that any plant would grow here. That said, common knotweed grows on the road, is green, and blooming.
It grows in these fairly dense flat mats. The stems radiate from a central, knot-like structure and maybe that is the origin of its common name. It has small green leaves, and the flowers are white. It produces a plethora of seeds. I often see dark-eyed juncos congregating on the road in the fall and winter eating the seeds.
It is not a beautiful, showy plant, but it got my attention because of the location of where it grows and its hardiness.
White-breasted Nuthatch Cleaning Out Nestbox
I subscribe to Birds of the World by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology which is a resource found on their website that they describe as, “Birds of the World is a powerful resource that brings deep, scholarly content from four celebrated works of ornithology into a single platform where biologists and birders can find comprehensive life history information on birds. Every bird has a story. Discover them all with Birds of the World.”
When I looked up nesting of White-breasted Nuthatches there surprisingly wasn’t a lot of current information on certain topics and little information on others. The information on nest construction cited sources from 1948, 1968, and 1978. Under the section “Selection,” it only stated “Not clear which sex selects the nest site.” Under the section “Maintenance And Reuse Of Nests,” it only stated “No data but thought to reuse nests often. No information on maintenance.”
Birds of the World is a great resource but obviously doesn’t contain all the information about White-breasted Nuthatches. That’s good news. There is probably still much to be discovered about its life. The even better news is that it is a common bird found at the arboretum that I can watch, study, and enjoy. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a new and exciting discovery about its life.
A couple of weeks ago I observed this nuthatch partially cleaning out this box. A pair of nuthatches have used two different nest boxes out at the arboretum the last two summers, so maybe it is scouting out a potential nesting site for next year. White-breasted nuthatches seem like curious birds, and I see them thoroughly investigating trees. They are constantly circling branches and the trunks of trees as they forage. It is not uncommon to see one pop into the cavity of a tree to have a look around. It makes sense to keep track of potential places to seek refuge during bad weather, escape danger, nest, etc. Next spring I’ll be wondering if they decide to nest in this box. I hope to see you out there!
Toad Bug
I was sitting at the edge of the river seeing what interesting animals might wander by, when this little creature hopped out in front of me. At first, I thought it was a frog. I leaned over for a closer look, it hopped again, and at second glance, it still seemed like a tiny frog. I slowly moved over to examine it closer again, and realized that it was… an insect? I watched it for a few minutes, and I finally saw its legs as it crawled out onto these small pebbles. What in the world is this amazing little animal?! I just had to watch it hop again, so I nudged it with a leaf. It seriously hopped just like a frog or a toad.
Meet the Toad Bug! It has a small, oval shape. It is 3/8” long and is two-thirds as wide as it is long. It could easily fit within the space of my thumbnail. It has bulging eyes at the sides of the head and the sides of the prothorax are projecting. Its legs are yellowish with brownish bands. Its mottled dark gray color blends in well with the surrounding stones and gives it great camouflage. Its diet consists of smaller insects which there are plenty of along the shore.
Seeing this interesting creature was a reminder that I never really know what wondrous lifeforms I will encounter or the inspiring experiences I will have every time I am out in nature. I hope to see you out there.
Resource
Milne, Lorus Johnson, and Margery Milne. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Knopf : distributed by Random House, 1980.
Grasshoppers
By the River
I found this grasshopper on a stone down by the river. It seems more like a rockhopper rather than a grasshopper. Maybe I’ll name it the River Rockhopper. Along with moths, grasshoppers have superb camouflage, and most often, they are hopping away as I unknowingly walk up on them. There is plenty of grass and small forbs growing in between the rocks, so it should be easy for this grasshopper to stay on or close to the rocks to hide in plain sight.
Out in the Meadow
I have been seeing lots of grasshoppers out in the meadow and they blend in well with the dry, yellow grass. This one reminds me of a grass seed head. Notice that the wings on this grasshopper are not completely developed. Robins were scattered throughout the meadow this morning. They were scurrying about lunging for grasshoppers. They were successful too. It is hard to see, but the one in the photo just caught one and has it in its beak.
Planaria Eating a Crawdad
I was down by the river today poking around and found what looks like a dead crawdad being devoured by planaria. I thought this would be a nice follow-up video to the July 23rd post. Remember that their mouths are about halfway down their bodies.
Western Wood-Pewee Flycatching
I posted about the Western Wood-Pewee on June 14 of this year and wanted to create this video as a follow-up to that post.
In The Birder’s Handbook, it says that the primary foraging technique used by the Western Wood-Pewee is Hawking. The definition is: “Sallies from perch on short flights to capture insects.” It lists a secondary technique called Hover & Glean. This definition is: “Takes nectar, insects, or berries from plants above ground while hovering.” The book notes that “both primary and secondary techniques may be used to obtain primary food items.”
This pewee nested on the edge of the open area in the forest where I recorded this video. The opening in the canopy was created when part of an old Bigleaf Maple fell. It made the perfect spot for this bird to nest, especially with the exposed, dead branches to perch on.
