A large bush that I’ve been delighted to find is Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium). It’s growing by my backdoor, and there’s lots of it growing in the woods all around my cabin.
The leaves of Blackhaw emerge from the buds involute, or curled as a spiral. The mature, glossy, opposite leaves are three to four inches long and one inch wide with fine serrations and pointed at the end. The petioles, or stems, of the leaves are a reddish color. In the autumn the leaves turn a purply-red.
Soon my bush will have buds. Buds that will become clusters of fragrant flowers four to five inches across. Flowers that will attract bees and flies to do their pollination magic.
Blackhaw Viburnum is the host plant of Spring and Summer Azure butterflies. The later caterpillar instars of the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly occasionally feed on its leaves. Oh I wish I’d see a Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly! I’ve seen their caterpillars while pulling invasives in Shenandoah National Park. Never the adult though.
Its fruits, called drupes, are about one half inch long. They’re eaten by songbirds, gamebirds, squirrels and chipmunks.
As a tree Blackhaw Viburnum can grow to be thirty feet tall. Its bark blocky in a Persimmon tree sort of way. Large bush, small tree, all in all a mighty cool plant.
A very fine (as in, “this is good”)(and as in, “the flakes are very small, but plentiful”) snow is falling out of the heavens, has been since lunch time when a Cooper’s Hawk,Accipiter cooper, not an unusual sight in the vicinity of my feeders, came by to see what was on the menu. Luckily for the potential lunch, they sensed his presence and took off. He left, continuing on his search for lunch.
By feeding song birds, I am attracting the Cooper’s Hawk, who eat medium-sized birds, rabbits, mice, squirrels, bats, chipmunks and even chickens. I don’t play favorites, this beauty is allowed here at my cabin along with all the other birds, particularly since he doesn’t come by daily. All welcome.
A bright sunny and delightfully chilly morning for a walk to the farmer’s market
Sunday morning found me walking to the Westover Farmer’s Market, through Mother Nature’s slant on things in an urban environment. An environment a bit different than I have become accustomed to.
Japanese Red Maple with sun shining through its leaves making them even more brilliant
Some of the trees, shrubs, flowers, familiar – from my childhood. The Japanese Red Maple brought back memories of a tree that my parents planted at the house where I grew up. A small tree with dainty, elegant, deep rich red leaves. That yard, from years ago – I think I could still map out each of the many trees that were within its boundaries.
Springstar, Ipheion uniflorum, related to onions, is a new flower to me
The beautiful Springstar blooms, I don’t recall ever seeing before. In one patch, they covered a wide swath of not yet mowed grass. Perfect timing for the blooms since the grass was still in sleepy mode and was only just beginning to think of growing.
Maple samaras
There were, of course, plants that I see everyday in my mountain woods. Maples with smooth, silvery bark. Samaras, which I called helicopters, long before I knew the word samara.
Young leaves of Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle, which is all too abundant in both this urban setting and in the mountain setting that I am used to. Honeysuckle growing rapidly, making it difficult for native plants to get a foothold in the competitive world of nature.
Lilacs in bloom with their fantastic fragrance filling the air
Lilacs, which I used to associate with Mother’s Day, but look it is blooming now. Perhaps my childhood home is a bit further north than this setting, or is this a sign of climate change, or a sign of memories a bit askew?
A happy Camelia, soaking up the sunshine
A Camelia, which makes me think of how fussy they always seemed to be, trying to bloom when it was still much too cold. Now in my mountain home, I try for plants that are native to that mountain, things that have proven to be survivors. Things that don’t have to be fussed over. I want to be out taking photographs, not fussing in the garden!
Redbud covering the streets with pink cheer
Small native trees like Redbud, require no fuss. They are everywhere along the road up to my cabin. Planted there by Mother Nature. I’m glad to have her on my side.
Squirrels everywhere, who are not shy
Mother Nature has a large team of assistants. Squirrels who collect nuts in the fall, bury them and often leave them to grow. Squirrels in this urban setting are much more bold than the ones I’m used to now. Country squirrels don’t wait to see what you are up to, they scurry quickly at the least little bit of movement.
