Eastern White Pine Trees

We've got Eastern white pine trees bordering our yard on one side -- our neighbour planted them there years ago. Our dad didn't particularly like them because their roots are invasive; he was concerned they would be a hazard to the foundation of our house. 

So far, they haven't taken down the house. But they do provide a rough ride along the drive, as the roots stick up through the ground in places. 

Still, they're beautiful, and we have fond memories of sitting beneath evergreens when we were little and staring up at the branches, warmed even in autumn by a blanket of fallen needles beneath us.    

Called Weymouth pine in England, the Eastern white pine is the only native five-needle pine in Canada and the Eastern US. It grows from 80'-100' tall and beasr slender, tapering, thornless cones. The cones are also long-stalked and grow from 3"-6" long. Many other pines have scaly bark, but the Eastern white pine has a dark bark with deep furrows. In windswept northern areas, a dwarf matted form occurs. 

We got our information from Eastern Trees, by George A Petrides and Janet Wehr. 

Wisteria

Wisteria is a beautiful plant. It has lovely purple blossoms in the spring, which hang like mist in the trees, and, as you can see here, the leaves are also attractive. Our wisteria is apparently turning yellow and brown for autumn.

The problem, of course, is that wisteria is so invasive. Once you've got it, it seems impossible to be rid of it, particularly if you (as we are) are against using herbicides; and it takes over everything. We've even got it growing in our eastern side garden, nowhere near where the original vine started. Equally bad is the fact that it's literally covering some of our beloved trees, no doubt doing severe damage, and likely to result in their deaths. 

But wisteria is its own fascination. Hardy and deciduous, there are five species, two of which are native to the US, according to Garden Guides (http://www.gardenguides.com/90057-wisteria-vine-damage.html). The flower clusters, which are fragrant, may be from six to eighteen inches in length. Chinese wisteria blooms all at once, whilst Japanese wisteria blooms over the course of two to three weeks. 

When planting wisteria, you must plan for its inevitable growth (wisteria can grow to the size of a tree and will do structural damage to your house if you do not plan properly). Instead of training it on a trellis -- which will work for only a few years of its life -- try erecting a sturdy pergola for it to climb upon. The pergola must be made to last, as wisteria can live for decades. Garden Guides also suggests training using posts and wire; however, you must be prepared for regular pruning. 

When kept in check, wisteria can be the delight of the garden (or wood; ours is wild). It was used in Victorian gardens, and is still popular to-day in spite of its downsides. 

Greycap

 The first day we saw the blue jay we call Greycap, he was at the feeder. He gathered several seeds in his mouth and took them over to the deck railing, where he spat them out & proceeded to eat them one by one. The photos to the left are of him eating. 

One thing we noticed about him was that the top of his head was grey, rather than the blue we were accustomed to seeing on blue jays (which is why we call him Greycap). He does have some blue there, just not much. 

Another characteristic of note is that 

Greycap's collar doesn't wrap all the way round in the front. The second picture here seems to indicate that it does wrap all the way round, but that wasn't the case in real life. 

We didn't see him again for quite some time, so we began to wonder if maybe he was a young fellow and just hadn't entirely got all his plumage yet -- perhaps he'd gained it since, and we were thus unable to distinguish him from other blue jays. 

As it turns out, however, he still looks the same; we saw him only the other day, again at

the feeder, though this time he didn't gather seeds in his mouth like he did before. 

Blue jays are related to crows, ravens, and magpies. They are noisy birds, and unlike other jays in the US, they have a crest. They like oak and pine woods, as well as groves, towns, and suburban gardens. Though they are songbirds, most people know them for their harsh, slurring jay call.    

A Young Brown Thrasher and His Mum

These may not be the clearest pictures, but we thought we'd include them in any case, as they're the only ones we have of the young brown thrasher and his mum, who we watched foraging for food in our back garden.

The young thrasher is in the background of the top picture; the mum is foraging in the foreground. 

Thrashers eat fruits and insects, but not seeds; they don't come to the feeder, so your only chance to see one is if he decides to forage in your garden or if he's made a nest nearby. You may be able to coax one into your garden with fruits; we've never tried doing so. 

