Raining Walnuts and Butternuts

Currently our days and nights are complimented by the harmonies of late season crickets and falling nuts. The Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) and Butternuts (Juglans cinerea) began losing their gold-turning leaves in September, and as they shed the last of them with their fruits, the beauty of their skeleton shines through for the cold seasons.

Nuts tend to fall in groups – probably when a squirrel runs by shaking a few loose – and land with a soft thud on the earth (or a clatter when they hit trucks and rooftops). Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a nut-picker for the season… perhaps next year!

Red Squirrel and Butternuts

Today’s story begins last winter, when we first arrived in Pennsylvania. Eastern Pennsylvania winters have a different kind of cold from Western Washington winters, and one of the first things we did was go about securing some wood for the fireplace.

The friendly folks at Bradley Tree Experts were happy to deliver us cords of pre-split wood (since our stash of wood was back in WA keeping the neighbors warm). We dumped the wood loads next to the house under the pines, and then covered our piles with tarps to keep the rain, snow, and ice out.

After our righteous snow storm in February, things started to warm up, and we found ourselves with a tiny little pile of wood left from our last load that never made it on the fire. I think that for a while, we suspected we’d use it up, until that day came (as it does every spring) when you realize there will be no more fires until next season. Camouflaged as it was under a snuggly brown tarp (yeah, like we couldn’t see it), the little pile of leftovers remained cozy and dry.

Over the summer, I began to notice a lot of activity around the little pile, and the dogs were always excited to investigate. The grey squirrels loved to use it as a launching pad to the nearest pine trunk, and various birds and bunnies took refuge there from time to time. But in recent months, a new creature arrived on the scene: the red squirrel. Until this little guy showed up, we’d seen nothing but grey squirrels everywhere!

When the red headed stranger set up shop in the yard, he went straight for easy street, and commandeered the tarp-covered wood “pilette.” How this little red squirrel managed to push out the big grey squirrels, I’ll never know – but it may have something to do with its major attitude and bossy, boastful nittering.

Here is a little about the red squirrel from the PA Game Commission site. It seems to describe our friend perfectly:

Wildlife Notes: Squirrels By Chuck Fergus

"The red squirrel is sometimes called a chickaree or a pine squirrel, reflecting its preference for nesting in conifers. Behavior, feeding habits and denning practices are generally similar to those of gray and fox squirrels, although reds sometimes nest in holes at the base of trees. They enjoy eating the immature, green cones of white pine. Unlike fox and gray squirrels, reds do not bury nuts singly, preferring a large cache -- often in a hollow log -- for storing food."

Late July, I began to hear a strange noise on the driveway by the mystery tree. It took me a few days to learn that it was the sound of the mystery tree nuts thwapping the top of the truck, and the gravel driveway. All day long there’s be a constant music of nutty percussions, and I began to notice that the squirrels were actually pulling the nuts off and throwing them down. The nuts would cover the driveway in the morning, and then disappear in the afternoon.

It wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I learned where they were all going: the red squirrel’s winter stash. I haven’t removed the tarp to see just how many s/he has, but I get the impression that this squirrel has about 50%+ of the tree’s produce tucked away like so many Easter eggs in, around, and under the tarp over the remains of last year’s firewood. He's even tucked a few in the pines' armpits, "just in case."

S/he’s been working so hard at this over the last couple months, that now I don’t have the heart to uproot it! All day long the red squirrel guards the nut pile. I’ve tried to get clear images for you, but as soon as I come close, up the tree it goes.

A few days ago, I found a freshly-fallen nut on the driveway. Carefully I placed it on the very top of the tarp, and went inside. About twenty minutes later, I heard the squirrel crying out! I watched it while it stared and barked at the nut for two days, before it finally was accepted into the horde with the others. (In fact, I think the nut was eaten owing to the husk fragments all over the top of the tarp today).

Looks like we’ll be needing a new tarp.

Epilogue: As for the mystery tree nuts, I think we now have a proper identification. I believe we have a Butternut (Juglans cinerea), sometimes called a white walnut. I’m basing my educated guess on the data I can find online and in my books when compared with leaves, bark, fuzziness, and fruits. The fruits matured into heavy, round, fuzzy-husked nuts.

