We had another couple of warm days last weekend with temps in the high 40s F, so I decided to go and check on the skunk cabbages (Symplocarpus foetidus) to see how they were doing. They are our earliest flowers, often flowering in March, and they grow around the swamp in the above photo, which is one of only two places I’ve seen them.
I doubted I’d see any since it’s only January but there was a single green shoot, probably still there from last fall. This is not a flower bud though, it is a leaf bud. Skunk cabbage is an arum and the actual flowers are hard to see because they blossom inside a spathe. A spathe is a modified leaf which in skunk cabbages usually is colored a splotchy, mottled yellow and maroon. True leaves appear around mid-April when the plant is done flowering.
Do cattails (Typha latifolia) produce new shoots in the fall or in spring? I wondered when I saw these. When I looked them up I read that new shoots appear in spring, but this is January. I have a feeling they appeared last fall and are just biding their time until it warms up. Native Americans wove cattail leaves into waterproof mats and used them on their lodges.
The approach to the swamp is through the woods shown here and then down the steep embankment in the distance, so I was glad there wasn’t much snow to slip and slide in.
I saw a bird’s nest and wondered, because of the way it hung from branches, if it was a Baltimore oriole’s nest. It was about as big around as a coffee mug and hung in a shrub at about waist high, which seems much too low for an oriole’s nest. The ones that I’ve seen have always been quite high up in the trees. Maybe there are other birds that weave nests that hang.
This photo shows how the bird hung the nest in the V shaped crotch of a branch. It is hung from 3 points for stability. Grasses, cattail leaves and birch bark is what the nest was mostly woven from. I wonder if Native Americans first learned to weave baskets by studying bird nests.
The shiny evergreen leaves of goldthread appeared by the place where skunk cabbages grow and surprised me, because I’ve never seen them here. Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) gets its name from its bright yellow, thread like root. Tiny but beautiful white flowers will appear in late April. Native Americans chewed the roots of goldthread to treat canker sores, which is why the plant is also called Canker root. The natives shared the plant with the English settlers and it became such a popular medicine that by 1785 shakers were paying 37 cents per pound for it dried, which meant people dug up all they could find. At one time there was more goldthread sold in Boston than any other native plant. Luckily after a couple of centuries the plant has recovered enough to be relatively common once again.
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) is a native plant that makes a good garden groundcover. Small, heart shaped leaves on creeping stems grow at ground level and you can mow right over it. In spring it has white trumpet shaped flowers that grow in pairs and in the fall it has bright red berries which are edible but close to tasteless. I leave them for the turkeys, which seem to love them. My favorite parts of this plant are the greenish yellow leaf veins on leaves that look as if they were cut from hammered metal. I have several large patches of it growing in my yard.
The small blackish bead-like sori that make up the fertile fronds of the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) will open to release the spores soon. Sensitive fern is another good indicator of moist places, so I wasn’t surprised to see it here. Its common name comes from its sensitivity to frost, which was first noticed by the early colonials. I just read that turkeys will peck at and eat the sori, and that is why sometimes you find the fern’s spores lying on the snow around the plant.
These oak leaves were pretty amazing for January, warm day or not. I’m not sure how they did this; most other oak leaves I’ve seen this winter have been brown, or sometimes pinkish brown. Maybe these were flash frozen in November, I don’t know, but it was a pleasure to see them.
We saw more pine cones fall from the white pines (Pinus strobus) this year than most of us have ever seen and the squirrels are reaping the harvest. They pull the cones apart scale by scale and eat the seeds, and big piles of scales are a common sight in the woods. Squirrels like to sit up higher than the surrounding landscape when they eat and often sit on stones or logs.
This is what’s left of a white pine cone when a squirrel is finished with it. Not much.
There are plenty of goldenrod and other seeds to keep the birds happy this year as well.
American hazelnut (Corylus americana) catkins are a common enough sight in the winter but I’m not sure what these examples were doing. They usually hang straight down but a couple of these decided to be different. These are the male flowers of the hazel shrub and before long, usually in mid-April, they will begin to show pollen and turn golden yellow.
