deer & pokeweed

There is a path that cuts through the far side of Samuel and Frances Salzman Preserve (the part of our property that is open to the public); Hurricane Irene caused a great deal of damage here. The storm-driven tide came up very far in this area (which forms the head or source of our marsh), and the storm knocked over trees and opened up what was formerly a closed woodland canopy at the edge of the wetlands. As a result, the vegetation on the now open forest floor has become much richer and there is a notable proliferation of Pokeweed coming up all along the path. Some of the Pokeweed has formed stringy plants covered with the greenish flowers and incipient purple berries. But most of the shoots are quite small and only began to send up flowering stems quite recently. This morning I noticed that a whole row of these plants have been neatly nipped in the bud -- obviously by marauding deer. Pokeweed is at least somewhat poisonous when it is mature but we used to collect the fresh shoots and, after cooking them and pouring off the water a few times, we ate it with gusto (it goes very well with gusto). Presumably, the deer can eat the young unboiled shoots without adverse effects.

I was greeted this morning by a female (or young) Ruby-throated Hummingbird bouncing from bare branch to bare branch in the oak trees at the pond. At another extreme, at least one young Osprey from the Pine Neck nest is flying. The nest is far and I can't quite tell if there are any more fledglings to come. Closer to home, most of the Purple Martin young seem to have flown with only a few active nests left.

Eric Salzman