Tendrils

Grumpy Birds

Those of you who are fortunate to have hummingbirds come to your garden, to get a sip from your feeder, or to enjoy the nectar provided by your flowers – you’ll know how intolerant they are. I’ve actually seen one hummingbird come up behind another, who is feeding, and hammer him on the head with his bill! Come on guys! Relax!

But that’s summer! Let’s get back to this season: mud, or the end of winter.

I’ve been watching the birds at my feeders since January. When I first put out the suet feeder, it took a while for the downy woodpeckers to show up. Perhaps a bit more cautious. Let the chickadees, white-throated sparrows, juncos, cardinals, titmice see if harm comes. They had already tested the feeder territory, eating the sunflower seeds and perhaps felt safe in the area.

I was delighted when the first nuthatch showed up. Just him. It took a while for another one to brave this new thing, a suet feeder in the woods! And then, a couple weeks ago, a pair of downy woodpeckers started coming for their dinner too.

It has been surprising to me to find that downy woodpeckers are not “sharing” birds. If another bird gets near the suet while they are feeding — look out! Grump City! Much like hummingbirds, charming little things to watch, until they feel they have had enough sharing!

One morning recently I saw a downy grab a chickadee and actually toss him aside.

Goodness. Much like hummingbirds. Grumps! — Much like some people! Fortunately not many of them, right??

Juniper Berries

Best buds at the old watering hole. I often see Cedar Waxwings and American Robins hanging out together. — **Best buds at the old watering hole. I often see Cedar Waxwings and American Robins hanging out together**

A pioneer tree or bush, depending on your thoughts, and its growing conditions, Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, is often one of the first to move into a field that has been cleared.

Here they are, hanging out again. This time, they're at the "Juniper Berry Cafeteria." — **Here they are, hanging out again. This time, they’re at the “Juniper Berry Cafeteria.”**

Eastern Red Cedars are actually Junipers. They play an important role in the lives of a long list of insects, birds and mammals. From the Juniper Hairstreak, to the Northern Bobwhite, to the White-tailed Deer, these trees provide both food and shelter.

Another customer at the "Juniper Berry Cafeteria," a Yellow-shafted Flicker. — **Another customer at the “Juniper Berry Cafeteria,” a Yellow-shafted Flicker.**

The most obvious benefit I see on my hikes, is the berry, or the seed cone, of the Eastern Red Cedar. A berry the color of a blueberry, with a similar white bloom, it is a favorite in my bird world. Some of these pictures were taken right after a snow storm in January. The Cedar trees were alive with birds looking for dinner.

The berries bring a plethora of birds to the Cedar trees here on the mountain, including the Robin. Thought by many to be a sign of spring, the Robin is often here during the winter, checking out what berries are still around. They move in response to food supply and I guess my mountain usually has a good provision for them.

Do they have tastes similar to ours? — **American Robins, ready to empty the “Cafeteria” of its berries.**

Not only do animals in the wild use the Juniper Berry, but the berry is also used by humans, for culinary purposes and to flavor gin and beer. I think I’ll leave the berries that I see for the birds!

Poison Ivy Good?

I am highly allergic to Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). As a youngster, I never got a Poison Ivy rash, though I loved to romp in the unending woods directly behind my house. Vines to swing over the creek, forts my friends and I were out there constantly. In 1985 I had a wakeup call, with an extremely painful rash on my arm. My luck had run out. A trip to the doctor’s office got me temporary relief with steroids. I have a quilt to show for the time I was on those steroids and bouncing off the walls. I resorted to creating a quilt to help my addled brain. I quickly learned to avoid at all costs the beautiful plant.

Beautiful Plant?

Yes, I think Poison Ivy is quite a beautiful plant. Just look at its scarlet leaves in the first photograph. This is the scarlet of spring, with leaves that are often very shiny, whether scarlet in spring, or green in summer. As spring turns to summer, the plant puts out flowers. Large clusters of soft, pale green, with brilliant school bus yellow centers.

More Color In Autumn

As trees are putting on their autumnal show, Poison Ivy whether in its vine form, climbing way up into trees, or trailing along the ground, or taking on the form of a small bush, puts on its own show with bright color. Either sunshine yellow, crimson red, or pumpkin orange.

Sculpture

The vines, creeping up tall trees, only know sky as the limit. They climb as high as a tree will grow, with their thread-like hairs. The vines make me think of sculptures, wrapped up and around lovely textured bark. Those thread-like hairs of the Poison Ivy vine, can sometimes be found in the nests of cardinals and goldfinches. A helpful building material.

