 Photo and article by Donna Iverson Recently on a stroll through my neighborhood, I came across a Crab apple tree …the small hard apples were strewn across the sidewalk. And while it was messy, the tree itself was beautiful. The Crab apple (Malus sylvestris) is the original apple tree from which modern day apples have been cultivated. This native wild apple tree is almost disappearing as the larger sweeter cultivated apple varieties have taken over. In a book titled the Ecological Gardener, author Matt Rees-Warren lists the Crab apple as his first choice if you are looking to plant a tree in your garden. He recommends the Crab apple as a way to save the wild apple and provide food for wildlife. As an added benefit, it is an indigenous native tree that will provide beauty year around. As for the mess, the wild life will likely eat the crab apples before you have to worry about it. As for the apples, admittedly they are small and bitter, less than two inches in diameter. But wildlife love them, including squirrels, rabbits, foxes, badgers, chipmunks, and raccoons. The fruit is also a favorite of blackbirds and crows. In early spring, the Crab apple will produce white/pink blossoms that will cover the tree and provide some of the first food for pollinators, birds and butterflies alike. The tree will grow in sun or shade, is not fussy about soil type and is drought resistant. Although the roots are not invasive, it should be planted at least 10 feet from your house. Prune dead and diseased branches in late winter. Final height will be 13 to 40 feet. And while humans can eat them as they are not toxic, they are better used in jams and jellies. You can also steep them in gin or vodka for three months, for an apple-flavored cocktail. Crab apples aren’t grown commercially because they are difficult to pick. It can take hours to pick a bushel. Planting a Crab apple is a way to rewild your garden. The fruit can be processed into a delicious jam or jelly. And the wood of a Crab apple can be burned in a bonfire producing an intoxicating aroma. Wildlife will benefit and the tree will provide shelter and food for many bird species. And finally you will be saving the original wild apple which is in danger of disappearing.
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 Photo and article by Donna Iverson A bunny who looked a lot like Peter Rabbit had been circling my garden bed all summer. “Please,” I pleaded with him repeatedly. “Take whatever you want but leave the sunflowers alone.” Last summer, a critter had cut my sunflower plants down to the quick before they bloomed. And Peter Rabbit was a prime suspect. Almost every day during July, I checked the now eight-foot tall stalks waiting for the bright yellow disks to open. The process seemed painfully slow. Then a few days ago, on a sunny summer morning, the yellow flower heads unfurled and faced the sun in all their cheery glory. The rabbit was rewarded with carrots. There are a lot of reasons to grow native sunflowers, with just enjoying their spectacular blooms being number one on my list. For example: Sunflowers can be used to purify your soil. They soak up heavy metals like zinc and copper. And if you can believe it, they also have the ability to remove soil radiation and were planted by the millions around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site in Japan. Farmers plant fields of sunflowers to attract pollinators and birds that eat insect pests, thus improving the odds of a strong harvest. They also make great chicken fodder. On the culinary front, try growing, harvesting and roasting your own sunflower seeds. In the fall, when the blooms are spent, cut the stem about a foot from the flower head and place in a paper bag to dry. Roasting the seeds in a hot oven produces a healthy snack. Native Americans ground the seeds to make sunflower flour, which was mixed with water and Buffalo fat and fried into small cakes. The flowers and seeds were used to make dye, both purple and yellow. The roots were eaten or brewed into a medicinal tea. Crude flutes were made from the stalks by the Navajo. Learning from the Native Americans, the colonists used the stalks to start fires and to make cloth or paper from its fibers. Today, Russia grows the most sunflowers in the world while in the USA, North Dakota holds the record for sunflower production. Almost 2 million acres are planted which are processed into sunflower oil. Lastly, in late fall, you might want to try a garden technique called “chop and drop.” Chop up the sunflower plants and drop them into the garden for a terrific winter mulch.  Terry Grabill a.k.a. BirdGoober- Photo by Tori Martell By Terry Grabill I made a decision in late December, 2020 that 2021 would be a big year for me. I’ve been amazed and somewhat obsessed with birds for as long as I can remember. By 1970, my parents had nick-named me Bird Man. As interested as I was in birds, however, a detailed man I’m not. In the introduction to my first field guide to the birds, Roger Tory Peterson suggests that birders should keep a life list of species they find and journal observations. Right, that wasn’t going to happen! It wasn’t until my junior year at Central Michigan University that I discovered I was not alone in this avian obsession. I learned that many of my classmates in ornithology class had detailed journals stretching back years and years. They had been groomed as birders as adolescents and benefited from a network of birding clubs and organizations. I was floored! No one in Newaygo County had told me that such things actually existed! 