Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Food When They Need It

This house finch is chowing down with gusto, when most foods are covered with a blanket of snow. This is one of the ash trees in our yard, and though it is little known as a food source for wildlife, ash provides valuable sustenance for birds during the winter when snow is on the ground. Our trees typically shed their seed in January, but if you look closely, you will see many clipped wings, because they have been picked off the trees by our feathered friends.



Catalpa is an under-appreciated tree, and the cigar-like seed pods contain hundreds and hundreds of winged seeds that fall in late winter. They have just begun to fall in Southern Illinois. I saw the first seed on January 31, and today they seem to be everywhere I look.





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