As it perches, watch it constantly turning its head as it looks for insects. When it spots an insect it will fly out, grab it, and return to the same perch or one nearby. If you listen closely, you can hear the pop of its bill as it snags the insect out of the air (the 4th time it flies from a perch in the video). When it lands it will usually flutter its wings slightly as if readying for the next flight. It will eat small insects in midair and bring back larger prey like dragonflies to eat at its perch. I infrequently see them hover and glean, and I occasionally see them on gravel bars on the river darting around the rocks and gleaning insects.
Source
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.
Water Penny Beetle
Lately, I have been poking around the edge of the river turning over stones, watching birds, listening to the river, and whatnot. There are many aquatic animals living and hiding out underneath rocks. My latest discovery is the water penny beetle. Along with the stonefly (posted on Aug. 1), this is another animal that is an indication of good water quality. The water penny thrives in flowing, unpolluted water that is also free from lots of sediments and algae. You will find them clinging to the undersides of rocks and logs in the water because they need to stay moist, stay hidden from predators, and are sensitive to light. That said, they will come out from hiding at night to eat on the upper surface. The larvae’s diet consists mostly of algae which are scraped off using rasps on their legs. They have dome-shaped bodies with flexible plates that allow them to hug closely to the surface and hold on. They have feathered gills under the abdomen that take in dissolved oxygen from the water.
It is interesting to realize that a larval stage of a beetle can be aquatic because I usually imagine it as a terrestrial grub underground or tunneling through the wood of a distressed or dead tree.
The adults resemble typical beetles. They are black or brown, oval, and have somewhat flattened bodies. The lifespan of the adults only lasts up to a couple of weeks—long enough to mate and for the female to lay eggs. Not only is there a short window in which to find an adult, they are only 4-6 mm long. I imagine it could be kind of tricky finding and identifying one.
As always, I hope this short post sparks your curiosity to do more research, go out to find one, and make more discoveries along the way.
Resources
Bug o’the Week – Water Penny Redux – Riveredge Nature Center. https://www.riveredgenaturecenter.org/bug-othe-week-water-penny-redux/#:~:text=The%20larvae%20of%20some%20species,into%20adults%20the%20next%20year. Accessed 15 Aug. 2023.
Hammond, George. “Psephenidae (Water-Penny Beetles).” Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Psephenidae/. Accessed 15 Aug. 2023.
“Water Penny Beetle Larvae.” Missouri Department of Conservation, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/water-penny-beetle-larvae. Accessed 15 Aug. 2023.
Skippers
Skippers are butterflies that partially resemble a moth because of their hairy bodies and small, triangular wings. They have noticeably large eyes and short antennae. When they perched, they would either hold their wings flat and parallel to their bodies or open with the forewings angled above the hind wings like a plane. The yellow-orange color of the underside of their wings was so beautiful and captured the warmth of the summer sun. It allowed them to blend well with the surrounding dry vegetation. I liked the contrast between their soft, quiet bodies and the crispy, crunchy grass. I often stirred them up from the ground before I saw them. They quickly skipped through the air and lit nearby. They were friendly and gave me a feeling of levity when I was around them. If I moved slowly, they allowed me to kneel down to get a closer look. I found them drinking nectar on small flowers like the nonnative teasel that has spread out across the south meadow.
Sources
Family Hesperiidae (Skippers) | Butterflies and Moths of North America. https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy/Hesperiidae. Accessed 11 Aug. 2023.
Inosculation
Inosculation is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches, or roots of two trees grow together. This event usually occurs between trees of the same species but can also happen between trees of different species.
In the first photo to the right, you can see what looks like a clump of oak trees. This photo shows two limbs or trunks of this cluster fusing together. There are many examples out at the arboretum where there are multiple trunks of an oak tree that are joined at the base. I haven’t been walking around the arboretum over the past hundred years to watch all of these trees grow, but I imagine that a small cache of acorns sprouted, grew up together, and literally grew together.
In the next three photos, there is an example of two different species. I have walked past this Oregon oak tree and Douglas-fir many times. The other day I noticed that they appear to have grown together at the base. They look to be about the same size so they probably sprouted at the same time. This pair is just past the barn on the left. The Douglas-fir winds up through the canopy of the oak tree and has an interesting wavy trunk. Both of their canopies lovingly intertwine with each other.
The word inosculation is derived from the Latin word osculum, which translates as “to kiss.” I recommend reading the biology behind how inosculation works. In a nutshell, it is about the bark layers coming in contact with each other, especially the cambium layer which is the tissue responsible for growth. The bark layers wear away and can come in contact with each other as they slightly rub together from the movement of the wind. My understanding is that it also happens through the pressure of trees growing into each other as they expand. The two touching parts can be two branches, two trunks, or a branch to a trunk. It can happen between roots too. To me, it essentially sounds like grafting trees together which is done all the time with fruit trees.
Summer Spirits
Sitting at the edge of the meadow, a sleepy afternoon is seeping into my eyes. I close them for a moment. The song of the Western Wood-Pewee is a warm and dry rhythm. I hear the soft brushing of the leaves of the trees and the soothing voice of the river’s braiding currents. I catch the slight sighing sound of air pushing through the messy warp and weft of grasses in the meadow. I open my eyes to the brilliant light of the blazing sun. I am in a basin saturated with crisp yellows, vast blues, leathery greens, dusty browns, and warm grays. Sitting at the edge of the meadow, summer is soaking into my spirit.
