The berries of Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra), popular with many birds. Birds that entertain me as they come by to eat the berries.
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). A bird that I see as it comes to eat these berries.
Northern Flickers are often at the Smooth Sumac, downing the berries. Sometimes showing off their yellow feathers.
Smooth Sumac is the only small tree/bush that is native to all 48 contiguous US states.
Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) are another species of bird that frequents the Smooth Sumac to eat the berries.
And a last image. So many that haven’t been captured in pixels. This last one of course is a Robin (Turdus migratorius). So many birds love these berries.
And I love the little trees, for the birds that are attracted to them.
Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), the Honeysuckle that many of us know from childhood with the luscious drop of nectar that we’d catch on our tongue. Mmmm. And surprise, that Honeysuckle gets berries. Berries that are poisonous to us humans. The nectar is safe but not the berries.
Autumn brings along surprises with native Poison Ivy. The plant’s leaves become beautiful, luminous colors.
Some reach out from tree trunks disguising the fact that it is a vine and one that humans should avoid. It’s not a tree but a climbing vine. Easy to think as the vine wraps round and climbs the tree that those leaves are innocent.
While the plants on the ground will impersonate not a vine but a small bush.
Those leaves mainly turning a rich crimson or a vibrant yellow. The crimson bringing back memories of the new plant’s spring emergence with shiny new red leaves.
You may not have noticed. Poison Ivy has berries. As the leaves turn color, and then, as they fall to the ground, the berries will become more obvious.
If you’re really fortunate you may live next to a patch of woods, or you might even be surrounded by forest. That’s the case for me. My yard is totally encircled by woods. This will give you the ultimate opportunity to see birds enjoying an important wildlife food plant, Poison Ivy. Yes, remove it from your formal gardens but leave it in the woods. Let those birds reap the benefits of the berries. I’ve been fortunate to see many different species of woodpeckers enjoying the berries, along with many other birds like this Chickadee.
Birds you might see: Bobwhite Quail, Brown Thrashers, Mockingbirds, Wild Turkeys, Crows, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Northern Flickers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Chickadees, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Bluebirds, and Catbirds. And mammals too will benefit from the Poison Ivy. Deer, Bear, Raccoons, and Muskrats, just a few of the many that will eat leaves, stems and berries.
And then there are the butterflies that I pursue for my photographs. They invariably choose to land on Poison Ivy rather than some other less offensive plant. Here a Northern Pearly-eye is teasing me, landing on Poison Ivy and daring me to reach out.
Evening. Last day of summer 2020. I am SO looking forward to a new season. A change of direction. Some positive actions and thinking in all this insanity. Up instead of down. Bright instead of bleak. Health instead of sickness. Bring on AUTUMN.
Watching for a meal, on a post next to the garden. An Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe, is a perfect friend to have around. A loner, even as mated pairs they spend little time together. A loner, finding insects to wolf down, she relies on insects for sustenance most of the year. When it is too chilly, and insects are hard to find, she resorts to eating berries.
Here on my mountain, she nests year after year in the same spot – under the eaves of the woodshop. It will be the female who builds her nest, or in this case repairs her nest as is necessary. She will lay 2 to 6 eggs in 1 or 2 broods. Normally I see 2 broods each year, and then – POOF – they are gone, with the exception of the one who will help me keep insects at bay.
It has been so dry, but yesterday brought a glorious 1/4 inch of rain. Hallelujah! That rain brings a brief moment of relief to suffering vegetation.
The rain also brings beauty to the landscape. I love what rain does to colors, deepens them, makes them more rich. But of coursemore rich! Those colors are decorated with DIAMONDS. Here a Catbrier leaf, Smilax bona-nox, sparkling with rain drop diamonds, set against berries of Japanese Beautyberry, Callicarpa japonica.
Those berries will go begging for a while. There are more yummy things to tempt the birds right now, but as the days get shorter until we reach the dead of winter, birds will gather in the branches of these bushes and strip them bare.
Keep in mind if you are interested in Beautyberry, there is a highly recommended native, Callicarpa americana. Keep that scientific name in mind as you shop. Natives are the way to go.
Yellow-rumped Warblers, Setophaga coronata, have to come to visit for the winter. They’re also affectionately referred to as Butter Butts.
When insects are available, that’s their meal of choice but here, in the cold months, they will settle for goldenrod seeds, and the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper and dogwood.
Some people are able to entice them to feeders with sunflower seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet but I’m not one of the lucky ones. That’s okay! They seem to like it here anyway. AND they do seem to enjoy the bird bath that I keep ice free during the winter.
