Top Photo: Great blue heron with fluffed out neck feathers. Great blue herons (GBHs) are not as regular visitors as they once were, so it’s nice to see one in our wetlands. Things are changing rapidly. Seasonal colors peak and fall. Don’t miss it. Don’t miss a minute of it.Read more
Posts tagged: #Groundsel Tree
Seeds
Airborne seed dispersal is an efficient way to get the next generation off to a good start far from the original. Considering an acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, that’s quite a feat for a stationary plant (acorns may be carried miles from the mother tree by birds, such as bluejays, but that’s another story). In both photos above and below groundsel tree (a shrub) lets loose its seeds via the wind. A puff of wind is all youRead more
Seed Dispersal
Top Photo: Wind-borne seed dispersal groundsel tree. In my last post I mentioned at least one method in which plants manage to get from one place to another. “Perhaps a bird visiting the garden where the original plant was, or is still growing, ate one or several of the fruit. Passing by the Museum, the bird landed in one of the locust trees, depositing seeds in its droppings beneath the tree. The vine sprang up where the seed-laced droppings fell.” Indeed, IRead more
Great Blue, the Moon, Seeds Ready to Fly, a new Ode, and a Returnee
Hidden most of the day, our Great Blue Heron can often be seen on the far side of the Wetlands waiting for us humans to leave for the day. The skies were clear most of last week providing the opportunity to see the waxing gibbous moon each morning. Groundsel Tree is nearly ready to cast its seeds to the wind. Last week I spotted a new species of dragonfly here at the Museum, a Blue-faced Meadowhawk. I see Autumn MeadowhawksRead more
Boys and Girls and Turtles and Myrtles
Groundsel Tree is in bloom, both male and female plants have flowers at this time. A few small diameter logs have drifted over towards the Wetlands Overlook and the sliders have taken to basking on the logs. There’s a frog on the log! Myrtle Warblers (you may know them as Butter Butts) are in. I saw the first one here at the Museum last Saturday (10/6). Besides the butter butts, both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and other migrantsRead more
Groundsel is letting loose
At the beginning of the week, the blustery winds and rain sent an abundance of leaves to air, settling on the paths, woodlands, and on the water’s surface in the Wetlands. Yesterday (11/18) it was Groundsel Tree’s turn, but this time it’s the seeds that are being spread over the landscape. Groundsel Tree (Baccharis halimifolia), Siverling, Sea Myrtle, Saltbush, whatever you prefer to call it, is native to coastal marshes. But, you may have noticed it’s white billowing flowers andRead more