Thrashers belong to the same family as mockingbirds and catbirds. The birds in this family are often called 'mimic thrushes,' and are wonderful songsters. 

Brown thrashers are a vivid rufous colour on top, and heavily striped below. (You may be able to see the stripes on the young thrasher in these pictures.) They have two pale wing bars (you can see them on the mum, above), yellow eyes, a long tail (which you can also see on the mum), and a somewhat curved bill. (Note the shape of the bill on the next to the last picture below.)

The thrasher's note is a harsh chack! The song resembles that of a catbird except it is more musical, and each phrase is generally sung in pairs. They enjoy thickets, brush, shrubbery, and thorn scrub -- which describes our garden to a T. 

Bibliography: Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson. 

Backyard Fawns

We've often spied deer in the garden, but it wasn't until this summer that we saw our first fawn. He was, oddly, alone, and simply wandered out of the back wood to look about and munch on the weeds. At left is a picture of one of the plants he favoured. 

Since then, we've seen this particular fawn a number of times -- and then, at last, with his mum, trying in vain to suckle her. She stepped over him time and again in an effort to wean him -- though on a later day she did let him suckle, and he made loud contented noises. Possibly, as a friend suggested, the mum was absent because the fawn was getting older and more able to fend for himself.

Most recently, we were treated to the sight of two fawns, both younger than the fawn we'd become accustomed to, racing out of the garden after their retreating mother. 

Deer usually have two young, though they can have as few as one and as many as three. They wean their young at around four months of age; gestation period for deer is around six and a half months, and the young may stay with their mum for nearly a year. The mating season occurs from November to February. Females begin breeding at one and a half years of age, though they may breed as early as half a year old. 

Our information comes from Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider. Below are pictures we took of the first fawn on the first day we saw him. The other two, we're afraid, were racing by too quickly for us to even grab the camera.

Bluebirds on the Aerial

We used to see one or two Eastern bluebirds now and then in the spring or summer, but they never stayed long. We still only see them occasionally, usually on the TV aerial out back -- sometimes just the male, sometimes his wife, or sometimes the two of them together -- but we see them more frequently than we used to. 

Probably that's because our neighbours put up a bluebird box a few years back. We've seen bluebirds coming and going from that box since, sometimes coming to roost on the telephone line that nearly crosses over our drive. 

The bluebird is a kind of thrush, like the American robin. Male Eastern bluebirds have a rust-coloured breast and a blue back, tail, and wings. The female is a sort of greyish colour, with blue washed in her tail and wing feathers; she, too, has a red breast. The juvenile of the species is also grey, with blue in the wings and tail, but their breasts are speckled greyish and white. We've never seen a juvenile, but there's a nice depiction of one in Eastern Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson.  

Bluebirds eat snails, insects, worms, fruits, and berries, according to Peterson. Usually the ones who come to our aerial are there to rest, or to scope out the ground for insects and the like. 

The Eastern bluebird population, according to our parents, has been declining, which is why we have seen so few of them. Used to be, before we were born, that our parents would see them in this area all the time. They like farms, roadsides, and open country with some trees -- which may be why they're on the decline in this area, which used to have a lot more farmland and fewer houses than it does now. 

We got the image from Google Images (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=600&q=eastern+bluebird&oq=eastern+&gs_l=img.1.4.0l10.1827.3320.0.7125.8.7.0.1.1.0.53.297.7.7.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.17.img.yFp6fBY54qk). 

   

Potter Wasp

A few summers ago, we discovered a lovely black and white wasp going back and forth from a hole in our deck railing. Once we observed her bringing a green caterpillar into the hole, and we realised she was leaving food for her young for when they hatched. The wasp had blackish blue wings and was black except for some white stripes and spots on her body.  

A look in our copy of Insects, by Donald H. Borror and Richard E. White told us the wasp we'd seen was a potter wasp. Most wasps in this subfamily are black with yellow or white markings, and many species are quite common. Some species nest in burrows or natural cavities, whereas others build nests out of mud. As we discovered, the nests are usually provisioned with caterpillars.  