Between home and the farmer’s market, parks abound
On the way home, the obligatory stop at the park brings joy to everyone. Smiles all around. No farmer’s market on my mountain. No playground to delight, but oh, so many other things to lighten my heart!
Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember, using the mnemonic, “Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.”
I know that autumn will not last much longer, when I see these little birds, rustling around in the leaves on the forest floor. I have to look very closely to see them. Their feathers provide a great camouflage against the dry, brown, fallen leaves.
I must wait for the bears to retire for their winter slumber, before I put out the feeders for the cold months of the year. Otherwise I am likely to need to purchase a new feeder. Believe it or not, the bears do like bird seed too, and will carry a feeder off, or just totally destroy one with ease.
The bear, above, came out of his den, unannounced on January 17th, to cart off one of my feeders. He chose a new model that was designed to keep squirrels out. Needless to say, bird feeder designers don’t aim to keep bears out of the seeds. I suppose that would be an impossible task. If I know that bears are roaming, I don’t put out feeders.
I’m hoping Mr. Bear, is now back in his den. Hoping that the cold will keep him all snug and warm, and away from the bird feeders for while longer. Not only do I enjoy simply watching the birds and their antics, I depend on the feeders to bring them within easy shutter range, so that I can get pictures of my winter pets.
Another bird of winter, is the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. Most of them summer in the far north, some going into the Arctic. A few however, do stay in this general area year ’round. I have seen some summering in the Shenandoah National Park, which is just a short distance from my cabin. Here at my feeders though, it is only the migrating Dark-eyed Junco, that I see.
I speak of the wild birds as my pets. I don’t have any “all the time” pets living with me. A frequent visitor, though, is my son’s and daughter-in-law’s cat, Betelgeuse.
That’s Betelgeuse, in the picture above. She’s a rescue, Maine Coon cat. She is a predator. For her own safety and health, and for the sake of my wild pets, she is an indoor pet. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as well, for the sake of my wild pets.
This morning I was greeted by a tiny bit less than an inch of snow here on the mountain. I skipped yoga (!!) and spent the morning walking and enjoying the sounds of snow. Okay, mainly the sounds of birds enjoying the new, white blanket. Many were robins, and cedar waxwings gathering in the tree tops, exchanging stories of how this winter has been mighty wimpy so far. They agreed with me. The winter is still young. There is still hope.
This first picture, above, is of greenbrier. There’s loads of it up here. It is a native, and though many people don’t like it, it has numerous benefits. Greenbrier provides good cover for small animals, and some animals eat the leaves and stems. Deer, beaver, and rabbits are three of the animals. That they eat this plant, impresses me. Those stems, complete with thorns, must be mighty tough. There is an impressive number of birds that enjoy the berries during the winter, along with squirrel, raccoon and possum.
These red fruits, are rose hips, from a plant that I really wish would just go away. It is a non-native, invasive. Rosa multiflora produces white flowers with yellow centers during its short blooming period. It forms an impenetrable mass, spreads rapidly and has very unfriendly thorns that are hooked backward, making being snagged an unpleasant experience. I’m waiting and hoping. There is a virus that is attacking these walls of thorns, slowly decreasing its population here in the Blue Ridge. I’m sorry that the same virus may be putting your garden rose bushes in jeopardy, but I am cheering it on, in the case of rosa multiflora.
Another plant that I captured in pixels on my walk this morning, smooth sumac. Among the plants that grow up here, I have many favorites. This is one. My favorite time for this sumac is winter, when birds enjoy its brilliant red berries. Cardinals, and many types of woodpeckers are among the visitors to the small trees.
Snow still covers my dirt, twisty turny, steep mountain road, but tomorrow morning I’ll be heading down to go back to yoga class. My “snow day” was a total pleasure. Yoga will be tomorrow’s total pleasure!
