Archive for the ‘in the grey woods’ Category
Taking part in the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s ‘Small Acts of Conservation’
As part of an effort to enjoy these last days of winter and take a mindful approach to experiencing winter-bound nature, I have joined the Nature Conservancy Canada ‘Small Acts of Conservation Challenge.’
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The first unit in the challenge is ‘Explore a Winter Wonderland.’ I don’t do as much hiking as I once did, mostly due to the arthritis in my knees. However, we have a large property and lots of opportunities to take a walk in winter.
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One of my favorite short walks in the woods is a roundabout we completed last summer. The Rocky Road lets us turn around safely in our driveway. The roundabout is in the woods and driving through it is like a mini-exploration: there are birds to see since our feeders are nearby; there are always lots of animal tracks (deer, red and grey squirrel, mice, rabbit); in summer, we can see mosses, ferns, wetland plants, various shrubs and tree species (white pine, balsam fir, spruce, red maple and red oak).
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Although the Rocky Road is part of our driveway, it is also meant as a hiking path where I can walk safely, using a cane or my walker if needed. It is part of the ‘rocky road’ project started many years ago and described on this blog https://janetims.com/2011/11/13/plans-for-a-rocky-road/
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The first unit in the Nature Conservancy Challenge is ‘to follow trail etiquette and learn how you can stay safe during winter hikes.’
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Before I took the unit, I brainstormed what I knew about rules for the trail:
- leave only tracks, take away nothing but photos;
- follow the trail and limit incursions into wild areas;
- move slowly and deliberately and do not fall;
- use all your senses — seeing, hearing, smell, taste, touch
- focus on the ground but don’t forget to look upward and outward.
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The Nature Conservancy says:
- Enjoy the peace and quiet, and be respectful of others and the wildlife around you;
- Minimize your impact. Stay on the trail and pack out what you pack in;
- Respect nature. Take pictures only, and leave flowers, plants, rocks and wood behind for the enjoyment of others and for the integrity of the local ecosystem.
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To help me with my explorations of our rocky trail, I have found my book on identifying animal tracks in winter. Next time, I’ll follow the Nature Conservancy’s suggestion to use iNaturalist to help identify plants and animals I see on the trail.
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All my Best
Jane
Tree down!
Today is the first day in a long time I have not written a line. I am preoccupied, watching as a local company removes some trees from our yard.
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Some of these trees were already down but have been decorating our ditch since a storm last winter. One tree was still standing.
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The standing tree, a big old spruce, worried me. In last week’s wind storm, the top of it broke and flew like a javelin to land in our front yard. The rest of it was dead and leaning towards the house and power lines. It stood at the corner of our shed.
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the tree last winter
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The men working knew what they were doing. They tied the tree in the direction they wanted it to fall. They used our tractor to reach high into the tree to brace it in the required direction. Then the tree cutter did his cuts. And the tree fell exactly where he planned. We will be getting ‘The Bushwackers” to do some more tree cutting here.
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I am still too wired to write.
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All my best,
stay safe,
Jane
mayflowers
In spring it is always fun to put all your senses together and search out the elusive mayflower, also known as trailing arbutus. Epigaea repens grows in the open woods where I live. You usually have to search for the trailing leaves and lift them to find the flowers.
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touch: the leaves are furry on the underside and smooth above; the petals of the flower are waxy.
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smell: the flowers are fragrant with a sweet, almost heady perfume.
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sight: the flowers are white to faintly pink; leaves are green with coppery brown surfaces and edges.
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Trailing Arbutus
(Epigaea repens L.)
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on the slope, new leaves
Trientalis, Gaultheria
Star-flower, Wintergreen,
vines of Partridge-berry creep
Maianthemum unfurls
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beneath the din, a melody
weeps Epigaea, evergreen
pressed to the hillside
leather armour, thickened leaves
weather-beaten, worn
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waxy bloom resists
subtle shadow
predator
unrelenting rain
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all my best,
staying at home,
Jane
talking trees
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trees in conversation
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they say
if trees communicate
they do so
beneath the ground
communication network
of rootlets
and mycelia
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I still listen
above ground
to the friction squeal
of trunks
rubbing together
flutter of birch bark
whisper of leaves
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I think they try
to learn my language
speak to me
of longevity, the cycle
of the story in layers
added year to year
bilingual trees
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All my best,
Jane
Waiting for wild life to pass by
Back in our Grey Woods is a tiny ‘park’. Just an area I try to keep clean of dead-falls. Years ago, my Mom loved this little area. She found ‘ghost pipe’, also called ‘Indian pipe’ (Monotropa uniflora), growing there. These are parasitic plants without chlorophyll. They are small, less than 20 cm high. The ‘pipe’ is an excellent descriptor since a plant consists of a nodding head on a slender stem.