Berries

As the autumn leaves fall, they leave behind berries. Off white berries, speckled with a bit of bitter chocolate brown. These berries attract many birds. Bluebirds, crows, turkeys and all manner of woodpeckers.

The wonderful winter of 2009–10 which covered the ground here on my mountain with 72 inches of snow, created a Poison Ivy fruit cafeteria of berries for a remarkable number of woodpeckers. Many pileateds, and yellow-shafted flickers descended upon a large oak tree covered with Poison Ivy in front of my cabin. They returned day after day, until the many vines were stripped of their berries. That winter gave me new respect for what Poison Ivy can do for birds in my area.

Come Walk With Me

Ice storm overnight. Beauty beyond words. Walk carefully with me and I will show you some of that beauty. Watch your step. It is very slick.

If this blog had a sound track, this is what it would look like. I don’t know what the music actually sounds like, but as I was working on capturing this glazed Sumac, I felt I was photographing music.

A common evergreen here on my mountain, this is Virginia Pine, Pinus virginiana, dressed in shimmering, silvery ice. A tree native to the Blue Ridge Mountains, that grows to a height of 60 feet.

Another evergreen, my first photo in this blog, is a Blue Spruce, Picea pungens. A tree of color well worth noting. This tree is a particularly nice example of that blue-gray-green. My living room was graced with the beauty of this tree at Christmas, and it has been planted just outside my studio windows to please me throughout the year.

The Blue Spruce is not native to the Blue Ridge Mountains where I am located, but is a tree native to the Rocky Mountains of the U.S. I expect my lovely Blue Spruce to reach a height of 50 feet. Growing the wild, it might reach a height of 75 feet.

The ice doesn’t quite know how to collect itself here on these cotton topped, seed heads of Anemone virginiana. I’ve enjoyed getting to know this native perennial through the years. It’s a tall (2 to 3 feet) plant in summer, with attractive pale green to white flowers that are 1.5 inches across. The pistils are grouped in a thimble shape, which is how the plant gets its name. The common name, Thimble Weed, is perhaps why I am fascinated with it, since I am a quilter and use a thimble quite often.

Seed eating birds really go for these seeds, when they are not covered in a layer of ice. This is Black-eyed Susan or Eastern Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida. This is an excellent example of how handy a scientific name is. There are many flowers with the common name, Black-eyed Susan. Knowing the scientific name eliminates all confusion.

More of the Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida, seed heads protected from the desires of Goldfinches, by ice.

A stunning flower during the summer, the Purple Coneflower, Echinachea purpurpea, is another native perennial that I depend on to draw the attention of Goldfinches when the seeds are present. This seed head has served its purpose, with all the seeds gone.

The last stop on our walk in the icy wonderland, this is a White Oak, Quercus alba, which keeps its leaves until the spring. It is a grand tree that can grow to be 100 feet tall and live for 200 to 300 years.

And now, I’m hoping for more ice or snow to create an art gallery of winter beauty on my mountain!

Black Bear Hibernation

Sleeping through some, or most of the winter, as Black Bears (Ursus americanus) do, has been referred to as winter sleep, carnivorean lethargy, dormancy or torpor. Now leading physiologists simply call this long sleep, hibernation.

We humans sometimes get up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack. Black Bears are known to do a similar thing in the middle of winter. During a warm spell, one may stumble from his den in search of something to eat. I saw one here in my yard about this time, last year, looking like he needed something to nibble on.

I’m hoping the bears around here will sleep through this warm spell. I’m putting out black oil sunflower seeds for the birds, and I would prefer that the bears do not tamper with the feeders. Last year, the bear I saw didn’t damage the bird feeders. Maybe I’ll be as lucky this year. Stay tuned!

Bear Signs

I see signs of Black Bear, Ursus americanus, up here in the mountains very often, though I don’t see the bears themselves frequently.

An often seen sign of bear, is a pile of bear poop, or bear scat, a term used in more sophisticated company. Bear scat can weigh typically, one half pound, to one pound. That should make you realize that these are large animals! What you find in bear scat is, of course, a direct reflection of what the bear has been eating. Ninety percent of a Black Bear’s diet is fruits and berries, and other vegetation, while the other ten percent is other animals, including insects and insect larvae.

