More Flowers People Ignore

Actually, this catkin -- which is a pussy willow -- is the one catkin people don't ignore!

Today the American Hazel catkins are starting to loosen up!

Flowers People Ignore

Many trees and shrubs flower well before they leaf out, and most people don't notice it happening at all because the flowers are often small and/or green and/or lacking in petals.  I reported on a couple yesterday, and there are a few more that will be popping tomorrow or the next day, but here's today's batch:

Alder catkins were tight brown clusters yesterday, but today were significantly swollen and dangly with their green pollen showing.  Unfortunately, it was a pretty windy day and things that hang down to catch the wind are not easy to photograph up close in those conditions, so here's a further-out view:

This tiny and vibrantly pink thing is the female flower of the American hazel.  Though it's brightly colored, they are only about 2-3 mm in size, so get little notice.  (The male flowers are catkins, smaller and lighter-colored than the alder ones, but otherwise similar.  Generally speaking, they and the female flowers bloom around the same time within a population, but NOT at the same time on a single shrub, so as to increase genetic variability by prohibiting individuals from pollinating themselves.  In the cluster of 6ish shrubs that I passed, I found female flowers, but no catkins had swelled/released pollen yet.  Usually you see that first, but... I guess the ladies are going to be lonely for a little while!  Or perhaps there's other hazels nearby to pollinate them.)

PS -- It's supposed to get all cold again tomorrow.  It's come to that -- a predicted high of 46 deg. in February is what I consider "all cold" -- 32 on Saturday, though.  That's actually wintry!  

Still Warm...

Today we took an after-school walk, and for a good 10 minutes there was a cloud of gnats surrounding us.  That certainly didn't seem wintry.  Just saying. 

These aspen catkins have been peeking out for a while, but they definitely got bigger and fuzzier over the weekend.

And the vernal witch hazel is flowering, its tiny but bright orange petals uncurling from their buds. 

Witch hazel

Last flowers of the year... (or not, it turns out!)

Shrub Update

I noticed that the hazelnuts nearby had been being defoliated, like this:

I stopped and explored for a second to figure out why:

There is some sort of worm on them.  I searched for a brief time and got nowhere fast trying to determine what they are. 

In other shrub news, the arrowwood viburnum is flowering.  It's one of those flowers that has a smell that I find rather aversive, kinda stinky.  But they're pretty. 

Wait, There's More!

Note to self: Stop publishing entries at lunch.  This time of year, there will likely be more discoveries by day's end!  In this case... the first American hazels are both male-flowering (catkins are swelling) and female-flowering (those are the tiny dark pink tufts there).  In a clump of shrubs, some are in full flowers, others look like they did in the middle of winter, with no signs of sexuality at all! 

Speaking of catkins -- the best known of them are pussy willows, which are also starting to bloom. 

And look!  I finally got a picture of Sandhill Cranes.  They are flying over in large numbers today; I've heard reports of sightings from several people. 

First Flowers, Honey!

The Vernal Witch Hazels are flowering, their tiny but bright and celebratory petals celebrating our wonderful spring weather, and attracting the pollinators... As I knelt to take pictures of the blooms, I heard a buzzing and started to notice that the bushes were a-buzz with bees!  I caught this one in flight.  

The Last Flower

Witch Hazel -- known by some for its use in natural astringent products -- is known by me as the last flowering plant of the fall.  (It is also the first flowering plant in the spring... Hamamelis virginiana has these yellow flowers in late November-December, while Hamamelis vernalis, the vernal witch hazel, has orange blooms in late February-March.)  Though tiny, the flowers look very celebratory, brightly colored streamer petals unfurling from the center. 

So I'm starting to feel bad for these worms.  Last week they came out to escape the saturated ground, and many of them were caught still on the pavement when the snow event occurred.  I saw quite a few frozen worms left behind.  Then it warms, the snow melts, saturating the ground, it rains, leaving REALLY saturated ground, and the worms come out again... but it's December, and I feel like not a lot of good can happen to these worms.  Ah, well.  Best of luck to them. 

It's Galling! and More

Hackberry "nipplegall" on the underside of a leaf. 

I know many people consider them ugly, especially given their prevalence on an infected tree... but I really like Hackberry Galls.  This time of year, just before the adult insects emerge from the galls sometime in September, there are these tiny yellow insects inside.  They're not really viable yet but they're big enough to walk around, and they're kind of cute.  (Yes, I recognize that I've essentially killed the one pictured here to photograph it, but they seem like a pretty renewable resource, so to speak.)   

