Tuesday, January 07, 2020

Bird seed on stalks

Dock in winter:

On the shore of Tyee Spit

A common wetland plant, that loves wet feet. Here the water is brackish; half salt, half fresh, where the Campbell River merges into the ocean. In the winter, the vegetation is reduced to grasses, the dock, bare hardhack and wild rose stalks, plus, of course, the horribly invasive Himalayan blackberry.

Each plant may produce up to 4000 seeds, which are eaten by sparrows and finches. And when they return in the spring, by red-wing blackbirds. The seeds float, so they add to the ducks' diet, as well.


2 comments:

  1. Dock is a plant I remember well from fields in my childhood. I may have grown up near Los Angeles but there were hints of nature along the riverbed (before the cemented it in) and on camping trips with my parents who were both teachers. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "... before they cemented it in ..."Cement seems to be another invasive species, worse even, than blackberry and Scotch broom.

      Delete

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