Now if I could just get one of them open, I could tell you what they taste like! Of course... I'd have to pry one away from the red squirrel first.

Black Walnut

Meet my friend, the Black Walnut! We’ve seen black walnut before around Arboreality, and I’ve been eager to share it’s progress since leafing out. You can see the full-view of my favorite black walnut at the farm in last Thursday's Evening View post during the rainstorm.

In the images above you can see that the black walnut tree does share many features with one of our mystery trees, but the two are decidedly different.

There are numerous black walnuts around the farm, and they all bear a certain romantic grandeur with their enormous boles, far-reaching branches, and elegant foliage. Owing to a phenomenon called allelopathy, black walnuts have a tendency to kill other trees around them, allowing them plenty of room to grow and seed future generations. Come autumn, I look forward to the chance to show you their fresh, sponge-covered nuts as they plunk their way to the earth.

In other news, Arboreality has had its first bit of press today! Arboreality is now included among GardenVoices at GardenWeb, and received a warm introduction in today’s New Voices. Stop by and enjoy some of the other wonderful blogs (and bloggers) out there who bring you gardens, trees, and other fun greeneries.

Mystery Tree Nuts

I’m still working on the identity of this mystery tree, which we explored closely just one month ago. While it shares much in common with the Black Walnut (which you'll see more of in a few days), I know it’s a different tree. What we have here could be a butternut, a pecan, a hickory, or perhaps even some other type of walnut!

As you can see, the tiny red flowers of which I originally spoke are now big, fuzzy, green, swelling nuts, and the branches have become so heavy with leaves and fruit that they brush the top of the truck in our driveway. We’ll discover its true identity eventually, to be sure.

More tree updates ahead!

A gift

Yesterday while out with the dogs, I found a perfectly-halved black walnut laying in the grass. So freshly opened was this walnut that the meat was still a creamy green-yellow.

I watch the squirrels bus these nuts about and munch them day in and day out. Seeing as how they are rather meticulous creatures, I could only conclude that someone lost half their lunch while eating up in one of the pines, but did not have the opportunity or the means to retrieve it.

Carefully I placed the nut meat-side-up in the crook of the arm of the Eastern white pine outside the window, certain that some lucky squirrel (one of many who traverse this particular tree-highway-on-ramp every day) would score big and enjoy.

Strangely enough, there were very few squirrels out today, likely owing to the much welcome rain (which I thoroughly enjoyed). As I was wrapping up my work for the evening, I saw a flutter out of the corner of my eye, and turned to spot a tiny brown bird (possible a nuthatch), carefully peck-pecking at the meat in the nut-half!

The more he ate the faster he pecked, until he peck-pecked the nut right off the branch! He swiftly followed it down to the earth, apparently ate his fill (I said he was tiny), and then fluttered off into the dusk!

You can see the part he ate on the left, and I’m certain that someone will be along tomorrow to finish off what remains of the nut meat.

More Mystery Tree Blogging!

The Arboreality tree blog is filled with mystery trees, and today I’d like to share one of my favorite trees from around the farm. This one happens to be visible out of the upstairs skylight, and it looms over the better part of the driveway beside the cottage.

We first saw this tree at Arboreality in winter, when its graceful, leafless lines crossed the cold blue sky. This tree looks great in snow: you can see it as the fourth image down in the En Hiver post. You can also see this tree in the third and fourth images of the Chasing the Sunrise post.

Naturally, I have been eager to learn its identity, especially because I haven’t found many others like it around the property, and certainly none so big as this one.

Waiting for this tree to give up its secrets has been like watching a pot of water waiting for it to boil! Second only to the black walnut, this tree was just about the last one to open its leaves.

From the pictures above, I think you’ll agree that it was well worth the wait. This tree is growing over the driveway between the two garden sheds. The second to the last image showing few leaves was taken on April 17, and you can see how dramatic the change has been over the last couple weeks.

I love its big, fat catkins and crazy little red tops (which are mostly hidden in these images). The leaf arrangement and catkins lead me to believe that this tree might be a pecan, a hickory, or even a butternut. If you have other suggestions, please let me know!