Visibility and Invisibility

Rain was gently falling by the time I reached the forest. Damp clusters of poplar seeds polka-dotted the forest floor.  Because of the rain, few birds were singing, and no insects were out.  I had forgotten my camera, but probably would not have used it in any case.  I would have to look closely to find anything new compared to my last visit two weeks ago!  Especially since the precipitation was probably going to make my visit only about half as long as the last one (one hour, compared to 2 hours).

I did notice that a few new plants were in bloom - Anemones, a few purple peavines, a few early blooming asters - probably fleabanes, and northern bedstraw. It is not as well known as many cultivated flowers, but Northern bedstraw has one of my favourite fragrances.  I also noticed a few more mushroom blooms - some were flat-topped, light brown in the centre and dark brown at the edges, and others had tall domed caps - some of those were brown, and others closer to white.  High bush cranberry blooms appeared to have closed, and there were small green berries on the trees.

I walked here and there, seeking a spot where I might be invited to spend some time sitting on future visits. One possibility was a relatively open area with a lot of woodland horsetail growing.  Just beyond this spot I met a few medium sized spruce trees, with webs hanging from almost every branch.  I also saw one tree there that looked like a Manitoba maple, that had been truncated to clear the path I was on, and had multiple suckers growing from the tall stump.  I see lots of these in Mill Creek ravine, but the unusual tree shape looked out of place in this forest.  I found another possible sit spot where a trail dead-ended, and there were a few logs and trees with thick trunks.

At one point, I saw a small sparrow sized bird fly across the path in front of me, but it was not flying like a sparrow, but rather something like a very large bumblebee.  It  also did not sound like a sparrow, but was making softer seep like sounds.  Another one flew across the path, then another, and then the mother grouse flew over, and I realized they were fledgling grouse!  What a treat to see them, and how well hidden they were under the foliage before my tromping flushed them out.

While walking along a path I had walked last week, I spotted a nest in a tree next to the path, about 4 metres up on the branch of what looked to be a Manitoba Maple.  Goes to show that if you keep visiting the same spot, you’ll start to notice things that were always there, but you didn’t see at first.  It was a medium sized cup nest, woven with mostly grasses and stems of small plants.  Now the mystery is to learn whose nest it is!

As I was about to exit the forest, I felt an invitation from a peavine to take in some of the living water from one of its leaves.  I clumsily dislodged the water droplet from the leaf that was first calling me, and tried again successfully with a leaf next to that one.  Wonderfully vitalizing!  I did feel some reproach from the peavine though, as if to say “you had one chance - be more careful next time, and don’t assume you can take a second if you muffed the first!”  Plants are like people - they all have their personalities, some more easy going, and some stricter, and navigating boundaries and permission is always a dance.

I can’t conclude this article without touching on the buckthorn.  Kelly had asked me to mark the locations of European Buckthorn on a map, so EALT volunteers could remove them the next time they paid a visit.  I said I would consider it, but in the end I declined, saying “it feels a bit rude to be marking trees to be killed when I am only just introducing myself to the community.”  This is not to say that I am opposed to the project.  I have never owned land, so I wouldn’t presume to tell a landowner how to manage their property.  Nor am I an ecologist, so I am in no position to gainsay the ecologists; I’m sure they have their reasons for removing European Buckthorn from a forest.  I am considering only what is appropriate for my own chosen role as someone who engages with ecologies rather than studying them.

“I’ll say hi to the buckthorn if I see them!” I said to Kelly as she dropped me off at the entrance to the forest, and she laughed.  I didn’t see any though - perhaps they heard the news and are hiding.

Pile of European Buckthorn