Paper Birch Seeds Dispersing
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera), also called White Birch, produces separate male and female flowers on the same tree, both in the form of catkins (cylindrical clusters of flowers). The catkins form in the fall and overwinter in a dormant state. In the spring they mature as the leaves develop, becoming pendulous. Male catkins are 2-4 inches long, whereas female catkins are usually 1–2 inches long. Both male and female flowers lack petals, enhancing wind pollination. After fertilization occurs, the male catkins wither away, while the female catkins droop downward and become cone-like.
The mature female catkins consist of tiny winged nutlets that are located behind three-lobed, hardened, modified leaves called bracts. Both winged seeds and bracts are usually dispersed by the wind during the fall and early winter. Birch bracts are species-specific — different species of birch have different-shaped bracts, allowing one to identify the species of birch that a bract comes from. Those of Paper Birch (pictured) look somewhat like soaring birds.
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Where Do Foxes Sleep In The Winter?
If you pick up just about any book on Red Fox behavior, you will read that as a general rule they do not seek shelter when they sleep, even during cold winter nights. They are more apt to sleep in an open, exposed area unless the wind is blowing hard, in which case they will find a protected spot such as their den (see inset). In most winter conditions they typically choose a slightly elevated patch of ground, curl up in a ball, tuck their noses under their tails and sleep with nothing more between them and the elements than a dense coat of hair.
When they sleep, foxes only do so for 15 – 25 seconds at a time, waking up and looking around before going back to sleep. In dense cover, a fox allows itself to go into a deeper sleep, waking every hour or so to look and listen for potential danger. (Photos: Red Fox bed at base of tree; (inset) Red Fox den, revisited after the first winter storm.)
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Irruption Year For Pine Siskins
As their name implies, Pine Siskins feed on the seeds of pines and other conifers, including spruce, larch and hemlock. They also consume the seeds of deciduous trees such as birch and alder. Pine Siskins, along with other northern species of birds, can irrupt southward in years when there is a shortage of food in their home range.
In part because conifer seed production is poor to fair across most of Canada’s boreal forest, New England, as well as much of North America, is seeing an influx of Pine Siskins this winter. In fact, it’s one of the biggest irruption years in recorded history for these small finches. As a rule, Pine Siskins migrate only during the day. However, for only the second time in recorded history, they have been observed migrating in significantly large numbers at night. Even with COVID-19 keeping you close to home, you’re likely to see a Pine Siskin this year if you keep an eye on conifers, birches and feeders filled with nyjer seed.
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The Feathered Legs & Feet of Snowy Owls
Snowy Owls, inhabitants of the Arctic, are not only well camouflaged but well insulated with their feathers. Their exceptional density make Snowy Owls North America’s heaviest owl. Weighing in at about four and a half pounds, they are about a pound heavier than Great Horned Owls and almost twice the weight of Great Gray Owls (North America’s tallest owl).
Most species of owls have densely-feathered legs (exceptions being owls living in southern regions such as Barn Owls, Burrowing Owls, and some tropical species). Snowy Owls have exceptionally thick feathering on their legs and feet. The toe feathers of a Snowy Owl are the longest known of any owl, averaging 1.3 inches – in comparison, the Great Horned Owl’s (which has the second longest toe feathers) are a mere .5 inch. In addition to their insulative quality, the feet and leg feathers may also serve to sense contact with prey and to protect against prey that might bite when seized.
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Needle Ice
Most of us have seen “needle ice” but are unsure of how it is formed. James Carter, former professor of geology and geography at Illinois State University, describes its formation in the following way. “On cold nights at the beginning of winter, when temperatures just barely sink below freezing, the ground will stay slightly warmer than the air above. That means that any water in the ground… will remain liquid. In certain soils, though, water that’s in the ground gets sucked upward rather than sinking down. This is a result of capillary action: the adhesion of water molecules to the walls of a very narrow tube will cause the liquid to be drawn upward despite the pull of gravity.“
Certain soil contains particular kinds of pebbles that contain pores just wide enough to allow capillary action to occur. Water in the ground is drawn upward through the pores until it hits the air. Then it freezes. As more water is drawn up, it freezes as it hits the air and pushes the newly formed needle of ice outward, resulting in the curls of ice growing out of the ground at this time of year.
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Owls & Eyelids
All birds have three eyelids – like humans, they have an upper and lower eyelid. Owls are among the only birds that have a larger upper eyelid than lower eyelid. They are the only birds that blink like humans, by dropping their upper eyelids. But when owls sleep, they close their eyes the way other birds do—by raising the lower lids.
Beneath the two outer eyelids birds have a translucent nictitating membrane, sometimes called a “third eyelid.” This membrane sweeps across the cornea from the inside corner of the eye to the outer edge of the eye. It moistens and cleans the cornea, especially in flight. It is also drawn across the eye when there is a chance the eye might be scratched or damaged such as when capturing prey, flying through brush or feeding their young.
In summation, one could say that owls have three eyelids for each eye: one for blinking (upper), one for sleeping (lower), and one for keeping their eyes clean and protected (nictitating). (Photo: Snowy Owl sleeping, with lower eyelids raised.)
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Walking Fern
Walking Fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum) is a very distinctive looking fern, having leathery arching leaf blades which end in a long, tapering tip. This evergreen fern is often found growing in large colonies on moss-covered limestone rocks. The derivation of its common name is what makes this plant so unusual — the leaf blades are capable of rooting at their tips and forming new plants at some distance from the parent plant, making it look as if the fern is “walking” over the rocks it grows on. While extinct in Maine and critically imperiled in New Hampshire and Rhode Island, it is locally abundant in much of the rest of New England.
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