Birds and Trees

White-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta carolinensis
(http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/birds/birdatlas/maintext/0400176.htm)

Yesterday as I was walking through the cemetery, I noticed several white-breasted nuthatches flitting about in a tree.  It must have been a family newly fledged -- two birds flew easily back and forth in the treetops, but four or five others spent their time scurrying up and down the bark and making short flights among branches in close proximity to one another.

I tried to find a marker on the tree so that I could describe it by species.  The cemetery is an arboretum and many trees have been specially planted and marked over the last century.  There was no way for me to identify the nuthatch tree, but as I looked around, I could see that at least five trees within a few feet of me bore distinctive barks of their own.  I realized that I know absolutely nothing about trees.  On my walks I must pass dozens of species of trees with no idea of their names.

As I completed my walk, I paid some attention to the trees around me.  One, with a pattern of deeply groved bark, is called a black locust.  A little further down the road, I found a honey locust, which to my untrained eye looks completely different from a black locust.

I think I have discovered a new photo project!

Walked: 3 miles.