Potter wasps, also known as mason wasps, may have white, yellow, orange, or red markings, according to EverythingAbout.net (http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/potter_wasp/). They are called potter wasps because of the shape of nest some of them build. They mainly like temperate regions, and may be found throughout the northern hemisphere. Some will choose abandoned bee or wasp nests for their young, whilst others will nest in the ground or in hollow plant stalks. They are related to hornets, yellow jackets, and paper wasps.  

Fragile Brittlegill

We used to get small, red-capped toadstools underneath the dogwood tree in the front garden 
-- haven't seen them for an age, but we had them for about three years in a row, back before we had a proper camera with which to take their picture.  

We discovered, through searching our copy of Mushrooms, by Kent H. McKnight and Vera B. McKnight, that these were fragile brittlegill. Though the colour can vary from dark pink to strong yellowish-pink, dark greyish-purple, or dark to moderate red, ours were invariably moderate red. The caps, according to Mushrooms, are often touched with bits of greyish-olive or pale greyish-yellow. 

The odour also varies; it can be indistinct, unpleasant, or even apple-like. We never noticed an odour coming from ours. Maybe we didn't get close enough. 

Our brittlegills always seemed to pop out in the summer, though you can also see them in the autumn. We would see them scattered in the grass when we took the rubbish bin out to the roadside and back -- always in that same little patch of ground. Solitary brittlegill may be found, as well. They like soil or well-rotted wood in hardwood, coniferous, or mixed forests. Ours were in the grass, so they must have been enjoying the soil.

The stalk of the fragile brittlegill is white, cylindrical, dry to moist, and either smooth or with vertical wrinkles. Ours appeared smooth. We didn't take apart any of them, so we don't know what the stalks were like on the inside, but according to Mushrooms, they may be solid or contain cottony filaments. 

The gills are pale yellowish (though we didn't get a good look at ours), and the cap convex, sometimes with a small central hump at first. When wet, it will turn sticky. 

The image is from Google Images (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=643&q=raccoon&oq=raccoon&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1423.2573.0.5313.7.4.0.3.3.0.69.194.4.4.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.17.img.8jZ6Wjg_tWY#hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=fragile+brittlegill+mushroom&oq=fragile+brittlegill+mushroom&gs_l=img.3...2758888.2768442.0.2768893.34.28.0.4.4.2.136.1215.26j1.27.0...0.0.0..1c.1.17.img.bMwxQPqyqvg&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48293060,d.eWU&fp=4bdfcf4ffb0aa612&biw=1024&bih=600&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=iRTrDeuwif0BVM%3A%3Bkk2Nm8k-eoetbM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwarehouse1.indicia.org.uk%252Fupload%252Fmed-p17b6728ervji12v41e2294taa824.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.naturespot.org.uk%252Ftaxonomy%252Fterm%252F19708%3B500%3B578). It may not actually be a fragile brittlegill, but it was the closest we found. 

An Unwanted Guest

Years ago, back when we would keep the doors open to let in the summer breeze, we got an unexpected visitor. We heard some clamour in the kitchen and, thinking it was our cat, Trouble, went out to see what she'd got into this time. (She was, after all, named 'Trouble' for a reason.)

It wasn't Trouble, at least not with a capital 't.' It was a raccoon, and he'd not only spilt Trouble's water, but tasted her food and then climbed up onto the counter, and from there reached the top of the refrigerator, where we kept the bread. The butter, which was kept on the counter, had been knocked over onto the floor. Trouble was in the corner, eyes wide, watching the raccoon with her back arched and her tail fluffy, being very quiet.  

The raccoon darted back outside upon seeing us; but he took the bread with him. We chased after, called out, 'Hey! That's OUR bread!'; whereupon he promptly let go his catch and escaped into the night. 

Unfortunately, the new loaf of bread was ruined, having been punctured by raccoon teeth. The butter, too, was a loss, as it had smashed unceremoniously on the kitchen floor. 

Raccoons are notorious for getting into places they shouldn't, and, being quite bold, won't hesitate to come indoors if they think for a second that you won't catch them at it. They're quite clever with their hands and can open things you might not expect them to. They're also vicious fighters; our dad told us they're strong enough to drown a dog should one follow them into the water; so Trouble was very smart, keeping her distance as she did.

