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Tree and Shrub Planting

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I talked about some of the conditions at a Chambers Brook tree planting ; today I thought I'd discuss the tactics. First there are the issues common to both trees and shrubs: Most of the time an auger had dug the holes so there was no question about where to plant the tree/shrub, and things like rocks and roots are essentially irrelevant. While I recognize that the pre-dug holes are a time-and-labor saver, there are a couple downsides. First, the auger was digging holes deeper and wider than needed for our trees/shrubs, necessitating some refilling of the hole before planting. Second, sometimes the soil was a clay that, after a day or two, would harden into something difficult to break up when refilling the hole. When we had to dig our own holes, sometimes you could easily dig a hole but in other situations rocks and/or roots made life quite a bit harder. And while I wore hard-soled boots/shoes that let me hop on the shovel, some others had softer shoes that could have made diggin
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Calico Pennant

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Considering it's National Dragonfly Day , I wanted to share a dragonfly picture. And at Duke Farms today: There be dragons , though not in the Medieval sense of dangerous territory. Instead we staked out a bridge where we could show off a bunch of dragonflies to the visitors. Though no Calico Pennants showed up at this particular site, there were a few hanging out in the meadows. Instead though we got to see Blue Dashers , Eastern Pondhawks , Widow Skimmers , Slaty Skimmers , and Eastern Amberwings , plenty of dragonflies to entertain the passersby. We got to see a little dragonfly breeding, quite a bit of dragonfly egg-laying, and hundreds of aerial skirmishes as aggressive males attempted to acquire territory. July 11, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 301278114, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Gray Bird of Loquaciousness

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You've heard of the Bluebird of Happiness  (presumably looking sort of like this guy )? Given all the noise they make, this must be the Graybird of Loquaciousness . It's actually a Gray Catbird , 1 of my area's most talkative birds. In the summer you can see these birds everywhere, and hear them more than that. July 6, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301263315, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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A Green Frog Gets Greener

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Though plenty green enough on its own, this Green Frog also got covered in what looks like watermeal. Despite having "green" as part of their name, some Green Frogs are closer to brown in coloring. This particular frog seems determined to live up to the Green Frog moniker, going to far as to get covered up with the green watermeal [1] in its vernal pond. Other than camouflage, the watermeal probably isn't very helpful to frogs. Too much watermeal can throw to the local environment out of whack, which in the long term probably interferes with a frog's ability to find food.  July 6, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301261592, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] This could be duckweed, which is a type of watermeal. I'm using the more general watermeal though because I'm not sure what particular type of watermeal it is.
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A Butterfly and Bee at Lunch

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Butterfly Milkweed isn't just of butterflies, proven by both an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a bumblebee both stopped by for lunch. Butterfly Milkweed is like Cheers for thirsty pollinators, where lots of colorful, diverse characters drop by to wet their whistles. If anything, the "clientele" on these flowers is more diverse than the personalities at a bar; between butterflies, bees, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, etc. are far less closely related than the humans in a bar. July 6, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301262427, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Common Grackle

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Here's another Common Grackle . The North American grackles tend to have non-prestigious names: Our Common Grackles sound rather ... common. It sort of sounds like we're making fun of the size of the tails of the Boat-tailed Grackles . The same for the Great-tailed Grackles .  So what is a grackle  anyway? It sounds like grackle is Latin for jackdaw. So what's a jackdaw ? They are smaller relatives of crows/ravens . But while jackdaws are close relatives of crows, our grackles are not; our grackles are instead New World blackbirds . It's easy for me to think that, grackles being dark-feathered, they got their name because people thought they, like jackdaws, were basically little crows. (Note that the dark blue sheen of the head can look black in poor light, increasing their crow-like appearance.) July 4, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301260618, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Northern Cardinal Eating Something

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I saw this Northern Cardinal last summer but can't figure out what he's got in his beak. This seems to be a common issue with cardinals for me. I suppose this is because our diets are quite different, with cardinals eating berries that would make me sick, vegetation lying around on the ground, and (of course) bugs [1]. Northern Cardinals do have a pretty strong bite, so they probably can break through some of the softer shells that you might not expect them to be able to crack. I remember at Duke Farms' bird banding programs they would remark about how easily disgruntled cardinals would bite them and break the skin.  July 4, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 301260443, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] I probably relate better to the gull that steals your French fries.
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