Eastman Living Online Magazine

By Amy Hoffman

With the demise of the iconic tree at the Eastman front entrance, I started to look for other trees that had unusual shapes. I found a yellow birch that had been nurtured by another tree during its early growth. When you look at it, you may think little elves are living under the roots. I also found a maple that looks like a football goal post and another that looks like it might be a comfortable seat for a basketball team. Each of these crazy trees is visible from hiking paths. I wonder how many you can find. You, too, can report unusual trees to whatsouthere@eastmannh.org.

Spring is in full swing. Birds have come back to New England. You might spot a robin that has over-wintered or hear a red-winged blackbird announce its return. The Eastman turkeys are still foraging along the roadside. On a wet, rainy, 40-degree night, you might see the annual wood frog and salamander migration to vernal pools. In mid-March, I was lucky enough to catch those crazy frogs trying to mate on ice!

Spring ephemerals (plants that grow, flower, and die in a few days) have emerged. It is fun to find as many as you can in a short stroll. John’s Glen is a perfect place to find them: Spring Beauty, Trout Lily, emerging ferns, Golden Thread, Wild Oats, Dutchman’s Breeches, Wood Violets, Foam Flowers and Colts Foot, which looks just like a dandelion, but emerges much earlier and is one that the bees find first. These flowers generally bloom before the trees have leaves. Habitats are shaded. I think the most amazing spring flower is my favorite, the Trout Lily, so named because it is speckled like a trout.

Sightings of Eastman’s beautiful flora and fauna are not limited to the warm months. Richard Sachs reported that a Golden Crown Kinglet was caught in the skylight of his Burpee Hill front porch before he was able to release it.

Judy and Bob McCarthy observed that the past winter was the “winter of woodpeckers.” When they first put up their feeders at their Burpee Hill home, a red-breasted woodpecker visited their suet cake regularly. This handsome guy stopped by daily for a couple of weeks. They had seen this species near their daughter’s home in Tarrytown, NY, but never this far north.

Although the McCarthys occasionally see pileated woodpeckers feasting on trees in the woods behind their house in winter, this year they had one visit their ornamental cherry tree numerous times to gorge on the fruit. He had a hard time because he was a big fellow and struggled to get out onto the far- reaching branches, but he did manage to eat some fruit.

Please report your sightings to whatsouthere@eastmannh.org. Readers of this column like to know what folks see when they are out and about. Photos are not necessary, but are nice to have.

Filed under: What's Out There.