It was surprising to me, the popularity of the old watering hole, just outside my kitchen window, when the temperatures dropped. I’ve had a cool little dripper device hooked up there, for years, which has brought a nice population of birds to entertain me, wet their whistles and satisfy their thirst.
White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophyrys
We had a impressive cold snap last week, which brought to my yard, temperatures in the teens and a dusting of snow. Made me so happy. It did have me scurrying around though. Where in the world did I put the water warmer? Of course, right where it should be in the outside storage.
Eastern Bluebird (female), Sialia sialis
An easy switch from the dripper to the water warmer. Now, I just need to remember to keep the water level high. A simple task, since I’m constantly looking out there to see who my customers are! This Eastern Bluebird and several others showed up on Thanksgiving morning, making it an extra special holiday.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius
The surprise though, was the sharp increase in visitors to the bird bath. It was like I had the only saloon open in all the wild west! That was during the coldest of the cold temperatures.
Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
Now that the temperatures have warmed back up, just a tiny bit, the visitors to the bird bath have dropped to their normal numbers many a day rather than herds and herds of critters, quenching their thirst.
Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus
I’ll keep the water warmer out there, rather than having to switch back and forth. They know where the water is!
Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
I’ve added to the temptations. I’ve put out black oil sunflower seeds, and smeared some peanut butter onto the top of one of the fence posts. I don’t have a formal feeder.
Crow—we have both American Crows and Fish Crows, not sure which this is!
I live in Black Bear country. Black Bears are very curious creatures. Having a bird feeder out invites a bear to come in and dismantle it, just because they are such curious animals.
Black Bear, Ursus americanus
This guy, walking out my lane, is dripping wet, after taking a dip in my little pond. He can search and search, but he won’t find any bird feeders to devour here at my cabin!
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula
From huge Woodpeckers, to tiny Kinglets, these are the visitors to my yard and my old watering hole.
American Robin, Turdus migratorius
Robins, Cardinals, Crows, Thrushes, Chickadees, Titmice, Sparrows, Wrens, all are welcome.
Northern Cardinal (male), Cardinalis cardinalis
I’ll even put up with an occasional Squirrel, since he’s a great one for helping to regenerate the forest, as he goes about gathering acorns, nuts and seeds, promptly forgetting where he buried them, becoming a tree farmer. Plant those trees, Mr. Squirrel!
Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis
In the meantime, I will be waiting for more cold temperatures and snow!
Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, is perhaps at its high point in popularity at this time of year. As I watch out my kitchen window this rainy afternoon, in just a matter of perhaps five minutes, I see three tufted titmice, a pair of cardinals and a sprightly squirrel all gobbling down their mid-day meal.
C
Colorful Times
As the leaves of the Dogwood are turning from many shades of rich green to burgundy, crimson, purplish red, and rusty red orange, its berries have already turned to a Christmas cheery red, inviting birds and all critters of the woods to come, feast.
No Reminder Needed
This is an invitation, to come feast, that creatures of the woods do not need repeated! As far as favorites go, I believe that Dogwood berries are near the top of their list.
Leaf Peepers
While we humans are enjoying the brilliant display of autumn leaves, before they fall to the forest floor, Dogwood berries are quickly being devoured. So quickly that I hardly have time to get photographs of berries covered with an early snow. If I am extremely lucky, a snow will fall before the hungry critters are done with their “shopping trip” to the Dogwood Eatery.
Red And White
Only if I am extremely lucky will a get a shot of crimson red against cloud-soft white.
Sometimes
You can see though, that on rare occasions it does happen.
Who
Some of the critters that I must stay one step ahead of for my early snow shots are cardinal, junco, tufted titmouse, robin, bluebird, bobwhite, wild turkey, tree swallow, crow, woodpeckers, grackle, starling, red fox, chipmunk, squirrel, beaver, skunk, white-footed mouse, and deer. What an amazing list! It’s no wonder the berries disappear so quickly!
What?
And here we have Mr. Squirrel saying, “It wasn’t me eating all those berries!”