These insects have a fascinating life cycle (similar to many gall-creating critters).  When they come out in a month or so as adults, they will still be small, less than 1/4 inch long.  They look like mini versions of their close relatives, cicadas and leaf hoppers.  They will seek a relatively protected place to overwinter, such as inside cracks in bark, where they will hibernate. In the spring, they will awaken and lay their eggs on the underside of the new leaves of a hackberry tree.  The baby bug causes the tree to start growing around it -- I believe because of an enzyme they secrete when they eat.  The result is a gall, a growth made of plant material that houses the little insect.  In this protected environment, the insects spend the summer sucking on sap until they are full grown and ready to come out and start this process over.  The hackberry trees aren't harmed by the galls, other than in the aesthetic sense.  (I don't think the trees actually care how they look).  

I bit open the gall to study this fellow who was living inside!

Other updates:

My first mistflowers bloomed yesterday; most aren't in flower yet. 

Primroses -- peak bloom.

The American hazels started turning orange just within the last day or two...

White turtlehead blooming. 

Wild Edibles

Yesterday, I received a text message with a picture of these.  I assumed the question would be "what are they" and I knew the answer to that right away... Cornelian Cherry Dogwood.  They're not native, but are a lovely ornamental small tree, with very early yellow flowers and these bright red, olive-sized and -shaped fruits right now.  I did NOT know the answer to the second question -- are they edible?  Research ensued, and the answer turns out to be YES, they are... though they are a bit sour.  Still, they (supposedly) make a lovely jam or preserve.  As a canner with a sad inability to turn away from free local produce, I apparently have a new weekend project!

Elderberries starting to ripen

These American Hazels are edible by people (with some processing) but you have to beat the squirrels to them at just the right time.  Today I notices a lot of squirrel mess under the bushes... they're not the neatest eaters! 

More Catkins

American hazel catkins are swelling; female flowers starting also.

Which hazel is which?

Vernal witch hazel flowers... So diminutive and lovely, an orange celebration of spring...

Ice Off and More

The ice is off Lake Leopold this morning.  (Ice off date probably 4/2/14, not 4/3...)

Looking at the dates for the past 8 years, we're just about where we were at last year... but last year was late. Interesting... 

2006 -- Mar 10

2007 -- Mar 18

2008 -- Mar 31

2009 -- Mar 9

2010 -- Mar 18

2011 -- Mar 18

2012 -- Feb 22!

2013 -- April 4!

Also, the vernal witchhazel is finally starting to flower!  (I noticed it yesterday, 4/2.  It's behind schedule -- this typically happens in mid-March and in 2012 it happened in late February.)  The flowers are diminutive, but lovely and fragrant if you get up close...  The flowers are yellow-orange and have 4 petals that I think look like streamers/party decorations (for a very tiny party)... Happy Spring!

(Another notable... crocuses in our yard flowering this week -- we noticed on 3/31!  Snowdrops have been flowering for a while -- probably since the snow that was covering them melted!)

March 11

Swollen Alder Catkins Sway in the Breeze

 March 11, five years later, brings with it spring fever.  Today was the first day of the year we could open the windows comfortably, let the air in.  Today was the type of day when bikers wanted to pedal (I assume) and runners to stretch their legs, when paddlers needed to feel the resistance of the open water behind the blade and the breeze on their faces.  Today was the type of day when nature nerds just tilted their heads toward the sky and felt their cheeks warm in the sun, and smiled, and were thankful to be alive.

March 11, 2007, was a lot like this March 11, actually, an early nice day that drew people out.  And it just got nicer as the week progressed.  Most of the water was still frozen that year, this early in March... just the rivers were open and flowing... whereas this year there's not a hint of ice... still...  It's hard to imagine anything bad can happen on a day like this.  The most striking of contradictions, really, between a day and its memory.  I remember a few days later, March 13 or 14 maybe, we went out and walked by the water and it was so warm... it just made your blood flow faster and you couldn't help but be... happy.  Happy, in spite of it, and then sad or guilty to be happy.  But in the end, we know that days like this were the same for him, they must have been, with the pull of the sun and the newly freed lagoons...

Phenologically, today was a day of catkins, with alders and hazels dangling gracefully in the wind. The first female flowers of the American hazel are open, too.

A washed-out picture, but still it shows the catkins, yellow, and the female flowers .

Female Flower, American Hazel

Floral First

Vernal Witch Hazel Flowers Unfurl

Several notable events today... The first flower of 2012 is blooming -- the vernal witch hazels have started decorating for spring's party.  (I think their four petals look like streamers, thus make good party decor.)

