Bloodroot

Dear Lilliputian ,

This beauty grows up out of the leaf debris cuddled in its own leaves .

As it warms up the flower part of the this plant pushes up and beyond the leaves . 

The Bloodroot  plant is interesting to me for several reasons . One of the reasons is its name and the reason for it . If you dig up the root of  the Bloodroot , it does indeed look bloody . Yuk . . . I know , but let me show you a photo of it . If you like ... you can click on the photo and see it closer . Just remember if you see this plant in your woods don't let the juice from this plant get on you it can be irritating to your skin .

Another fascinating thing about this flower is the way their seeds get planted . There are many ways that seeds get planted . Some seeds actually dig themselves into the ground , other seeds explode from their seed pod like the Witch Hazel , and some grow fuzz or fluff so that they can float on the wind to find a nice place to grow like the Dandelion . The Bloodroot seed is planted by Ants . 

There is something called elaiosome that is on the outside of the seed that Ants love to eat . The Ant brings the seed back to its home in the ground and places it in one of the rooms in his long underground tunnels . When the Ants get hungry they go and eat the fleshy elaiosome . . . but they don't eat the seed , they just leave the actual seed in its new underground home . Now you know when you plant a seed . . . you dig a little hole and place the seed in it and then you cover it over with some dirt so it is underground . When the Bloodroot seeds develop this Spring in the flower I showed you up above . . . it will wait for an Ant to come along and bring it underground where it will rest until next Spring and that is when it will start to grow into a new Bloodroot plant .

Isn't it fun to learn all these nature secrets ? 

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Lets see . . . I think a book you might like to read is The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers . . . it may not be at your library but you can ask your librarian to get one for you . It is a beautiful children's picture book . 

Hummingbirds

Dear Lilliputian ,

This little Ruby Throat Hummingbird weighs about 3 . 5 grams . . . Do you know how much a nickel weighs ? A nickel weighs 4 grams . Go ask your parents if  they have a nickel and see for yourself how little a nickel weighs and then try to imagine that this little bird weighs less than the nickel . 

Can you guess why they are called Hummingbirds ?  It is because they flap their wings so fast that the wings make a humming noise . Another fascinating thing about this little bird is they have very weak feet . . . they can't walk on the ground or hop like other birds but they can hold on tight to a branch or scoot sideways along a perch at a Hummingbird Feeder . 

You can see how small their little nest is if you click on this photo . . . It is usually built way up in a tree and it is made of Lichen and tree bark on the outside and plant fibers and plant down on the inside . When I took this photo of a Hummingbird nest that someone gave me , I put it near some Lichen that is growing on the tree . The Hummingbird will pull the Lichen off the tree to finish the outside of her nest . The nest when it is first built is actually smaller than the one above . The mother Hummingbird and the baby Hummingbirds push and push on the sides of the nest to make it bigger as they grow .  If you would like to see two live baby Hummingbirds in their very tight little nest click on the link below . These little Hummingbirds live in California so you can not see them first thing in the morning because it is still dark in California at that time . Just wait a few hours and then peek in on these baby Hummingbirds .

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/bella-hummingbird-nest

I have been watching these two little Hummingbirds since they were eggs . . . When they hatched  their beaks looked like other baby bird beaks . . . but as they grow so does their beak . They sort of remind me of Pinocchio . Everyday their beaks seem a little longer . 

In the book  The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett there is a young boy who knows a lot about nature .  His name is Dickon Soweby . . . you may enjoy this book .

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Skunk Cabbage

Dear Lilliputian ,

Today I went down to the river and saw Skunk Cabbage growing everywhere . It is one of the earliest plants to start growing in New England . It starts to push up through the cold wet snow in February . It is called Skunk Cabbage because of the way the leaves smell when you break or step on them . It smells very skunky ! The flower is a very strange looking part of this plant . 

Inside a maroon sort of hood there is a yellow ball with little clumps of tiny yellow flowers growing all over it . If you click on the photo above you can probably see them better . This part of the flower is very warm . Even when it is very cold outside , inside that maroon hood the yellow ball of flowers is about as warm as your home . Birds , frogs , and even early bees have been known to cuddle up to this yellow ball to keep warm on cold Spring nights . Most people don't know this about the Skunk Cabbage but the birds , frogs , and bees do and I think they try to keep it a secret . 

If you are interested in stories about nature you might like to read a book or two by an author named Thornton Burgess . He lived in Sandwich on Cape Cod and there is a museum there . I read Bowser the Hound to my children , and I have heard Old Mother West Wind is also a good one ...

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Wintergreen

Dear Lilliputian ,

 What I have been seeing in the woods lately , are quite a few of the Wintergreen berries . When I was a little girl my mother took us on a walk in the woods . I still remember her bending down and picking a leaf off of this little shrub and crumbling it in her hand . She put it up to her nose and smelled it and then passed it around to us so we could smell it . It smelled soooo nice , sort of like gum .

My mother called this plant Checkerberry , but today I more often hear it called Wintergreen .

Can you guess why it is called Wintergreen ? Yes , you are right ... it is because it stays green all winter long . 

Today is Patriots Day and you probably don't have to go to school. The reason we have a holiday that is called Patriots Day is because over 200 years ago a war began right here in Massachusetts . During a time of war it can be hard to get certain things . In Massachusetts it was very , very hard to get tea . So they decided to make their own tea from the leaves of the Wintergreen plant that grew so plentifully in the woods , and that is why the people of Massachusetts were still able to have a nice cup of warm tea on cold Wintry nights during the war .

