Fun at work

We got a radio call that there was "a cool hawk on bird hill," so my coworker and I went up to look. We crept up quietly and found this juvenile red-tailed hawk standing on top of the barred owl cage, gazing hungrily down at the owl's uneaten food (dead mice).



( and then what happened? )

the 365 project

The real good thing about the 365 project is that it has me looking at living things I used to ignore: trees, for example, I didn't pay too much attention to. Now I scrutinize every tree for its "365-ness" and as a result, I'm learning and appreciating trees more. For example, there's a tree on the shore of Jamaica pond that has an almost horizontal trunk. I've climbed out onto it, over the water, more than once, just because of the way it grows begs for it. If you had asked me a month ago what kind of tree it was, I would have answered with a blank stare. This past Sunday, I started to climb on it and thought "Oh my god, it's a river birch." In fact, this weekend I saw dozens of river birches, in yards, along parts of the river I don't go often, and in more urban areas of the suburban towns. I'm glad I had an entry on river birches: they really are an urban species, and now I appreciate them more.

Urban Species by streetlight

This was an experiment, to see if I could get decent pictures with my camera at night, by streetlight. These were taken in the Fenway, in the Victory Garden.

( Phragmites and Weeping Willow )

365 Urban Species. #052: Norway Spruce

Urban species #052: Norway spruce Picea abies

The Norway spruce is the most widely planted spruce tree in North America. It grows quickly, has a pyramidal shape that people find attractive, and thrives in most of the continent. In fact the Norway spruce is considered naturalized, meaning, it "persists without cultivation," or in other words, can reproduce and establish itself. It is not yet considered invasive, but it is being scrutinized for invasive properties, in Canada, Maryland, Tennessee, and Hawaii.

Norway spruce is chosen for city landscaping because of its attractiveness, and because it tolerates urban conditions. Several Norway spruces are often planted along a property line as a windbreak. It is also a popular choice as a Christmas tree: there is one erected in New York City every year, at Rockefeller Center. (The living Christmas tree in Washington D.C. is a blue spruce.)

Norway spruce can be identified at a distance by the shape of its branches. The bottom most branches swoop up, and toward the top the branches sprout branchlets that droop down. Their cones are on the longest of the spruces, up to eight inches long.

It's greatest value to wildlife is cover, especially in winter. Few native animals find its foliage palatable, but chickadees and some other birds feed on the seeds. Hawks and owls are known to hunt from Norway spruce vantage points, and mourning doves sometimes build nests in the dense prickly cover of spruce boughs.

( a couple more pictures )