By LESLIE BISHOP, guest columnist
Autumn at our house is dramatic.
Every year, squirrels climb the tall shagbark hickory that towers over our house and pick the chunky nuts. They don’t just toss the nuts to the ground; they throw them hard against our roof, which includes our skylights. With loud bangs that inevitably illicit alarm in us as well as the cats and the dog, the nuts bounce off the roof and the hulls break open for easy collection.
It is funny to watch how the chipmunks have learned the squirrels’ pattern. While the squirrels are still in the tree, the chipmunks dart out and quickly gather the hickory nuts and rush to hide them under the deck.
The birds, too, are enjoying the bounty of fall. An old dogwood tree grows in our back yard, and its canopy is at eye level from the window of our bedroom on the second floor. In late September, clusters of bright red berries adorn the tree and entice migrant as well as resident birds.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]I have always noticed that birds were eating the berries, but this year I really paid attention. I stationed myself in the bedroom window with my camera and binoculars to watch and record the feast.
Every day a progression of visitors showed up at the dogwood. Birds I normally hear and don’t see: Scarlet Tanagers and Wood Thrushes. Birds fueling up for their migration: Swainson’s Thrushes, and warblers too difficult to identify. Birds taking advantage of berries that dropped to the ground: Northern Flicker, American Robins and Eastern Towhees. Other birds that I have watched all summer dipped in for a taste: Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Cardinals, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers.
At times, the activity was frenetic, with birds darting in and out for juicy berries. And of course, the chipmunk was busy on the ground, snatching berries that had been knocked down.
Throughout the seasons the dogwood has provided habitat and food for numerous animals. This tree is old and gnarled with two main trunks. One trunk is partially hollowed and has small cavities created by wood boring beetles. Small spiders have moved into those holes and lined them with silk. An orb web spider has created a large web extending from the dogwood to the house.
In the spring, small solitary bees visit the flowers to collect pollen. In the summer, the caterpillars of two species of azure butterflies munch on the leaves. And now in the fall, its ripe berries are feeding the birds.
Dogwood berries have high lipid content, which is especially important as fuel for migrating birds. If any berries are left, they will also provide an important food source for birds in winter when alternatives are scarce.
Back in my perch at the upstairs window, I see that the tree is now stripped of its fruit. The ground below is littered with whole and bits of red berries dropped from hungry mouths.
This year’s feast is over, but the tree will continue giving. The changing leaves will offer a splash of red outside our window, the branches and trunks continue to be safe haven for numerous invertebrates, and the swelling flower buds provide the promise of spring.
Leslie Bishop is a Brown County resident and retired biology professor from Earlham College. She can be reached through the newspaper at [email protected].
