Poplar Canker

This March never had a serious return of winter weather, with many days hovering around freezing. Now the ground is bare on the south side of the berm, while soggy snow remains on the north side. The red-wing black birds and robins have been hanging around for a while now. Spring is in the air, the chickadees are flitting around in pairs, a bright red cardinal announces his territory high up in the poplars, and geese make a racket as they fly overhead.

I can remember back in the late 80s cardinals were a rarity in Ottawa but by around 1995 they were pretty common. I found one reference (pdf) that indicates the lower Hudson valley was the northern limit of their range in 1945. So in about 50 years cardinals have extended their range by about 400km!

The big poplars on top of the berm are susceptible to cankers on their trunk that cause them to weaken, die and break. The picture above is of a canker on a yet still living tree. The broken tops of trees sometimes remain suspended as in the picture below making the forest look very messy.

This March I pulled down some of the smaller suspended tree tops like the one below. It was very satisfying exercise.

Signs of spring

I went for a walk along the berm on Tuesday the 15th. It was a nice warm and sunny day with the snow quickly melting underfoot. All the plants are still asleep but the birds knew spring is coming. The crows, sparrows, chickadees, and cardinals and starlings that have been our wintertime companions were all active but I also noticed some Redwing blackbirds up at the top of the populars lustily announcing their claims. There was also a single Robin waiting for the snow to melt away perched in a crabapple tree.



I learned today the school's application to plant more trees this spring was approved. So if all goes well the tree planting area will be extended to a new area to the south of the end of Newhaven this spring.