They Won’t Change Their Behavior

 

This is the time of year when the fruits of the exotic Nandina domestica shrub are particularly noticeable and reminders go out from conservation groups to remove the fruits (and even the shrubs) to protect birds. Shrubs like these were recommended in the past to support fruit-loving birds – called frugivores – during the winter. So why now the change to remove them to protect birds?

Cedar Waxwing

The advisement is primarily to protect Cedar Waxwing birds, a Georgia winter resident that sometimes gorges on abundant fruits. The fruits of nandina contain cyanide and other alkaloids. In small quantities, it appears that most birds are not harmed but there have been several incidents in Georgia (Decatur and Thomas County) specifically where Cedar Waxwings have died. It is generally understood that poisoning occurs when the fruit is ingested in large quantities, such as when gorging.

Some people think this harm is overhyped – that the number of reported cases is too low. However, it takes a lot of effort to determine what killed a bird, assuming someone reported the deaths to begin with. So it is very likely that the deaths are underreported. Some people have even suggested it's the birds fault. 

Bottom line: these birds aren’t going to change the way they feed (i.e., gorging occasionally) in our lifetime so using nandina and hoping for a different outcome isn’t a viable approach. We have the big brain. It’s up to us to do the right thing.

Nandina domestica

I should also mention this plant is tracked as an invasive species in Georgia, capable of creating new populations thanks to spread by wildlife. I pull out 2-3 new seedlings per year in my yard; if all 47 homes in my neighborhood also got two new seedlings per year that would be 98 new plants per year in just my neighborhood.

In addition to those two reasons for avoiding this plant, know that if you instead use a regionally native plant, you’ll be contributing to the ecosystem and likely providing more support for birds even if that plant doesn’t have fruit. If you’re planting shrubs specifically for fruit, choose something else.  

There you have it: 3 reasons to get rid of nandina in your garden (or avoid adding it). When we know better, we can do better.

January 2024 Moment in Nature

It's been a cold week here and I've not spent much time outside. Yet even the walk to the mailbox can bring a moment of joy in the nature around us. During this relatively dull period, the sounds of winter birds are more noticeable when there are fewer visual distractions.

One of my favorites is the brown-headed nuthatch. While they are considered year-round residents, I seem to notice them more in the winter and early spring. Their squeaky calls are very unique. They are out and about this week and their busy sounds are my #momentinnature for this month.

If you'd like to hear them, this video on YouTube captures the sound perfectly.

A Backyard Year (the book)

 

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year is a new book by Margaret Renkl. While I usually read her essays in The New York Times where she is a guest columnist, I was interested in reading this because it is a seasonal compilation of many of those essays as well as new ones. Many of you may have noticed that my own blog is a seasonal effort, and I have considered publishing some of my favorites in a similar compilation.

With that perspective in mind, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I like the way she groups the essays into the seasons as well as mixing in new bits called ‘Praise Song’ (some of these inserts are only a paragraph, so ‘bits’ seems like a good description). The NY Times describes her as a “writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South,” and her flora/fauna essays often mix in some of that Southern culture because, well, life is so very intertwined. As a result, I find the stories to be a pleasure to read on several levels, including with humor (in particular, see page 39).

One of the review comments on the jacket is worth repeating: “Margaret Renkl has the mind of a naturalist and the soul of a poet. Let this magnificent devotional be your eye-opening, heart-expanding daily companion, and it will change how you see the world.” We need more of that “change how you see the world” inspiration in our life. The monthly #momentinnature posts that I started in January 2021 have been an attempt to inspire readers to see the everyday world around us. [I was in turn inspired by a friend who has been doing it for much longer (we should all pass along inspiration!).]

Margaret Renkl's stories illustrate that nature can be such a part our daily lives. If we let it be. If we cultivate it. If we notice it. And that is the way it should be. In our yards.

Here is a nice interview with the author about the book.

Hike Local: Stone Mountain Park

 

Winter hikes can be useful for kids during the winter break so we took our 5-year old grandson to hike the walk-up trail at Stone Mountain this week during his school break. He was interested in all the rocks (examining small bits of it for minerals), but I was interested to see what plants I could recognize so this blog is about what I found on what is called the walk-up trail that goes to the top of the mountain.

Winter can be a challenge for identifying plants that have gone dormant. However, many of them leave clues behind (dried leaves, distinctive twigs, even a few tardy leaves, plus fruit and seeds) and I found enough clues to keep me busy (and lagging behind while the youngster raced ahead with my husband).

Quercus georgiana

Quercus georgiana

The first plant that caught my attention was Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana). This lower-growing species of oak is endemic to granite outcrops. Most of the plants were still holding onto dried leaves but I found a couple that still had good green-red leaves. Next I spotted the first of what would be many populations of sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum). Many of them still had a few reddish leaves and had fruit on the branches. Apologies for the blur; those little berries make it tough for the camera to focus.

Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)

Winged elm (Ulmus alata)

Winged elm (Ulmus alata) is common there but this particular individual really caught my attention; these wings are huge! At first I thought it might be a sweet gum, which also has winged twigs, but the very slender twigs encased in these wings were a clue it was the elm. Many plants are off to the edges of the trail where plants have created small woodland communities in the cracks of the rocks in soil created over time by plant debris. I spotted this small fern several times there; I think it is a marginal fern (Dryopteris marginalis) which is reported to be in the park and can be somewhat evergreen.

Fern with native goldenrod (left) and grass (below)

Pines are all around the trail (there’s even a huge one in the middle, sharing a large crack with an oak tree). Four species are reported in the park: loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), and pitch pine (Pinus rigida). This tree at the top of the mountain was quite stunted; it is probably Virginia pine or shortleaf.

Here are a couple of photos to show perspective: the youngster running up the trail and the view from the top with protected lichens (behind the fence) with a view of Atlanta in the background.

Note: For a good reference book for plants found in association with granite outcrops, see the book “Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops” by William Murdy and Eloise Carter.

Hike Local posts are an occasional feature in this blog (find the previous ones here) about hikes that are fairly local to the metro Atlanta area. My focus is on the plants that I found along the way.

Graffiti dating to at least 1899 is visible on the walk-up trail. I wonder if this one was meant to illustrate the Georgia oak. Do those look like acorns on the tips of branches to you?