Another sign that shows up here on the mountain, is the overturned grill. Care is taken to clean the grill, but I suppose one can never remove the scent of a freshly cooked meal. After all, Black Bears have extremely sensitive noses. It basically happens like this: the afternoon after the grilled dinner has been eaten, at a quiet moment, when no one is expecting it, least of all the visiting bear, there is a sudden, very loud crash! I look out my studio windows and see a very startled bear running up the mountain, away from the overturned grill. The grill is a hefty, propane grill and is a good sized piece of cooking equipment. It surprises me how often it is turned over. It also is surprising how durable the grill is, coming through with hardly any damage. Surely it is not the same bear every time. It is very apparent that it truly frightens the bear!

Another sign that is encountered is the telltale paw print. On storm doors, on car hoods, on grills. Paw prints many places. And mind you, no trash is left outside up here to attract the bears. No trash to draw the Black Bear, but he figures this is his territory to explore at will. To leave tracks in mud. Tracks that say, Black Bear was here!

In the photo of the bear track above, the round object on the far right is a quarter for scale. If you look carefully, you can also see marks left by his claws.

This fellow is quite a climber. He’s gotten himself high into the apple tree, breaking branches along the way. I’ve also got a Montmorency Cherry tree. Cherries from that tree make such scrumptious pies, but I’ve given up trying to get cherries from the tree. Not only do the bears beat me to the cherries, but the tree is also half the size it should be, because of broken branches.

My husband grows Christmas trees. Bears and Christmas trees are not a good combination. Bears have a habit of chomping off the leader of a beautiful Christmas tree, or they may do more damage, breaking the tree further down.

But look at that sweet face! I would not trade my cabin in the mountains, my cabin surrounded by woods for anything in the world. I love living in Black Bear country!

I’ve just posted more photographs and information on how Black Bears mark their territory. You can find that post by clicking here.

Sign Of Bears

Several times a year I see a Black Bear,Ursus americanus, in my yard. Black Bears are around nearly all the time. I know that they’ve been around, even when I don’t see them, due to signs that they leave me. Last night I wrote a blog about how I can tell that Black Bears, Ursus americanus, have been in my yard. You can read that blog and see my photographs, by clicking here. Black Bears let other animals know that they are around. Read on, and find out how!

Black Bears are solitary animals, generally, except in the case of a mother and cubs, breeding pairs during the summer, and bears gathering at a food source.

Bears have ways of letting other bears and other animals know that they have been in the area. Ways of marking their territory through scents.

This utility pole is within sight of my cabin, and is a favorite spot for bears to mark with their scent. They rub their back, shoulders, neck, and the top of their head on the tree or pole. It’s not at all unusual to see them marking utility poles as well as trees. They will also claw the tree, or bite into the tree or pole to leave their scent. My husband grows Christmas trees, and bears really enjoy chomping off the tops of those trees. Frustrating, but not much we can do about it. Just life in the mountains!

Here’s another Black Bear, marking his territory by rubbing against a pine tree. He’s got a beautiful blaze (the white fur that looks like a necklace), which makes him easy to identify. I don’t see white blazes like this very often.

So many wonderful animals around here to enjoy. Black Bears are just a small portion of the wealth of fauna to enjoy in the mountains.

Just An Inch

Wednesday night, into Thursday morning, the weather forecast was for some rain, and maybe in the mountains a little snow. Hooray for elevation! It was beginning to stick when I hit the sack and Thursday morning I was greeted with an inch of snow on the grass. Given all the talk of the rain/snow line and where I am located, I am happy to settle for an inch of snow.

This patch of snow (above), shows off my Aster seed heads. The Asters are a favorite spot for Buckeye Butterflies, Junonia coenia, when they choose to be in the area, in the fall. For some reason this gorgeous butterfly (seen below), with bright pumpkin orange accents and soft lavender eyespots, decided not to come visit my cabin this past autumn. I’ll be planting more natives and hoping that I can entice them this coming butterfly season.

Roaming around I found evidence of other happy creatures enjoying the snow, besides me. These bird tracks (below) look to me as if the little guy took a flying leap off the high dive, hunting for the spot where I left him some sunflower seeds.

Another sign of seasons past, I found snow atop what is left of another butterfly and hummingbird favorite, Bee Balm, Monarda didyma (below). Looking quite different than in the summer when it is a brilliant scarlett. It would hardly get any notice now in mid-winter, except for its rich texture.

And speaking of textures, I found my lane to be a wonderful pattern (below). Of lace? Of letters? I kept looking to see if there were actually any letters formed in the intricate designs, created by the pine needles that had fallen with the wind. I found no messages though.

