The good news is the days are growing longer; not by much but it starts to add up about now, luckily, because it has been quite dark and rainy for a while. Rainy and warmish in the lowlands since our brief and minor snow event, that rain has been mostly snow in the mountains and the snowpack is reassuring. Right now, Stevens Pass has 84″ and Snoqualmie Pass has 72″ on the ground.
The rabbits have spread out for the winter as they must go further afield for food. This time of year they’re eating the bark off all sorts of woody plants throughout campus. Seems we will have to come up with a management plan for a lot of green spaces on campus and throughout the city. The hardware cloth has been working in the medicinal herb garden and I can think of no better option, so expect to see more of it.
Speaking of rabbits, at least one of them seems to have a sweet tooth.
A fellow gardener (thanks Steve!) donated a section of a hollow log that was filled with honeycomb from a honeybee hive. So we put it in a wooded corner of the garden and I set up the game camera to see what animals might be interested.
No luck with Sasquatch, but Honey Bunny made an appearance.
The honey trough proved to be irresistible. Who doesn’t like honey?
After the honey was depleted, I moved the camera to another part of campus, a place known to be frequented by a certain coyote (Canis latrans) who slips in and out through a five inch gap in the fence.
The glowing pile in the middle of the photos is coyote feces. And that specter trotting past in the background is the coyote. That’s the one and only shot of the trickster….
…but another trickster was fascinated by the camera and made many visits to investigate. Good old crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos).
Alex Honnold is probably the most famous free soloist. But think of all the unsung dirtbaggers who go about their business away from the limelight. Choosing to go unaided by wings, this little bumblebee (Bombus sp.) made slow but steady progress up one of the boulders in section C.
I couldn’t bear the suspense but I have a feeling s/he made it.
Still around and eating rabbits, the barred owls (Strix varia) continue to be a
welcome sight around the garden. Get ‘er done, bird.
An owl or coyote got what does not remain of this rabbit on the eastern edge of the garden.
Townsend’s warblers (Setophaga townsendi) can sometimes be seen around here in winter. This one was foraging on the ground in section D.
The jujube/suan zao ren tree (Zizyphus jujube var. spinosa) near the bus stop finally got its top clear of the surrounding foliage and into the sun, producing a nice crop.
Here’s a small sample of the fruit. They start out green, then turn a light orangish, brownish, burnt umberish color.
That’s the catch-up news. It’s seed starting/ordering/distribution time. At this very moment, the flowers are beginning to open on the Indian plums (Oemleria cerasiformis) around Cascara Circle. Almost time to break out the sunscreen…or not.
overwintering
animals working harder
plants taking a break
See you in the garden.