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My Mom tried to protect these uncommon plants from trampling by putting shingles in the ground to mark the location.
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The ghost pipes no longer grow there. The shingles have rotted and disappeared. Change is inevitable and in this little park, change is likely related to nutrient conditions. My Mom is also gone but I keep the little park to remember the day she tried to save the ghost pipe.
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One addition I made to the area is a small bird feeder. I installed the feeder on an old red maple tree. The feeder is painted iron, moulded in the form of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis lived in Italy at the turn of the thirteenth century and is known for his love of animals and the natural environment. He believed nature was the mirror of God and the animals were his brothers and sisters. He even preached to the birds (Source: Wikipedia).
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ghost pipe
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in grey woods
Saint Francis
cast in iron
watches wild
life pass by
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red squirrel
ceaseless motion
white-tailed deer
pauses, listens
a chipmunk
runs the log
fallen tree
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time also
passes by
Aralia
and bracken
replace white
ghost pipe, once
grew here, all
nature a mirror
of our lives
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All my best,
Jane
Pileated Woodpecker excavations
The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a common visitor in our yard. The size of the woodpecker and its triangular red crest are impossible to miss. The male also has a red stripe on the side of its face.
There is a big spruce tree in our grey woods where the Pileated Woodpecker loves to visit. The hole in the tree and the pile of woodchips below the hole say this woodpecker has been very busy. The woodpeckers drill these holes to get insects.
On a drive to see the Smyth Covered Bridge near Hoyt, New Brunswick, we found a roadside tree with evidence of the Pileated Woodpecker’s industry. The holes are almost a foot in length and deep enough to hide a hand.
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To humans, the best forests may seem to be woods with healthy trees. To provide good habitat for the Pileated Woodpecker, a forest should have lots of dead and fallen trees, to provide food and nesting sites.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
spaces underground – a wasp nest
Not far from where I sit-for-a-bit on my walk in our woods, I found a nest of wasps. Built underground, beneath the roots of a spruce tree, this nest has been revealed by some digging marauder (a skunk or raccoon) trying to get at the wasp larvae. The nest is interesting to watch, but caution is necessary.
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When I found the nest, I took a little time to learn the difference between wasps and hornets. Hornets build their nests above ground and are larger, with black and white striped bodies. Wasps sometimes build nests underground and are small (1-2.5 cm), with black and yellow striped bodies. The insects in the underground nest are definitely wasps.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
pink lady’s slipper
This time of year, my husband does an inventory of the Pink Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) on our property.
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This year, he found 10. He only saw three last year but there have been as many as 15 in bloom at one time. We never pick them and try to keep our property natural and wooded.
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The Pink Lady’s Slipper prefers acidic soil and partly shady conditions, making our grey woods an ideal habitat. Our flowers are often a pale pink or white variety.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
woodpeckers in the grey woods
If you are new to my site, you might not know that we call the woods behind our house ‘the grey woods’. The woods are mainly balsam fir and black spruce, with grey birch and red maple. Here is a map of our property (about 19 acres).
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Woodpeckers are a common bird in the grey woods. We have Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus), Hairy Woodpeckers (Leuconotopicus villosus), and Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens). The woodpeckers love the older trees in the woods. They also peck at our wood-shingled house!
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Here is a Hairy Woodpecker hard at work in a balsam fir. He is hard to tell from the Downy Woodpecker (especially when you can’t see his beak) but the Hairy woodpecker is larger (about the size of a Robin) and sometimes his red cap is divided into two parts (seen clearly in this photo).
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
morning birdcalls – Northern Parula
After a hot day, a cool night. This morning, our windows are wide open and a Northern Parula is busy in our grey woods.
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His distinctive call – ‘whirrrr-zip’ – has an upward lilt at the end. I can catch only a glimpse of him, certainly not long enough for a photograph.
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The Northern Parula is a small warbler with a bright orangy-yellow upper breast. He builds his nests of Old Man’s Beard lichen (Usnea spp.) – there is lots of this lichen hanging from the trees in our grey woods, so of course he is here! This is a watercolour I did of him last year.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
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