What to See This Week

Sycamores, especially younger trees, are standing out right now due to their stipules. Stipules are small leaflike appendages that can be found at the base of the leafstalk on certain plants. Those stipules sometimes hang on a little longer than the leaves themselves.

Ginkgo trees are known to drop all their leaves simultaneously, typically after a frost. This is because in ginkgoes, the abscission layers form quickly and all at once. The abscission layer is like a barrier that forms where the leaves break off from the twig. Around The Arboretum you can find many ginkgo trees with a blanket of yellow leaves beneath them.

This time of year means frosty mornings! Blackberry brambles around The Arboretum’s natural areas are still holding onto their bright red leaves, this morning with the addition of a fringe of frost.

As more trees lose their leaves, last year’s bird nests are being revealed. Some can be hard to differentiate but certain species can be distinguished by the materials used or construction of the nest. Pictured here is a vireo nest. Vireos build their nests to hang within the fork of a branch, making them easy to pick out.

Dutch Fork Wetlands has a lot of life throughout the winter. Whenever the wetland pools aren’t frozen there’s a chance to spot waterfowl and songbirds are occupying the area through the season. This robin was feeding on fruits near the edge of the water.

While walking around Dutch Fork Wetlands you are likely to hear birds and other small animals rustling around in the grass or trees. Although this little bird may look like a typical sparrow you’d see in our area, this is a visitor for the winter! This is a fox sparrow, one of our largest sparrows and a rich reddish brown coloration. While they could stop by whenever during the nonbreeding season, I haven’t spotted one at The Arboretum for a few years. Keep your eyes peeled as one was even spotted in the Bird Watching Garden!

The Bird Watching Garden continues to be a popular place with birds at The Arboretum. This week features a male and a female dark-eyed junco to compare them side by side. Both male and female dark-eyed juncos have a pale pink beak and a white belly. Males like the one pictured here has a much darker upper side leading to a much higher contrast bird.

On the other hand, female juncos are overall more pale. They have much more brown tones in their coloration alongside the gray. Throughout the winter, especially on cold mornings, it is not unheard of to have a flock of up to 20 juncos visiting the Bird Watching Garden at once.