According to our copy of Mammals, by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider, raccoons can weigh up to 35 pounds. They may be identified by the black mask-like pattern around their eyes and the rings on their tails. They have five toes on each paw, walk on the entire paw, and have non-retractile claws. Mainly, they're nocturnal, but they can be seen during the day, and we have seen them on sunny days on more than one occasion. 

Raccoons are omnivorous, eating grains, frogs, crayfish, insects, bird eggs, fruits, nuts, and pretty much anything they can get out of a rubbish bin. They mostly feed by streams and lakes, and may dip their food in water. 

Usually, they den in hollow trees, but they may also den in hollow logs, rock crevices, or ground burrows. They do not hibernate.  

We got the image above from Google Images (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=643&q=raccoon&oq=raccoon&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1423.2573.0.5313.7.4.0.3.3.0.69.194.4.4.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.17.img.8jZ6Wjg_tWY).

Poplar Trees

We have numerous poplar trees in our yard, and the number seems to grow by the year. Poplars have always been favoured by our family; they're beautiful (as all trees are), taller than any other eastern forest tree, and have a terrific, spicy scent when you crush their buds or leaves. One of our poplars was felled in a storm one year, and the buds rubbed against other trees as it crashed down; the entire area was fragrant. 

Poplar trees are also called 'tuliptrees' because of their tulip-like blossoms, which are orange and pale green to yellow. The trees flower from May to June. These flowers, along with green leaves, often fall in storms. Other names for this tree include 'yellow poplar' and 'tulip poplar,' although it is actually a relative of magnolias and not closely related to true poplars.     

These trees grow straight and may reach a height of 50-100 feet, with a diameter of two to six feet. Their leaves are six to ten inches. Their seeds are eaten by songbirds and squirrels. The fruits grow clustered together in an upright cone-like structure about three inches long; they are winged and whitish, about one to two inches long individually. Yellow poplars are the state tree of Indiana. Their leaves turn golden yellow in autumn.  

We got the photo from State Symbols U.S.A. (http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Indiana/Tree_tulip_poplar.html). The information, aside from what we knew already, was gleaned from Eastern Trees, by George A. Petrides and Janet Wehr, statesymbolsusa.org, and the Arbor Day Foundation (http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeDetail.cfm?id=25). 

Tree Hog: A Groundhog Adventure

Maybe we shouldn't have been, but we were surprised the first time we saw a groundhog in a tree. We had always seen them on the ground, and it just didn't occur to us that, being rodents, they could probably climb. Our Uncle Dean told us he had seen them climb trees on a number of occasions; turns out they do so in order to get the lay of the land -- to scan the area for predators. 

For several years, we've had groundhogs living in our garden, and every spring we look forward to 'our' groundhog(s) waking up. There are three or four holes out back, most of them in our garden, but one in the neighbour's. Groundhogs, like other rodents, like to have an escape route handy. And their tunnels are big: they can be four to five feet deep and 25-30 feet long. 

Groundhogs do hibernate, but they will wake up if it's warm enough, and even go wandering about; one year we found our groundhog had climbed all the way up our back stairs to the door, as if considering whether or not to wake us for a cup of tea. (The pawprint was muddy and quite clear.) 

Groundhogs are quite hospitable. They sometimes share their dens with neighbours such as rabbits and other mammals. 

They mate in March or April, and have two to six young in April or May. 

Groundhogs will eat from gardens, but they also like weeds; our fellow has been seen munching on dandelions in the rain (groundhogs seem to prefer rainy or overcast days, probably because they're mostly diurnal). They also like acorns. We've had a groundhog eat fallen acorns off our front porch before, happily noshing until we tried to take a picture. He heard us, of course, and ran off -- they can run quite quickly. We've heard (in novels) that groundhogs like apples, and somewhere we heard that they like PB&J sarnies, as well . . . but we don't know if the sarnies are good for them or not, so we don't advise it. 