2021 finds me close to the end of my teaching career. Andrea, my dear wife and I have been involved with birding clubs, birding websites, and birding festivals. I envy the young birders that have an avenue to let their interest in birds blossom! I absolutely LOVE the book and movie The Big Year. Yes, it’s a story about birding and it is delightful. For years, this story has kindled a dream in this old heart to dedicate a year to birds, not forsaking all other interests, but, yeah...birds. The story that will follow, for several weeks, is my journal of 2021 birding. As I prepare to submit installment #1, I almost blush as I read it. My take on my Michigan Big Year has evolved so much since January 1 that I almost don’t recognize it. These journals are posted on Andrea’s and my website: www.birdgoober.com. I invite you to join us there to follow the Big Year as it progresses on the BirdGoober blog. Welcome to my story! Terry Michigan Big Year Part 1: January 1-10 I absolutely LOVE Mark Obmascik's book The Big Year as well as the film adaptation starring Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson. The passion for birding portrayed in these stories is heart-warming and exciting. These stories follow birders across the United States, each trying to tally the most bird species seen in a calendar year. I've often found myself fantasizing about joining the adventure, hotel by hotel, rental cars and airline miles, meeting up with folks that share the quest. At least at this point, a US big year is quite out of the question. However...perhaps a big year of a more modest scale might just fit the bill! This year, 2021, I will be filling weekends searching Michigan in an effort to put together a big list in my home state. I'll not be focussed on breaking any records held by other birders, simply putting together my best list of Michigan birds for the year. Week 1 (ish): January 1. Feeders at home: I tallied 15 species before leaving home. My goal was to build the list fast the first day and I set off for Muskegon planning to spend most of the day at the Muskegon Wastewater Treatment facility. I picked up a bald eagle and a cooper's hawk on the way. Before MWW I decided to check the Muskegon channel from Muskegon State park. There, I added 10 species, including long-tailed duck. Off to my destination by 11am. Picked up a big flock of rock pigeons on the way. As usual, the wastewater didn't disappoint! I tallied 31 birds there, (including 2 snowy owls) 15 of which added to my day one total of 43 species.
I decided to stay in my home county of Newaygo and find some open water to build the list with. Pickerel Lake and Croton Dam, here I come! Highlight of the day's list was a flock of evening grosbeaks that flew up in to a tree full of mourning doves. Evening grosbeaks are an irruptive species that has been found all over Lower Michigan this winter...except at my feeders. Finished the day at 50 species. It became immediately apparent that building a big January list would mean getting out of my local area. 44. Hooded merganser 45. Bufflehead 46. Greater scaup 47. Redhead 48. Trumpeter swan 49. Evening grosbeak 50. Pileated woodpecker January 3. Sunday. After church, I drove to Oceana county to see about some marsh specialties at Walkinshaw wetlands.. I only picked up eastern bluebird to add to the list there, but found what I figured to be a great location to watch for short-eared owl! Had a terrific view of an adult male northern harrier (gray ghost). Importantly, I met Marie Rust, another Newaygo County birder at the wetlands. Intrigued by my thoughts about short-eared owls, she left for Pentwater and returned to Walkinshaw at dusk and found the owls! I knew where I'd be tomorrow! Picked up a great-horned owl just before midnight behind the house. 51. Eastern bluebird 52. Great-horned owl January 4. Back to Walkinshaw for the short-eared owl at dusk. I met a nice couple from Pentwater there who were also looking for the owls. Marie's post on eBird had brought them. Had a terrific view of a northern shrike and, just before dark, 3 short-eared owls foraging over the marsh. What a silly flight...kind of like watching a giant moth! So far, I'd not had my birding partner and life partner, Andrea with me and I knew we'd be coming back here together very soon. Indeed, on Jan. 7, Andrea and I took Tori Martel to Walkinshaw where we had long, terrific views of these beautiful owls. 53. Northern shrike 54. Merlin 55. Short-eared owl (life bird)  Short-eared owl at the Walikinshaw wetlands-Photo by Tori Martell January 5. 56. Barred owl (at home) January 9. Time to "get outta Dodge". Day trip to Shiawassee NWR in Saginaw County to find the glossy ibis that had somehow found its way to the middle of Michigan! There had been eBird and facebook notifications of this bird for over a month and I knew I'd better get over there before it wised-up or was taken by a raptor. Found this little Florida vagrant as soon as I parked the truck! I finished a long hike with 24 species, 6 to add to the Big Year list. 57. Red-winged blackbird 58. Song sparrow 59. golden-crowned kinglet 60. Glossy ibis 61. Sandhill crane 62. Tundra swan  White-faced Ibis (juvenile) visiting Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge-Photo by Terry Grabill January 10.
I'd been watching reports of a SMEW a couple of hours south, waiting to see if it was confirmed to be a wild bird or an escapee from a zoo or private collection. It appeared to have a leg band that might indicate a non-wild bird. So, Andrea and I decided to give the Muskegon wastewater another shot. I still needed a couple common birds like cedar waxwing. We put together a pretty good day list but the only addition to my year list came in the form of an immature Lincoln's sparrow on a back road while driving to Muskegon. 63. Lincoln's sparrow |
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