3/19/11 OF BIRDS, BARK AND THE COURTS

BLACK WILLOW BARK

ORANGE BARK OF THE SCOTCH PINE

BEAUTIFUL JAPANESE CHERRY BARK

Saturday, 8:15 AM.  24  degrees, wind W, calm.  The sky is mostly cloudless and the sun will quickly warm the day.  This is the weather, below freezing at night and warm and sunny during the day, that makes the maple sap run.  There is still plenty of snow in the woods, and unless it melts considerably by next weekend we will be wearing snowshoes in the Larsen sugar bush.
    Many of the birds are becoming more territorial and are looking for nesting sights. A pileated  woodpecker raised one heck of a ruckus in the woods yesterday, drumming loudly on a hollow trunk and emitting fierce cries that carried a half mile or more. The morning doves are acting very domestic.
    Continuing on the subject of distinctive tree bark, the huge old black willows have a deeply furrowed black bark that is hard to miss, and the orange bark of the Scotch pine is a sure identifying characteristic, even from a goodly distance.  Many cherries have very decorative bark, such as this Japanese cherry with its smooth, copper colored, exfoliating bark.  Cherries also have small, horizontal slits in the bark called lenticels, another distinguishing characteristic.
    On the Wisconsin political front, the battle between liberals and conservatives has moved from the legislature to the courts, where the former may win a significant battle, as our judges, many educated at the University of Wisconsin, tend to be liberals and progressives.  It will be a long drawn out fight I am afraid, and in the meantime the state will sink further into insolvency.