Turkeys, squirrels and many other birds and animals usually eat hazelnuts up quickly so I was surprised to see quite a few nut clusters still hanging from the branches. It could be that the bumper crop of acorns is keeping the animals busy.
Blackberry seed gall is caused by the blackberry seed gall wasp (Diastrophus cuscutaeformis.) These very small, round hollow galls look like seeds and form in clusters around blackberry stems. Each tiny gall has a stiff, hair like spine and together they form a hairy mass like that in the photo. They start out bright yellow-green and mature to brownish red. This one was about as long as your index finger.
I hoped the vine I saw up in a tree was American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), but it turned out to be just another invasive Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus,) which is quickly outpacing the natives. That’s mainly because its berries are more enticing to birds and its seeds germinate much faster. The easiest way to tell American bittersweet from Oriental is by the location of the berries on the vine; American bittersweet berries grow on the ends of the vines and Oriental bittersweet berries grow all along them. While both vines climb trees and shrubs, American bittersweet is less likely to strangle its host like Oriental bittersweet will.
I keep seeing this red inner bark on some dead staghorn sumacs (Rhus typhina) and each time I see it I try to find out why it would be red, but so far I’ve never found an answer. It’s always surprising that such a beautiful color would be hidden from sight. Or maybe it turns red as it peels away.
There are often ducks here in this part of the swamp but they probably heard me long before I could have seen them and swam off. Soon this will be a very busy, growing place full of nesting red winged blackbirds, snapping turtles, herons, ducks, and frogs but for now it is simply open water and quiet and for me, that was enough. I hope you have a nearby swamp or wetland that you can visit, because they’re fascinating places that are full of life.
Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps. ~Henry David Thoreau
Thanks for stopping in.
The birds’ nest is so beautifully constructed, but I thought the Orioles were usually way up in the crowns of the trees.
The ones I’ve seen have been. Readers identified this one as a red eyed vireo nest.
Thanks for the walk too icy here to hit the path along the river.
You’re welcome. It’s gotten very icy here too. I’m hoping it’ll melt soon.
wonderful to find out we have hazelnuts in the region. Keep up the fine work!
Thank you Chris. Yes, there are a lot of hazel and hickory nuts in the area, especially in Swanzey along the Ashuelot river.
Wow! I haven’t seen hickory nuts or hazelnuts since leaving PA! Maybe not visiting the right Maine woods!
Thank you Barbara. I almost always find both growing near water, like along rivers and streams. The like sandy, well drained loamy soil as well.
I came over after reading this post in my email inbox to suggest that the lovely nest you discovered might be a red-eyed vireo nest, but I see that has already been suggested and possibly confirmed. I always enjoy every post and look forward to following along with your walks! I hope you’ll include more bird nests as you come across them. Your posts are so interesting and informative – we appreciate your sharing your knowledge and experiences here! 🙂
Thank you Cheri. You and others certainly have a good eye for bird’s nests. Even though I once had a bird nest collection I never knew which bird made them. I just enjoyed seeing how they were made. I see a lot of nests but most are too high to get good photos of, but I always try to find the lower ones. They are often well camouflaged, even in winter!
I’m glad you get so much from these posts. I think you’ve said in the past that you have children and if so I hope they enjoy them too. They are our future.
Another amazing set of photos and informative text. The nests were a treat to see. Interesting to see your swamp. I lived in Louisiana for a while, and the swamps there hold every manor of wildlife. I don’t think of your area having a swamp? Thanks for another treat.
It remains cold here, but clear.
Thank you Penny. Yes, we have a lot of swamps here but they’re quite different than those you see in the south. I’d love to see a Louisiana swamp!
Bird nests are fascinating works of practicality and art. No doubt that is where the idea of basket weaving came from.
It looks like the worst of your cold weather has past and spring is thinking about things now?
Our first daffodil bloomed on January 16th.
Thank you Lavinia. I used to collect bird nests and they are indeed fascinating.
We’ve got to get through February before we can seriously think about spring, and February can be brutal.
You’re very lucky to have daffodils in January!
Seeing any green leaves this time of year is a real treat! I was also surprised to see open water in the marsh, as despite our recent warm-up, everything is still frozen over here.