I know one secret about Wintergreen Berries that not many people know ... Would you like to know what that secret is ? If you look at the photo down below you will see what the bottom of a ripe Wintergreen berry looks like . Do you see that it has a star shape ?  Most people don't look that close at the little berry so they never see that it has a little patriotic star on it .

A book you may enjoy that is about a Patriot is  The Secret Soldier : The Story of Deborah Sampson

by Ann McGovern .

I am related to Deborah Sampson .

Until next time , 

Wildbee

Wood Frog

Dear Lilliputian ,

This is a Wood Frog . They are one of the first sounds I hear in the Spring . Many Wood Frogs gather in a body of water and sing their song . I usually hear them during the day and they seem quiet during the night . During the day many people think that the pond or vernal pool has been visited by many ducks because of the quacking noise the Wood Frog makes . 

 As with most animals in the Spring this Frog is swimming around looking for a mate . The very funny thing about it is that he can't tell the difference between a boy Frog and a girl Frog . He has to swim over to the Frog he sees and hug it . Only then can he tell . Do you know why he can tell when he hugs the other Frog ? It is because when he hugs the other Frog he can feel that the girl Frog has eggs in her stomach and a boy Frog does not . Silly Frog . 

Did you know that the Wood Frog can live in the Arctic ? He survives the very cold temperatures of the far North by becoming a frozen Frog . If you saw him when he was frozen he would look like a frog shaped piece of ice . When Spring comes to the Arctic and the temperature warms up so does the Wood Frog . He thaws out and hops and swims around just like he did last summer . I think that is just incredible !

Now remember I told you that the Wood Frog can't tell the difference between the boy or girl Wood Frog unless he hugs them .... Well ,  because you and I are not a Wood Frog, we can tell the difference. I will tell you the secret that the Wood Frog doesn't know ... if you look at the Frogs thumb you can tell . The girl Wood Frog has a skinny thumb and the boy Wood Frog has a chubby thumb . Look at the picture up above and see if you can tell . 

( If you click on the photo above it will become bigger. )

Listen to the chorus of Wood Frogs by clicking on the link below .

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Amphibians/Wood%20Frog/rana_sylvatica_chorus.aiff

Of course you have read the book Frog and Toad Are Friends , but have you read Frog and Toad Together , and Frog and Toad All Year ...  by Arnold Lobel ?

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Woodcock

Dear Lilliputian ,

This chubby little fellow is a Woodcock . If you go out when it is dusk you may hear the Woodcock serenading the female Woodcock of his dreams . For years I thought the sound I would hear when I went out to close the chicken coop door for the night was that of a lonely toad . It was only a few years ago I discovered that it was the illusive Woodcock trying to attract a mate . The reason I am writing to you about the Woodcock is because they are not just like other birds . When trying to attract a mate they don't just puff themselves up to look handsome , or try to sing the most melodious song to woo a mate , the Woodcock does a magnificent flight . He flies up in the air high over the field , his wings making a whistling sound and when he thinks he has impressed any of the females watching ... he flies back to earth making , . . . if you can believe it . . . . a kissing noise . Isn't that just hysterical . And , then to top it all off he does a silent landing , maybe so only the female Woodcock watching will know where he landed . This is the time of year you can hear them , and if it isn't too dark , see them in flight . In my back field it only happens for a few weeks . You may or may not have them in your field ... but it would be worth going out after dinner and before bedtime and just listen . I will post a link to a great sight about birds . If you go to the page you will see a Woodcock photo and if you scroll down you will see the word SOUND . If you click on that you will see a few calls to choose from , the Peent call and Flight and wing sound are the two that I have written about here .

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_woodcock/sounds

This behavior of the Woodcock is for just a short time so I hope you have some in your backyard and you get to hear them .

This time I will recommend a book about a bird that can't make any noise ,

It is very silly .

The Trumpet of the Swan by E . B . White

Until next time , 

Wildbee

Red Fox

Dear Lilliputians ,

I start this letter with the first sighting of Orange Boy's friend . Orange Boy is , as you know ,  a cat and this is a photograph of a Red Fox , how can they be friends ? Good question , I don't know , but last fall we would see them together . Orange Boy and this Fox have been seen playing games . First Orange Boy would chase the Fox and then the Fox would chase Orange Boy . They seemed to like to run in circles . Sometimes , the Red Fox would run up the hill and then bounce down the hill like Tiger in the book Winnie the Pooh . The difference was the Fox would bounce on all four of his paws , not on his tail . He would do this until he reached Orange Boy and then run back up the hill , I think , hoping Orange Boy would follow him . but Orange Boy didn't know how to bounce so he would sit by and watch . Some times , they would sit in the field together and just enjoy each others company .

At the end of last Fall we saw the Red Fox go through the field with a female Fox . We haven't seen her this Spring with Mr. Fox . This may be because she is probably tucked in a cozy little den down in the woods with her pups . This is the time of year that baby Foxes are being born . A mother Fox can have up to ten pups in one litter . When the pups are all sleeping , she will go out and catch something for her little pups to eat . Like human babies they can't eat whole food , so the mother Fox  will chew up the food she has caught until it is very soft like our baby food and then she spits it out for the pups to eat .

Did you know that a group of young Foxes are called a skulk , a male Fox is called a Tod , and a female Fox is called a Vixen ?

If you like the story of Orange Boy and the Fox , you will probably like the movie , The Fox and The Hound . And , because I know you like to read I would recommend the book Winnie the Pooh by A . A . Milne . . . just because it is a fun book to read .

Until next time ,

Wildbee