I was shocked to see that some of the seeds I planted back in November have sprouted already. These native plants really are very hardy.
Lupine and Gilia seedlings are braving the January cold and rain. I am curious how they will fare with spring still months away.
Native plants that did better than survive the chilly temps and snow cover include the checkermallows and the lupines in the native plant garden.
The first two photos are of Lupine species and the last three are Sidalcea. They were all started from seed over the last two years.
Speaking of seeds, winter is a time when invasive plants really come into focus as I walk around the neighborhood. There is an unusual English holly tree a few blocks away that demonstrates why hollies are so successful in spreading everywhere. Usually, hollies have berries in clusters of just a few but this tree has huge bunches of berries.
Not surprisingly, this tree has a lot of starlings and American robins around it, picking berries and dropping seeds for miles around.
When I walk our new puppy around the neighborhood I use the Merlin Bird ID app’s sound identification feature to identify what birds are around. Our north Seattle neighborhood is unusual in that it features a bounty of old, large native trees. There are large Douglas fir trees in many yards, some large western red cedar trees, and less common are Pacific dogwood, madrone, red alder, and bigleaf maples. Most of the landscaping here features non-native ornamental imported plants and lawns.
Birds that have been confirmed in our yard or within a few blocks of here include:
American robin–lots of these–dozens in small flocks mostly around berry- or fruit-producing trees, including cotoneaster, holly, mountain ash, and others.
Dark-eyed junco–always common here now (they used to be rare twenty years ago), they feed in small flocks and have nested in our yard the last few years.
House finch–many of these birds in the neighborhood the last month or so; they do not come to our suet or seed feeder, thankfully, as they are susceptible to highly contagious avian diseases. They nest in shrubs on our fenceline with the neighbor to the north.
Pacific wren–I was not aware that these birds came to our neighborhood until this year with the sound identification app. I have seen them before, I’m sure, but they look similar to the Bewick’s wrens that next in our yard every year
Song sparrow–already singing around the neighborhood, these cheerful sparrows have a lovely song. They feed on the suet in the yard sometimes but the songs are not heard in our yard yet.
American crow–pairs of crows seem to have staked out every block in the neighborhood. We have our own Half Beak and Full Beak that we have been feeding for more than ten years in the front yard.
Chestnut-backed chickadee–common in our yard and around the neighborhood. They stay here year-round and their sounds are slightly different than the black-capped chickadees that are also common here. A pair was nesting in a nest box in our backyard two years ago.
Black-capped chickadee–common, tame, smart little birds that feed at our seed feeder and suet feeder, caching seeds around the neighborhood. They also nest in boxes in our yard.
Red-breasted nuthatch–gorgeous little tree creepers with distinctive calls. They eat seeds from our feeder in the fall/winter mostly. I hear them in the big Douglas fir trees mostly.
Golden-crowned kinglet–gorgeous, tiny birds that seem common here in the winter this year. The sound identification app helps with these little birds because they are usually in deep cover and in flocks with other small birds.
Yellow-rumped warbler–another winter resident, there are quite a few of these birds around the neighborhood and they feed at our suet feeder every day. Elegant birds with great camouflage colors that include brilliant yellows underneath.
Bushtit–flocks of these tiny birds descend on our suet feeder (up to eight at a time on the small feeder). They are very tame and go about their business picking bugs off all the plants in the yard no matter how close they get to me. They are common year-round and have nested with their hanging basket nest in our Douglas fir several times over the year.
Steller’s jay–it is tough to miss these noisy jokesters as they scream and call out loudly. These are year-round residents here and they travel in pairs or small family groups. They will feed at the suet feeder occasionally.
Northern flicker–how these spectacular woodpeckers make a living in city neighborhoods is a mystery to me. Yet they do. I remember twenty-seven years ago when we were looking at houses that I heard and saw a flicker in the trees around this house and I took it as a good omen. They are still here year-round and eat at the suet feeder most days.
Bewick’s wren–sassy little birds that travel individually or in pairs here year-round. They feed at the suet feeder but only in spring. They nest in boxes in the yard.
Anna’s hummingbird–another surprising year-round resident. Hummingbirds never used to spend the winter around Seattle but they have adapted to spending all winter here in the last twenty or thirty years. This time of year I mostly notice the males who are issuing their metallic calls from treetops and fighting for territory.
European starling–we do not see starlings here all year but I think they are probably around. In winter, I see them around food sources like berry- and fruit-producing trees and rarely on the suet feeder. They are noisy and are often heard before they are seen. This species was introduced in the 1890s and has spread throughout the US.
Spotted towhee–beautiful, big sparrows that are around all year here, though not as frequent in our yard in winter. They will eat the seeds that fall from the feeder. We had towhees nesting in the yard the last few years.
Less common birds that I have seen (or heard) lately in the neighborhood include a varied thrush, purple finches, red crossbills, brown creepers, and hairy woodpeckers.
This list of species seems like a wonderful baseline from which to grow our biodiversity. If we plant more native plants, the number of native birds will increase as well as the number of species represented in the neighborhood.
The University of Washington has recognized the need to utilize more native plants and treat its landscapes with more respect for nature. One change is to leave the trees that get cut or fall near where they fell.
These large cottonwood trunks have been left to rot in place an they are already attracting moss and lichens.
Ingraham High School has an area dedicated to native trees and they are taking similar steps, leaving some large trees on the forest floor that have fallen in the last few months.
The last few weeks I have noticed the native blackberry vines, Rubus ursinus, have colored up to an incredible red in the cold winter weather. I need to add some of these to my native plant garden to replace the English ivy vines I am removing. So beautiful and I have heard the berries are delicious though I have never seen one in the wild. The photos show the colorful vines mixed with bracken ferns and salal.