We also noticed that crocuses have grown about an inch out of the ground... probably snowdrops, too, though I didn't check.

Finally, there is no ice at all on the lakes today... late last week, some kids in my neighborhood fell through the ice... meaning that it wasn't thick, but there was an ice cover.  Yesterday about half the water area was covered on most lakes, and today, nothing.  This is an early ice-off, as you can see if you look at the dates below.  (The kids were rescued, btw.)

2006 -- Mar 10

2007 -- Mar 18

2008 -- Mar 31

2009 -- Mar 9

2010 -- Mar 18

2011 -- Mar 18

2012 -- Feb 22!

Earth Week Begins in Cold

"Behold! It is the spring-tide of the year.

Over and past is winter's gloomy reign."

These words are sung as part of our Seder, but this year, they seem, somehow... inaccurate. We awoke this morning to 2-3 inches of wet snow which even now isn't completely melted. It isn't uncommon for a spring snow to cover our daffodils... just the last one I recorded happened on April 5 -- a lot earlier in the season. I just hope this is the last!

But things are still moving forward... the yellow blur in the middle of this photo is a goldfinch. Key word: Yellow! That's summer plumage.

Baby Pictures and Other Updates

Spring marches on, and here are some of the floats at the parade today...

Some buds are starting to do more than just swell, they're turning green and scales are splitting. Above, serviceberry (left) and lilac.

Some plants are popping up green shoots, like the rattlesnake master babies shown on the left. And early flower-ers are getting ready. Shown here, prairie smoke buds (photo taken on 4/3) show their pink color. Pasqueflower buds are brown and fuzzy and I'm keeping an eye upon them.

It is a good time for hazels of all sorts. Here is an American hazel twig with its catkins (male flowers) swollen and enlarged, almost blooming. Two tiny female flowers are also visible in the background. Meanwhile, witch hazel is in full bloom, and the bushes are surrounded by a cloud of perfume... a sticky sweet scent that almost makes me dizzy. Sigh... the internet is good, but there are some things you still have to experience in person...

I found this egg shell today which we believe to be a mourning dove egg based on size, color, and timing. It wasn't especially near a nest of any sort (that I could find).
And finally... our first daffodils! These are extremely precocious, as it were... most are about 6 inches tall with no hint of flowers opening yet. Some are significantly shorter depending on sun/soil conditions. These blooming ones are right next to a building, which perhaps provides them with heat? (My uncle, 30 miles south, within an urban heat bubble, and steps from the shore of Lake Michigan, reported seeing daffodils over the weekend. My dad, in England... so thousands of miles to the east, quite a bit north, and under the influence of some ocean currents that obviously don't bless us here... sent pictures of daffodils over a month ago!)

Tour de Spring

This time of year, I have a little route that I walk to check on the trees/shrubs that I know are going to do things soon. Today was an eventful day on my tour de spring. Before I even got to my first tree, I heard the distinctive, comb-plucking sound of chorus frogs chorusing. Yea! Froggies!

The silver maple (above) was flowering. They flower from the top down, and it was over the weekend I noticed the top flowers in bloom, but I can't reach those to photograph, or even confirm. But by today, the lower buds had started to open, as well.

Then I check the American hazels, whose girl-flowers are so tiny most people would never notice them. (Notice the size of my fingers behind them). Their bright pink color is a treat, though, if you're one of the folks inclined to look closely. They were just starting today, only some of them... and the catkins aren't even swelling at all yet.

Finally, I check the alders, which have excitement in both the girl-flower and the boy-flower world. The catkins, as you can see to the left, are even greener than last week, and left a chartreuse pollen print on my brown jacket... though they're not yet pollen-y enough to make yellow clouds when tapped.

And the tiny pink female flowers, the future cones, have also changed since last week. (Oh, the trees, they are a-changin'... never mind, I shouldn't have gone there.)

My add-on at 5:00 pm...

In the bird world, I saw buffleheads... which is the best duck name ever... and possibly some other diving ducks that were too far away to ID (but, they could have been more buffles). Had to pull a crazy driving maneuver and get out of the car to get pictures. And this is the pair of birds that are apparently nesting in my neighbor's house. Which I think is totally awesome, but only because it isn't my house. I probably shouldn't have posted a picture of someone else's house, but it's so cute, and it's not like you can tell the address, and I'm pretty sure they don't read my blog. Bird nerds, please ID the birdies for me!

I love it, every day something new!!! Finally! (Although I hear that tomorrow's new development may be wintry weather, too bad after a lovely today!)