Rhus integrifolia vs. Rhus ovata

I love when Facebook pops up what I was doing on this date in previous years, especially when I’m having a rather crummy day and the reminder is something I did that was super fun. Sometimes, however, it reminds me of cool plants and animals I have encountered. Today’s reminder was a photo of a Lemonade Berry plant, or is it a Sugar Bush? After all these years, I still struggle to tell them apart.

Both plants are California shrubs with fuzzy red berries and both are members of the sumac family (yes, the poisonous plant), but then mangoes and cashews are also in that family.

I was always told you can tell them apart by where they are. If you can see the ocean from the location of the plant, it is Lemonade Berry. If you can’t, it is Sugar Bush. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some plant differences I have found online are Lemonade Berry has thick, flat green leaves that are usually serrated, and Sugar Bush has glossy, dark, folded leaves that are pointed. They still both look very similar to me.

Native tribes used the berries of both plants to make lemonade or a sweet drink and they also have some medicinal qualities.
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So, if you find yourself in the Santa Monica Mountains or other areas where these plants grow, see if you can tell them apart. And if you have a handy trick for differentiating them, please let me know!

Nymphalis antiopa
I saw my first butterfly of the season and it just happened to be my favorite - the Mourning Cloak!

Mourning Cloaks are very dark and are described as purple-black, but they appear red in the sun. They have what looks like yellow lace with bright blue ribbon around the edges of their wings. They are also rather large, up to four inches across!

Butterflies have specific host plants. These are plants where they lay their eggs and that the caterpillars can eat. In the case of Mourning Cloaks, these plants are willows. Adult butterflies apparently prefer oak tree sap as their food of choice.

Mourning Cloaks can be found across most of the US, so keep an eye out near oak and willow trees. However, they are incredible at camouflage. When their wings are closed, they blend in perfectly with tree bark, so your best bet to find them is when they are in flight.

Why do I love them? They are goth butterflies! If Victorian funerary practices were a butterfly, it would be a Mourning Cloak, as evidenced by their common name. My goal is to wone day make a cloak the same coloration as a Mourning Cloak Butterfly. Of course, now I have no idea where to get fabric.

If butterflies aren't really your thing and you are more into spiders and bats and things, the Mourning Cloak may convert you.

Yes, I know spring officially began last week during the equinox when the amount of daylight matched the amount of night, but here in Colorado Springs, we are just starting to see signs of the change of season.

I’m used to things beginning to green in December and starting to search for wildflowers in February when I lived in Los Angeles. Where I am now, we could still receive snow as late as Mother’s Day! Luckily, we have had some beautiful warm weather and spring is starting to show itself.

When I start to see fresh green growing things begin to pop out of the ground, I am reminded of one of my favorite books as a child, The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. As spring arrives and things start to grow, the character of Dickon describes the earth as “wick,” or alive as it wakes up after winter. You don’t need a windswept moor to experience this either. There are signs in your own neighborhood.

As lawns and meadows start to turn green, keep your eye out for the bright green shoots. Look at the end of seemingly dead trees for buds emerging. The animals will clue you in, too! Birds will be more active as more food becomes available. You will start seeing insects as the first flowers bloom. Those proactive gardeners among you will also see the fruits of your bulb planting in the autumn as they emerge from the ground.
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Enjoy the warmer weather, longer days and keep your eye out for all things “wick!”

Turdus migratorius

You know spring has sprung when you start seeing Robins everywhere. I looked out of the window today and saw 10 in the yard! Fun fact from All About Birds, Robins do actually overwinter throughout much of their territory in the United States. While some do head to Mexico for the winter and others head to Canada for the summer, most stay put all year. So why do we associate them with the spring? In actuality, they are likely just more active as spring returns. There is more food available and they are noisier and more gregarious as they look for mates.

Even though they are considered common birds and are found throughout most of North America, I still get excited every time I see one. I feel like I have spotted a bird celebrity! Perhaps I am influenced by the folklore that they are harbingers of good fortune. Perhaps I should by a lottery ticket after seeing so many at once!

Their most distinguishing feature is their “red” breast. I know, it is orange, but go back a while and there was no word for the color orange. People just called it red. That’s why gingers are called red heads and not orange heads. It wasn’t until relatively recently that people started calling the yellow red color orange. The color was named after the fruit and not the other way around. That is your etymological lesson for the day. 😊

Back to Robins – they are common backyard visitors, so you have a good chance of seeing one.  They eat both fruit and invertebrates, but apparently if they eat too many honeysuckle berries, they become intoxicated. I have never seen a drunk Robin, but it is now on my bucket list.
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Next time you are out and about, look for these delightful birds!

​Pica hudsonia
 
I figured I would start with one of the most ubiquitous birds where I am currently living in Colorado Springs, the Black-billed Magpie. This is not to be confused with the Yellow-billed Magpies I would see when I lived near Sacramento in California.

Magpies are Corvids, which means they are related to Crows, Ravens, and Jays. Corvids are known for being super smart and Magpies are no exception. My most common interaction with them is at my mother’s chicken coop. They know there is food in there and the Magpies are working out a way to get it. They are also commonly found in urban areas, with trash cans being a popular food-gathering spot. Utilizing humans for food is not a new occurrence. According to All About Birds, Magpies would follow Plains Tribes hunting parties and eat their leftovers and they even entered the tents of Lewis and Clark looking for food!
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Their nature has led them to get a bit of a bad reputation. I remember telling someone that I enjoyed watching them and the response was less than supportive. But then again, a lot of people don’t like Corvids in general because they will pull trash out of a can looking for food and can make messes. Is it their fault they are intelligent enough to dig through our waste for a tasty morsel? If you don’t like it, secure your trashcan. Otherwise, be willing to share.
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Magpies have easily adapted to the presence of humans, which is why they are so successful. Other bird species have had a more difficult time with human habitation and their numbers are suffering for it.
Aside from being fun to watch their rather cheeky behavior, they are also beautiful birds! Their black/blue wing feathers iridesce in the sunlight! They can be loud and chattery, but who of us aren’t when we get together with friends?

If you are looking to see the Black-billed Magpie, they have a wide range from southern Alaska, east into Canada, and south into the United States east of the Great Lakes. As I mentioned earlier, they aren’t picky about habitat, or food, for that matter.

Here’s hoping to inspire a little more appreciation for these clever birds!