Stonefly Shed
Immature stoneflies live underwater (technically they’re called naiads), then crawl onto shore to go through their last molt and become a winged adult. The final molt leaves behind a beautiful and fascinating shell called the exuviae.
The naiad feeds on plants, decaying organic matter, and other insects. The nymphal stage lasts from one to four years. The adult stage lasts only for a few weeks, long enough to mate and lay eggs.
The adults are earth tones mostly some hue of brown or yellow. They have fairly long antennae, wings that fold back along their body, and two long cerci (tail-like appendages).
The presence of stoneflies in a river system is a sign of good water quality because they require clean, well-oxygenated water. A rocky aggregate bottom with high dissolved oxygen levels is often a productive area for stoneflies.
Rattlesnake Plantain
This evergreen perennial is in the orchid family, and its leaves are the most striking part. They have an electrifying white pattern set on a deep blue-green background. They are thick and supple and cool to the touch. The flowers are dull-white to greenish and grow on a long, terminal, hairy spike with most of the flowers interestingly oriented to one side. The plant grows from short creeping rhizomes, and like to live in coniferous forests in a shady, dry to moist habitat.
I am not sure of the flowering cycle of this plant, but I have only seen it bloom once over the last three years. That said, the flowers are small and subtle and can easily be overlooked. The flower petals are succulent and fleshy to the touch, and even though they are in the shade, I find it interesting that they are blooming in the middle of the dry, hot summer. I have been visiting them all week wondering if any pollinators would show up. So far I haven’t seen any.
Planaria
I was sitting on the bank of the river poking around in the water. I flipped over a rock and found all of these flat creatures clinging to the bottom. Once exposed, they immediately began to move around to the other side of the rock. On the top side of the rock, two of them are fleeing and you can see how flat they are. Many of them would detach from the rock once they came back in contact with the water. The current of the river’s edge would gently sweep them away, and then they would slowly sink, reattach to another rock, and move underneath. Every good-sized rock I turned over had a small gathering of them underneath.
I didn’t know what these animals were. I thought they might be some sort of leach. I looked up the photo with a friend at the arboretum and discovered that they were planaria. In the photo, you’ll see that its head is triangular. Not all species have this shape, but if it has this spade-shaped form, then it is definitely a planaria. It can also be identified by its flat body and two eyespots on top of the head. Maybe they are small, but I don’t see any eyespots on these. I will go back and see if I can get a close-up photo.
Planaria are carnivores, feeding on a variety of smaller invertebrates or other small worms. Its mouth is not located on its head, but halfway down its body. It doesn’t have a respiratory system so it lacks lungs or gills. They receive oxygen by diffusion through their body surface. If you think that’s fascinating, check this out. If you cut up a planarian into pieces each piece will regenerate into a new one! I can’t even believe this little creature is real.
Bat Skeleton
This little bat was found dead last fall clinging to the side of a tree. Since then, I would occasionally remember to check to see if it was still there. I was always surprised to see it still remained attached to the tree. Apparently, it was sheltered from the weather, and no other animals disturbed its body. So there is stayed, slowly withering away. The last time I checked, its body was a small, indistinguishable mass of fur. I thought about this little bat today and was amazed to find this delicate, beautiful skeleton hanging on the tree. It seems remarkable that the bones of its foot are still intact and grasping the bark!
Seeing this bat skeleton, reminded me that it is so beneficial to regularly return to a place over days, weeks, months, or years. If I take the time to truly observe, there is always something new and marvelous waiting to be discovered. Nothing is commonplace.
Sitting By The River
I sat on a gravel bar along the river one morning. I watched birds come and go for hours. Goldfinches stopped by quite often to drink from shallow pools. They dipped their bills down in the water, raised their heads up, and slightly tilted their heads back to swallow. A Robin hopped along the rocks gathering insects. Once its beak was full it would fly back to the nest. Its babies immediately reached their heads upward. Their outstretched, yellow mouths were ready to be stuffed with food. Cedar waxwings swooped back and forth over the river catching insects. Across the river, an American Kestrel was using an old cottonwood as a perch as it hunted in the farm field. A female common merganser was zigzagging across the river diving for fish. Just upstream, I could see a green heron stalking along the shoreline. Killdeer were downstream gleaning insects on the gravel bar. A lazuli bunting was singing from the willows to my right and occasionally came down to the river to drink. A pewee was calling and hawking flying insects from over the river. A song sparrow hopped about the river stones in front of me catching insects. Towards the end of my time sitting there, a pair of California Quail quietly appeared out of the willows. I don’t get to see them very often out at the arboretum. They like to stay hidden, are well camouflaged, and are easily startled. They only spent a minute or so out in the open then moved back into the willows. I could occasionally see their silhouettes as they moved through the thicket. Seeing these quail reinforced the approach to birdwatching in which you quietly sit and let the birds come to you.
Hope you are finding time to get out and do some birding this summer.
