From The Hill

It won’t be long before the trees leaf out and the long view from The Hill effectively disappears. I enjoy the view, but I also enjoy having the view blocked. The change is like drawing the curtains. It gives me the feeling of being in a closed, intimate setting. At this time of year, I give the distant landscapes a last check before they get put away for the summer. This view is looking into the direction of the prevailing wind. Somewhere out there is the source of the trash I seem to be constantly picking up.

Looking toward the point of the ridge, I can see young cedars growing in the tall grass. Every four or five years I take my loppers and wander back and forth snipping off the little cedars. When the cedars become visible in the spring, I make a note on the calendar to schedule cedar maintenance for the coming winter. Cedar maintenance is the term I use to describe control of new cedar sprouts in an area that I have previously cleared.

The view of the woods will change dramatically in the next couple of weeks. I haven’t been out to see how many trees went down during the storm winds early Wednesday morning. Radar estimates showed wind speeds during the storm to be between 60 and 80 miles per hour. I’m sure some more trees came down and they probably came down over one of the trails.

This is the field that was mowed in December of 2009. There are probably a few trees sprouting out there somewhere, but it’ll be a couple of years before they become noticeable. I love the look of a field full of tall grass unbroken by trees. The tree swallows have pretty much taken over the field this year. Only one nest box houses bluebirds. The rest contain Tree Swallows. For every swallow pair in a box, there seem to be two pairs waiting for the chance to claim the box for themselves. It’s constant chattering and chasing as the occupants try to maintain their chosen nest site.

The Indiangrass has attracted two territorial Henslow’s Sparrows. They’ve been calling day and night for over a week. So far, this is the best shot I’ve been able to get of one of the sparrows. Don’t bother straining your eyes. The birds have been staying down in the grass and I have yet to see one this spring. It’s fortunate that they have such a distinctive call. Otherwise I wouldn’t even know they were there.

Christmas in April

I must admit to having had strongly conflicting emotions when I found this piece of trash in the woods. When I first saw it from a distance, I had my typical negative emotions towards litter. However, when I caught sight of the picture, I experienced the sudden flush of joy that a child gets when confronted by Christmas. The litter suddenly had value and was no longer trash. With the folded scrap secure in my pack, I carried along a little bit of Christmas on the rest of my walk.

A decorated Christmas tree. Maybe not traditional for Christmas, but a Serviceberry in bloom certainly appears to be adorned with ornaments. The showy white flowers of these small understory trees become quite noticeable in the springtime woodland.

A present under the tree. The Eastern Box Turtles dig in for protection on cool spring nights. It’s not unusual to see them decorated with dried mud picked up from their temporary quarters.

A Christmas plant. Downy Rattlesnake Plantain is one of the most beautiful plants in the woods. The dark green leaves with their white veins are so attractive that it seems a distraction to put a bloom atop the plant.

A Christmas song. Neither a partridge nor a pear tree, but a beautiful song. Field sparrows have taken to the low trees around the field to advertise their claiming of a territory and availability as a mate. The melodious song is one of those good things that comes from a small package.

Northern Black Racer

I’m sure that a few of you have already identified the above photo of a Northern Black Racer as one that has been hanging on my office wall for the past two years. Others of you are probably not aware of the fact that I have an office. I’ve posted about 3,000 photos to this blog so far and this is only the second that was not taken within a week of the post date. It was taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens and there are two reasons why I’ve chosen to use it today. First, I wanted to use the following photos that were taken a few of days ago, but I failed to get a head shot and if you’re going to talk about snakes, I think you really need a close-up photo at the start. Second, I love this shot and will probably never encounter another wild Black Racer that is willing to pose as well as this individual.

There’s one place at Blue Jay Barrens that seems to attract Black Racers and I specifically went there with an eye to finding snakes. Even when you’re expecting it, a snake in the grass is hard to see.

It was early enough in the day that I thought the snakes would be rather chilly and lethargic. This snake didn’t move at all as I approached. The first sign that you’ve come too close to a Black Racer is a rapid vibration of the tail, but this individual seemed frozen. Since the snake was perfectly still, I thought I could crawl up and get some close-up shots.

Still no movement on the snake’s part. The snake’s head and body were streaked with dried mud and I could imagine it recently emerging from some cold, wet pocket in the soil. I leaned in a little closer and the snake was suddenly absent. The speed of its departure assured me that it had become sufficiently warmed by the sun. About ten feet to my right, I caught sight of a second racer heading for cover. No close-up, hence my decision to use the older photo.

Here’s where the snakes like to call home. I spend all this time trying to create a natural ecosystem at Blue Jay Barrens and they prefer to live in an old junk pile. Excuse me, I don’t have any junk piles, I meant to say historical site.

Rue Anemone

Rue Anemone, Anemonella thalictroides, is the most common spring woodland wildflower at Blue Jay Barrens this year. It is also commonly referred to as Windflower because of its tendency to move with the slightest breeze. With the windy weather we’ve been having lately, it was almost impossible to find a plant that would hold still long enough for me to get a clear shot.

