As far as I can tell, Eastern Red Cedar fruit production was about average this year. It’s hard to estimate because most of the fruit is in the upper half of the tree. Only a small percentage of trees have any fruits low enough on the tree for easy viewing.
Big cedars can produce quite a load of fruit. This tree could easily produce a crop of fruit with seed enough to cover Blue Jay Barrens. Cedar fruit supports large flocks of birds through the winter and dropped seed produces an army of cedar seedlings trying to infiltrate the prairies.
Here’s an example of why I don’t post many bird pictures. On this day, Bluebirds were feeding on the fruit. They would come out to the branch tips to gather some fruit and then disappear back into the greenery to find a branch stout enough to sit on. You could hear them moving about inside the tree, but you never knew where they would come into view.
When I got too close, the bluebirds took refuge in a nearby Tuliptree. Remnants of the old flowers combined with Bluebirds and blue skies make this appear to be a spring scene. I can almost imagine the fragrance of the early spring blossoms.
The birds must have felt secure at the top of the tree. While I wandered around looking for a suitable angel for photos, they conducted some personal grooming. Eventually they moved on to some cedars farther down the ridge. I wandered off in a different direction and left them to their meal.
As far as I can tell, Eastern Red Cedar fruit production was about average this year. It’s hard to estimate because most of the fruit is in the upper half of the tree. Only a small percentage of trees have any fruits low enough on the tree for easy viewing.
Big cedars can produce quite a load of fruit. This tree could easily produce a crop of fruit with seed enough to cover Blue Jay Barrens. Cedar fruit supports large flocks of birds through the winter and dropped seed produces an army of cedar seedlings trying to infiltrate the prairies.
Here’s an example of why I don’t post many bird pictures. On this day, Bluebirds were feeding on the fruit. They would come out to the branch tips to gather some fruit and then disappear back into the greenery to find a branch stout enough to sit on. You could hear them moving about inside the tree, but you never knew where they would come into view.
When I got too close, the bluebirds took refuge in a nearby Tuliptree. Remnants of the old flowers combined with Bluebirds and blue skies make this appear to be a spring scene. I can almost imagine the fragrance of the early spring blossoms.
The birds must have felt secure at the top of the tree. While I wandered around looking for a suitable angel for photos, they conducted some personal grooming. Eventually they moved on to some cedars farther down the ridge. I wandered off in a different direction and left them to their meal.
No comments:
Post a Comment