THE COMPANION TREE

 
My post today has been years in the making.  I'm sitting on the south side of Tom's Creek next to the "Companion Tree" that's just waiting to share it's story.  It's sunny, in the 60s, and this is the most beautiful Wisconsin spring I can ever remember.  I've never seen so much blue sky and sunshine in  the month of April.  These days call for any idle time to be spent out of doors before the gnats and mosquitoes arrive.

At first glance you wouldn't notice this large white pine was anything but that.  If you look close you'll notice at the base, there's a tall oak tree growing right out of it's side.  These two trees have blended together perfectly, although the oak jutts out to the side reaching for it's own sunlight.  Together they compliment one another, the oak and the pine, such uniquely different species.

I have not seen any other trees growing together of different species like this other than a birch tree growing out of the base of a dead pine stump a time or two.  Wouldn't it be something if one day the oak sported pine needles and the pine sported oak leaves.
 

I'd say this affair has been going on for more than thirty years... and the oak tree is still smiling!

Our spring weather has brought out hepaticas, spring beauties, adder's tongue, and marsh marigolds.  The yellow marigolds, or cow slips as we call them, remind me of my earliest memories of springtime when Aunt Susan came to visit and carried me out to the marsh east of our house to see the cowslips blooming.  No doubt that day long ago was also a happy spring reminder of Susan's own childhood, as she grew up on the same land that I did.

Adder's tongue

Marsh Marigold or Cow Slip

Hepatica

Happy Spring!  It's truly here now, and we've made it thru the winter!

SOUNDS OF SPRING

I'm sitting out in the woods at the fork of Tom's Creek and little Lindsay Creek, and that's all that matters.  I'm celebrating spring today by enjoying all the sounds that accompany its arrival.

At the top of my list, a sound that I associate most with springtime, is the sound of frogs.  You can say they are croaking or singing or whatever you like.  There is really nothing else in nature that replicates that sweet sound of a frog in springtime.  Today I can hear a gathering of frogs east of me in the distance, down toward the old logging dam.  Tonight they will be very loud, all around the pond and woods.  Right now I can hear two kinds, spring peepers and wood frogs.

Early mornings and evenings the turkeys are beginning to gobble and the first season for turkey hunting begins this week.  I turkey hunted one spring and loved it.  The best part was being out in the woods in the morning when it was still dark yet, sitting there quietly before the sun rose, listening to all the birds as they woke up around me in the tree tops, including a few roosting turkeys.

Another welcome sound of spring is the woodcock with its occasional "peeps" at dusk.  Sandhill cranes, Canadian geese, red-winged blackbirds, hell divers (snipes), and robins all signal spring with their arrival and the beautiful music they make.  Roughed grouse, or partridge as we call them, are drumming now and then around the cabin once again.  The sound the partridge makes reminds me of an old tractor engine starting up.

As I sit here listening to the water flow past me, down Tom's Creek, and hear frogs singing in the distance, I'm reminded that the sounds of a Wisconsin spring are just as special as the sights.  We also need to open up our ears and appreciate the world around us!

BTW - The three legged deer made it through the winter.

AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT!

A ritual of spring at our pond is the arrival of a certain pair of Canadian geese each year.  A few weeks of sharing our world with them and dodging scat when walking around the pond doesn't bother us too much.

Whether they both return, or just one with a new mate, is hard to tell, but two weeks ago our geese came home again to nest.  This year the geese picked their nesting location in the exact same spot as they did last spring.


When the pair arrived, they continually honked and chased off all other geese that landed on the pond until they had their wish, the pond all to themselves.  After several days of staking their territory and guarding it faithfully, the female goose began nesting.  Within a day or two, there were eight eggs in the nest, quite an accomplishment in such a short time.  Usually geese lay one egg per day until they are done, so this was highly unusual.  I guess you could call our goose a good layer!

Now the setting has begun and the female goose begins her long vigil. If we walk near the nesting goose, she lays her head down and settles in close to the ground to hide herself, the nest, and all, while the male goose swims back and forth nearby and attempts to lead us away from the area.  Just as before the eggs were laid, if any other geese land nearby, they are confronted quickly with honking, thrashing, and wing flapping until they fly away.

When the baby geese finally hatch, in about one month, the little yellow fuzzy goslings will learn to swim with Mom and Pop by following close between them, often swimming in single file.  After a few short days of paddling, and gaining strength, the whole family will disappear by slowly slipping down into Tom's Creek and drifting away... until next spring when thoughts of nesting return again.

Special thanks to the Wolfle Wolves for being my little editors.  You kids rock!