Even though it’s a small plant, the flower shines in the sunlight. The flower of the Rue Anemone actually lacks petals. It’s the sepals that you are seeing. This fact doesn’t make the flower any less attractive and probably falls into the “so what” category for most people.

I find this plant growing over a wide variety of shady habitats. The plant is mildly toxic. This may cause the deer and turkey to avoid it in favor of the other spring wildflowers. If the deer and turkey numbers continue to grow, this may end up being my only spring wildflower.

Although it produces no nectar, the flower is visited by many insects. Bees and flies are attracted by the pollen. I think other insects just visit because it looks a likely place to find nectar.

There are usually a couple of buds in wait behind the first bloom. This helps to keep the Rue Anemone blooming over a fairly long period.

Many sources put Rue Anemone in the genus Thalictrum along with the Meadow Rues. The leaves certainly resemble that group. No matter what name you choose, it’s still a fascinating plant.

More Flying Moss

I’m always watching for something that looks out of place, because that often leads to interesting discoveries. When I caught sight of this dark patch, I thought it was evidence that errant cows had paid a visit to Blue Jay Barrens. I average a visit from either cows or horses about twice in every three years. Usually it happens at the wettest time of year and they concentrate their activities on the yard and walking trails. The deep tracks remain through the summer to aggravate me whenever I walk or mow. Horses visited a few weeks ago, so it seemed unfair that I also had to deal with cows.

Closer examination revealed that I had actually seen a clump of moss masquerading as a cow plop. Actually, I’ll have to admit that the moss was innocently laying there being moss and I was the one who assigned a false identification. In my defense I’ll have to stipulate that the moss was looking uncharacteristically dark and bore a patterning that was definitely unmosslike. What is that blue-gray mottling on the moss clump?

Decomposing leaf fragments. This is not the way a leaf looks when it decomposes on the surface of the soil. This is what you expect a leaf to look like when it has been decomposing in a buried condition. So how was it buried and why is it clinging to the top of this clump of moss?

Knowing what the answer had to be, I flipped the moss over and discovered the true top of the moss clump. The leaf had spent its time decomposing beneath the moss clump, but was now exposed.

The brown patches in the moss along with the fungus strands growing beneath the clump, lead me to believe that the moss has resided here for a couple of months. Apparently this is another case of flying moss. I’ve always thought of moss as something stationary. Now, within a matter of a few weeks, I’ve discovered two cases of moss colonies moving to new locations.

This clump has reversed its growth direction and is now growing upward from what was once the bottom side. I’m still wondering about that leaf. If a leaf fell to the ground, would it remain intact long enough for moss to overgrow it? Not likely. I believe that this moss may be a frequent flier that, on an earlier flight, landed atop the leaf. The leaf began its decomposition beneath the moss clump and then ended up on the upper surface after the last move. Maybe moss is like the tumbleweed that frequently changes location through the power of the wind. I’ll have to start calling it tumblemoss.

Bearded Hen

When you get a large enough population of an animal, you begin to see the broad spectrum of variations that can occur. One recognized oddity in the Wild Turkey world is the bearded hen. The turkey beard, a cluster of threadlike feathers growing from the center of the chest, is a normal feature of the adult male. It’s unusual to see a bearded hen, but it’s something that people who view a lot of turkeys are bound to observe.

The hen’s beard is usually less dense than that of the male. Hens also lack the spurs on the leg and have breast feathers with a light brown boarder. Healthy animal populations will show variations in both physiology and behavior. It’s these variations that give the population a survival advantage when adverse conditions occur. I don’t know what advantage the female beard might signify, but the bearded hen may be the next big evolutionary advance of the turkey.

Smoke and Ash

It would be nice to think that the boundaries of Blue Jay Barrens were inviolable to outside threats, but I know that’s not so. On quiet days, I can sometimes imagine I’m dealing with a self contained unit. On most others, I’m aware of the infiltration of influences beyond my control. Then there are those few days when the outside world intrudes with a slap-in-the-face intensity. This was one of those days and it all traced back to the little white speck that floated out of the sky and settled atop some soaked leaves.

As I left the house, I noticed the air was tainted by the odor of smoke. This smoke didn’t conjure images of quiet evenings beside the fireplace or a fun time around the campfire. This was the kind of smoke that reddens the eyes and makes you wonder what types of toxins you are breathing into your system. Someone was taking advantage of a sunny day to burn debris that they’d been accumulating. Some wood and brush I’m sure, but also trash. The smoke was with me for the next couple of hours and flakes of ash fell on me where ever I went.

The ash was a reminder of how little control I have over offsite factors that could profoundly affect the desired course of events at Blue Jay Barrens. The ash represented anything that could become airborne and later settle back to earth. As with so many other events, the person probably had no intent to do harm. They most likely believed they were acting in a responsible manner and were proud of the results of their actions. When things like this happen, about all I can do is accept it and monitor the results. Well, that and become extremely aggravated.