I can’t identify the bird’s nest, I see that other already have though. I’m sure that humans learned many skills by watching wildlife, weaving be ing just one of them. They probably also learned which foods are edible by watching wildlife.
The squirrels sure do a number on the cones, don’t they? I’ve often been walking along when I hear them munching on a cone and dropping the scales to the ground below all around me as I walk under them.
Thanks Jerry! I was surprised to see that open water too. Other than on fast moving rivers everything is pretty well frozen over.
I agree that early people probably learned what to eat by watching birds and animals but birds eat poison ivy berries too, so I’m sure there was a lot of trial and error involved. It must have been tough and we owe them a debt of gratitude.
Squirrels sure do shred those cones! I hope they get them all too. We have more cones on the ground here than I’ve ever seen!
I enjoyed your observations. Swamps and wetlands are treasures and one good thing about them, they tend to defend themselves.
Thanks Montucky! They are treasures but I’m not sure many people realize how much they do for us, like absorbing flood waters. Luckily we were sensible enough to pass laws to protect them.
I was pleased to see the nest in this post. I enjoy looking to see how they are constructed. It amazes me to think that these birds built something so strong and long-lasting that it was able to protect the eggs and nestlings and then continue to weather the storms of autumn and winter and still look good today!
Despite the cold isn’t it great to be able to find living plants and green leaves? I love those shiny goldthread leaves and the attractive partridgeberry leaves.
Thank you Clare. I hadn’t thought of it but that nest has been through snow. ice and rain storms, one with a foot of snow, so it is indeed very well made.
It is always great to find anything green and growing during our winters and I often seek them out. Seeing them is like a sip of spring tonic.
I can well imagine it is.
That bird’s nest doesn’t seem to be held up by much. But I’m betting the birds know what they are doing!
Thank you Cynthia. Actually the bird’s nest was woven to the branch in 3 places and seemed pretty stable.
You’re right though, the birds and all of nature knows what they’re doing.
I suspect you may have seen a red-eyed vireo nest?
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Thank you, yes another reader said the same.
What a lovely walk. We must have had really a lot of acorns for hazelnuts to be left. And goldthread does still exist! Back in the 60’s my Mom had be scouring drugstores for it. She could not believe they didn’t still carry it. Oh, and what a great bird’s nest.Thank you for another wonderful walk.
You’re welcome and thank you Carol. That’s interesting about the goldthread. I’ve never talked to anyone who actually used it. It must have worked well!
You don’t have to worry about the plants though; I know where there are many of them.
The last photo is a beauty, and I love how you compared the bird nest to a basket. Who knows? Maybe all around the world, in early times, people found inspiration in birds’ nests for weaving baskets.
Thank you Laurie. John Ranta identified the nest as a red-eyed vireo nest, and it did look like a basket. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we came up with the idea for baskets by watching birds weave them thousands of years ago.
I’ve also always thought that the Chinese came up with blue and white colors on porcelain from silky dogwood berries which, for a short time, are the same blue and white colors they used.
Inspired by nature!
Yes, we should all be!
The engineering of a bird’s nest has always intrigued me. Thanks for the photo – it is curious how low the nest was, but wonderful that it was eye-level for you.
Thank you Judy. I’d be that if there were leaves out now I never would have seen that nest, even with it being as low as it was.
What a treat to see the marsh in the cold of winter! I never fail to learn something new from your careful observations— how to tell the difference between bittersweets. Thanks for that and the fact that you venture forth at all during these cold days.
You’re welcome Barbara, and thank you. American bittersweet is rare here; I only know of one or two, so I’m always hoping to see more.
If it’s above 10 degrees I don’t mind going out but anything below that is just too cold!
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix and commented:
A hint of Spring?
Thank you John. I hope so!
That might be a red-eyed vireo nest. JR
Thanks very much John. I Googled red-eyed vireo nest and they look just like this one!
Your glorious photos always brighten my day. Thank you.
You’re welcome Ben, I’m glad they do!
That was a beautifully constructed nest that you happened upon, thanks for the photograph.
You’re welcome Susan, and thank you.