More Signs of Spring!

The more I look around, the more changes I see.  After seeing my squirrel friend again, I have seen him several more times.  With our temperatures hovering above a balmy 20 degrees on most recent days, I have seen many more of the Gray Ghosts of the Hardwoods.

Today, as the snow fell, I watched a flock of indecisive birds leapfrog my house.  Walking past my house towards the neighbors, I heard what I describe as an eerie, unnatural noise that could be used as a Sci-Fi sound effect.  It was overheard so I immediately thought the power lines were acting up.  (On the coldest days at my office, the power lines actually make a funny noise that make me think the aliens have come!)  As I looked up to make sure nothing was going to fall on me and earn a new nickname of “Sparky,” I saw the flock of birds was actually the culprit of the noise.  Their bodies were of a deep gray with yellow lines (I think) on their tails and yellow spots on their wings.  I am not a birder by any means so if you know this bird please let me know.  They hovered in unison over to my neighbors mountain ash with its overabundance of bright orange berries then almost as fast as they came, they flew off again.

Returning from my walk, I heard the same noise and saw the flock perched in a huge Silver Maple two doors down in the other direction.  I then watched a smaller flock join them.  Some interesting habits emerged when they joined forces.  About half of the flock flew back to the mountain ash, hovered a few seconds, flew back to the maple only to have the second half repeat the pattern.  They did this a few times before the entire flock perched in the maple.

Maybe my presence near the mountain ash made them shy, maybe the berries weren’t to their suiting and it took several attempts to convince themselves of this.  We are entering the time of year where food is becoming very scarce.  Ironically, the spring time is the hardest for our wild creatures.  (I know it’s only February but my blood runs thin and hopeful!)  Last years food is mostly gone and right after snow melt, nothing has grown back.  No leaves, buds, or bugs to eat.  Some plants that hold onto their fruits all winter are the last resorts before spring awakens the earth.  Our hawthorn may be such a plant, though this flock didn’t devote too much time to it.  And as much of a nuisance to us as it is, poison ivy serves as the last resort for food.  The toxins in this plant don’t affect wildlife as it does us.

With that, it is time to stoke the fire in my wood stove and enjoy the last couple months of the cold weather.  Sure, once we’re mowing the lawn and weeding the gardens, I’ll miss those snowy days that muffle the sounds of the city and puts a clean cover on everything.  But, they’ll be back.

The Deep Winter

During this time of the year, very few of us turn our thoughts towards the outside world beyond the temperature and snowfall predictions.  We bundle up between and run between our house, the car, the office, and then repeat the pattern after the workday.  On some of those warmer and sunnier days, we may walk a little slower to the car, take note of the pure azure skies contrasting the white ground.

Only the most devout naturalist may think to look around to see what animals have been out.  Imagine birding in the winter!  I wonder about the squirrels.  Every morning last fall when I would take my dog out back, we watch a gray squirrel caver at least three backyards without ever touching the ground.  He drops from my one neighbor’s cedar, down to the chain link fence, over to and up my boxelder, and after a few calculations and false starts, leaps from the skinniests branch into the towering hackberry in my other neighbor’s yard.  Some days Freddie takes great notice and whines when he can’t pursue.   Other days, he doesn’t even  notice.

I have not seen him around lately.  As nature changes its patterns so do we.  My wife now takes Freddie out in the mornings and until taoday I had not seen my friend for a while.  I thought he (or she) would be holed up in his den, probably not too far away.  Does he ever venture out during the January thaws?  Or perhaps other times when the weather is not so bad?  And finally, I got an answer. Today, on the verge of some warm weather, my little gray friend dropped from the cedar onto the fence.

The usual tracking method in the winter is by tracks left in the snow.  These tracks in and of themselves can tell stories wothy of the ages.  Perhaps if I paid a little more attention, I might be able to locate some of the other wild critters that loaf around the city during the winter months.  After all, I may have shifted my attention inwards but there is still many signs of wildlife to be found.

Welcome-BOB! has Entered the Blogosphere!

Hello to all.  This posting marks the first in Branch Out Burlington!’s new blog!  We would like to welcome all of our old friends, new acquaintances, and passers by.

Branch Out Burlington! is a community volunteer group devoted to raising awareness to the urban forest in Burlington, Vermont.  In our 10+ history, we have grown hundred of trees planted on the streets of the Queen City, hosted numerous educational workshops such as our Annual Tree Walk, and encrouaged the citizens of Burlington to become active in their city’s softscape.  Check out our website to get a good view of who we are and what we do.

This is our maiden voyage into the blog-o-sphere.  We hope this can help us communicate with those people interested in the urban forest and getting involved.  We hope to inspire you and and maybe teach a thing or two.