(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Daily Bucket - madronas and thrushes [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-19 October 11, 2023 Pacific Northwest We had an hour or so to wait at the ferry dock last week so I strolled around the rocky headland above the holding lane for a bit. Some bedrock had to be blasted to create space for traffic lanes, leaving a steep cliff, on which vegetation has readily colonized. Looking downhill toward ferry dock loading area Mosses, licorice ferns (that’s what TruckFern is), the saxifrages Alumroot and Fringecup, dewberry vines, and a few baby madronas Pacific Madrona, Arbutus menziesii, is common and abundant in dry rocky sites like this up here in the islands. Madrona roots penetrate the tiniest cracks in bedrock, finding anchorage and using the water that seeps in. As their roots grow though they lever open the cracks, breaking off chunks of bedrock. Some years back falling rock landed on the sidewalk by the holding lane and it took a while to secure the area (cones, tape etc). All the madrona trees growing out of the rock wall were cut back at that time. They’ll need to do that again one of these days. A view across the traffic lanes gives a sense of how common madronas are in this kind of site. The red bark of madronas stands out in contrast to the greyish brown of our conifers, and a few Big leaf maples down where soil has accumulated. Madronas are our only evergreen broadleaf trees. The maples, willows and alders are dropping foliage now, as are most of the local shrubs like oceanspray, salmonberry, snowberry. Besides the reddish bark, madronas also stand out by their curvy shape. Our firs, pines and cedars are more telephone-pole shaped. These trees were all growing on top of the cliff wall, between the ferry lanes and the ocean. Older madrona bark is darker and built up. Younger trunks and branches shed their thin red outer layer each summer revealing a green inner layer which gradually turns red over the fall and winter. Madrona berries are orangey red too, maturing from faint greenish pink to deep bright red. Ripening madrona berries Madrona bark and berries aren’t only bright orangey red in the woods. There was a lot of busy birdy activity in the trees, most notably flashes of bright Varied thrushes hopping amongst the madrona branches. Their characteristic calls subtly penetrate the woods seemingly from every direction, an ethereal burry harmonic tone in a minor key. I couldn’t see all the thrushes but there were lots of them. Varied thrushes are winter birds here, coming down to the lowlands after their summer nesting season up in the mountains. The arrive here in the islands at exactly the time madrona berries start to ripen. Male Varied thrush Female Varied thrush Brief video (13 sec) video of a thrush munching madrona berries. Given how long it takes berries to mature, she will find ripe berries into winter, as will her cousins, the robins. . Who else was active at the dock that day? Several Townsend’s chipmunks, a busy time for them. A chippie forages for seeds to provision its den. I haven’t seen them collect madrona berries (but who knows…they have a versatile diet). Chippies don’t hibernate here but they slow down and snooze much of the winter — I never see them from November to March. Our chippies may find the calls of the Varied thrushes a sweet lullaby through the winter season. 🍂 THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/19/2199811/-The-Daily-Bucket-madronas-and-thrushes?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/