Another relic of a bygone season, the empty seed pods of Butterfly Weed, Aclepias tuberosa (below). I hope that nearly all the seeds that were in these pods are now in the soil, just waiting for spring and summer to sprout up and bloom again for me, and for the butterflies, such as the Monarch that so greatly depend on the Milkweed family.

And more seed heads. This is what is left of Purple Coneflower, Echinachea purpurea (immediately below). The seeds attract many of the seed eating birds such as the Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis (seen in the second picture below), chowing down on the Black-eyed-Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida, seed heads that I left for them. I’ll wait till spring before I clean up my garden. Leaving food for the birds to enjoy during the winter attracts them to my yard, pleasing the birds and pleasing me.

Still a good bit of winter yet to come. I’m hoping for many more inches of snow!

Dung Beetle

This funny critter has an intriguing way of life. He is a Dung Beetle. I believe his species is Canthon imitator. He hunts for piles of manure using his sensitive sense of smell. I doubt if this sign (below) would be of any use to the Dung Beetle. They probably can’t even read. I suppose the sign is for humans, not Dung Beetles, but that’s what he is looking/sniffing for, manure, poop, dung, feces of herbivores or omnivores, though they prefer omnivores as their source.

The Dung Beetle will roll dung balls up to 10 times their weight. They move quickly – a male and a female – so that their treasured manure does not get stolen by other Dung Beetles. Usually it is the male the does the rolling, occasionally with the female riding atop the ball. The Dung Beetle rolls the ball in a straight line despite things that might get in their way, until the male and female find a spot of soft soil for burying the ball of manure. After mating the female will lay eggs with the manure ball providing provisions for the larvae.

The Dung Beetle is a good critter to have around. They improve soil, by burying and consuming manure. By removing the manure there is less habitat for pests such as flies too. As I was doing research for this blog, I actually came upon a site where Australian farmers can actually order Dung Beetles!

This type of Dung Beetle is called a roller because of the manner in which they remove their treasured find to a location away from other hijacking Dung Beetles, rolling the ball along. Several species of the Dung Beetle were highly regarded in ancient Egypt. You’ll recognize these beetles as the Sacred Scarab.

In Isan, Northeastern Thailand, the local people eat many different kinds of insects, including the Dung Beetle. Ugh! I think I will just continue watching, being amused and intrigued by the rolling of the ball of dung, and while they take food home for the babies!

Gray Fox

Until I moved to my cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, if I had any thoughts of a fox, it was a Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, with a rusty red coat, black legs and white tipped tail. I quickly learned that there is another fox that lives up here at 1800 feet. Slightly smaller than a Red Fox, the Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, generally weighs between 8 and 15 pounds, and in length is between 30 and 44 inches, with about one third of that being its tail. The male Gray Fox is usually larger than the female.

The coloring of the Gray Fox is salt and peppery on his back. His sides, back of his head and legs are rusty red, reminiscent of the Red Fox. His long, lush tail is the same salt and pepper as his back, with a stripe of black on top. Unlike the Red Fox, the Gray Fox has no snow white tip on his tail but a tip of coal black. A new born kit is generally dark brown.

The Gray Fox has an elegant, long, very strong neck. He is equipped with hooked claws, which allows him to easily climb trees, to escape predators or to forage for fruit. To get down from the tree, he will bound from branch to branch, or comes down backward, as a house cat would do.

The Gray Fox is an omnivore, dining on cottontails, mice, voles, shrews, insects, as well as birds. But I became aware of the Gray Fox as he would come to eat the sunflower seeds that I put out for the birds. Yes, like Black Bears, Gray Fox also eat seeds and berries! They also eat roots and tubers. If their food supply is plentiful, they will cache their extras, digging a hole with their forepaws and burying the extras.

The Gray Fox is monogamous and has a gestation period of 53 days with the litter size ranging from 1 to 7 kits. The life span of a Gray Fox is from 6 to 8 years, both in the wild and in captivity. Predators of the Gray Fox are Bobcats, Great Horned Owls, Coyotes and Golden Eagles. Along with escaping by climbing trees, they will hide in brush piles or other cover to avoid capture.

The Gray Fox prefers the isolation of deep woods, while the Red Fox is more adaptable and can deal with changes that humans present to their territory. The Gray Fox sounds like me in that respect. I enjoy my home far from the maddening crowd!

Along with so many other critters that live in these woods around my home, the Gray Fox is a welcome sight, and one that delights me whenever one or two stop by for a visit.