Skunk cabbage is one of the first plants to appear in Wisconsin. It is a resilient--and--smelly--specimen that can be seen poking through snow as soon as February. (Photo by Jerry Davis)
Soon to arrive, poking through crusted snow and ice is an early arum plant, sending leaves first and then, or at the same time, a flowering stalk (spadix).
A titmouse works on getting a seed out of a sunflower dry fruit. (Jerry Davis photo)
If tufted titmice are coming to a feeder, it’s likely there are chickadees, nuthatches and downy woodpeckers there, too. They form mixed-species groups during winter.
The tuft or crest is similar to blue jays, cardinals and waxwings, even though the titmouse is much more closely related to the chickadee.
A gray squirrel partakes in sap that is being tapped from a maple tree. (Photo by Jerry Davis)
Wisconsin’s state tree, the sugar maple wears a number of hats. In addition to providing sap to boil down to syrup or sugar, the tree feeds wildlife with the same liquid. Squirrels, birds and deer all seem to sense this, maybe by the rising sugar full moon.
“Land is not merely soil, it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals.” ~Aldo Leopold, author, philosopher, scientist and conservationist