We got this information from our own experiences as well as Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider. The photo we found on Google Images is from entrepremusings.com (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=856&q=groundhog&oq=groundhog&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.993.2619.0.4934.9.6.0.3.3.0.234.681.3j2j1.6.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.16.img.JLTt9rvpw9U).  

Deer in the Garden

For a few years now, we've been getting white-tail deer rambling about our garden at night. The fact that they come at night makes it difficult to get good photographs, but we always like to see them. Sometimes we only hear them, making huffing noises as they munch on weeds and other delectables. 

Our neighbour isn't quite so enchanted. The deer keep eating his tulips; he has a scant few this year because the deer aren't put off by the lavendar he planted, which they're supposed to be. The deer, do, however, avoid the lavendar itself. And his wife (who must have better night capabilities on her camera than we do) does get some good shots of the deer.

We knew a bit about deer already, but we looked up some more interesting information, specifically on whitetail deer, from our copy of Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider and  Science Kids, where we also got the photo (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/deer.html):

Male deer are called 'bucks'; large male deer are sometimes called 'stags.' Females are called 'does,' and young deer are known as 'fawns.' 

Whitetail deer are a reddish colour in the summer, and blue-grey in the winter (also hard to distinguish in the middle of the night). 

They browse for acorns, twigs, shrubs, fungi, and whatever grass and herbs are in season. We're not sure what they eat in our yard, but we have seen them munching on greenery. They can also graze for fallen acorns in our yard, as well as the occasional toadstool. 

They can run 35-40 miles an hour, and jump 30 feet vertically. They can also swim.  

Their breeding season is Nov.-Feb., and they have their young around six and a half months later. The young may stay with their mother for a year. 

Male deer grow new antlers every year, so when we see them in the wintertime, it's harder to tell the males from the females. Males use their antlers to fight rivals for the mating privileges of females. 

Whitenose

Recently, we were on our way out when we noticed a (somewhat small) possum lurking next our ramp. She snarled at us, but silently, and we realised something was wrong. In the past, when we've seen possums in our yard, they've been unafraid (with the exception of a little one who fell out of a tree). 

When she tried to walk, it was clear her back or hip had been damaged, likely by a car; she moved slowly, and with much difficulty, but she had no visible wounds. So we called a wildlife rehabilitator. The rehabber told us to get her in a box and then call back for directions. So we wrapped the possum -- we called her Whitenose because we both noticed how white her nose was -- in a towel and put her in a box. She didn't fight us; another bad sign. 

But the rehabber must have been busy with another patient, because when we called back for directions, she didn't answer. And didn't answer. And didn't answer. So we made a quick trip to drop off and pick up some books from our editor.

When we got back, Whitenose was dead. 

We put her in the back yard, near a shrub. She inspired us to learn a bit more about possums. The photo above is from www.nouveausoccermom.com, which was on Google Images (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=856&q=possum&oq=possum&gs_l=img.3..0l10.5086.6156.0.6482.6.5.0.1.1.0.61.287.5.5.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.16.img.VDCko9H_xNo).  Here's what we know and what we found out from http://www.planetpossum.com/facts.htm and Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider: 

Possums are carrion eaters and scavengers. This is an important role to play in the ecosystem; if we didn't have animals eating the dead, we'd be knee-deep in corpses. 

Possums are marsupials; the females carry their young in pouches until they're old enough to ride on the mother's back (we've seen that, too). They may look like it, but possums are not rodents.  

Possums have prehensile tails; that means they can grasp things with their tails, like tree branches. They use their tails to climb and to carry nesting materials (both males and females build nests). The young are able to hang upside down by their tails for short periods of time. 

When confronted by a predator, possums often 'play possum,' or pretend they're dead, until the danger has passed. 

Because they are scavengers, possums will go through garbage. 

Possums are whitish grey in the north and grey to nearly black in the south. Older possums may have a brownish or reddish hue to their fur. Just this spring, we saw our first brown possum in the yard. 

The inside toe on a possum's hind paw is opposable, which aids in climbing. 

Possums are about the size of a house cat.  

Wildflowers

This is what happens when you don't seed your lawn with grass or use weed killers. 

We found all these wildflowers either in our garden (yard) or (in the case of one) out by the letter box this spring.