Skink Stink?

We got all excited when we saw this fellow sunning himself on our deck last summer. How he got into our urban backyard wildlife habitat we couldn't imagine. Note the apparent separation and regrowth of the tail. A five-lined skink seems to be all that is indigenous to our area.

Bush Honeysuckle - Leaves and Bark

Please note the opposite leaves and curved veins, ala Cornus florida. (sorry about the blur!)

Also please note the long furrows on the bark. The background bark is from a black locust, the most deeply furrowed bark I've seen.

Winter Invasives ID - Multiflora rose vs Greenbriar

Note the rose has a curved thorn and the greenbriar has a straight thorn.

Note also the rose hips (somewhat dried) and the greenbriar tendril.

Rose does not have a tendril and greenbriar has a blue-black berry (drupe).

Bush Honeysuckle

Note the large specimen with caning habit.

Finally I found some berries.

Winter Invasives - Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)

Note the semi-evergreen (Zone 7) and caning habit (ala forsythia).

The unnaturally red berries are very distinctive and I will post a photo as soon as I find some remaining! The leaves remind me of dogwood and I will post a better photo of those.

Winter ID - Invasives

One area of our park was subject to a blow-down of mainly tulip and cherry trees during Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The cleared area is growing back with tree of heaven Ailanthus as the overstory tree, bush honeysuckle and multiflora rose as the understory and english ivy as the ground cover. These are all very nasty and I have been working at cutting the existing growth. Regrowth may be sprayed.

Note the large leaf scar on tree of heaven, and the smooth bark. The soft wood is extremely brittle and can be easily broken off or even pulled out of the ground. The best ID characteristic however is the smell. Scratch a bit of the bark with your fingernail, or rub a leaf between your fingers. Yech!

Red Chokeberry Photinia pyrifolia

We have two and they are prolific even in only their third year. Berries appear to not be a favorite, although they will be gone by spring.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake/plant/1215.htm

Habitat Visitor Redux

This guy has not been around this year and so I am sad : ( .

He disappeared from our backyard wildlife habitat after we went on vacation around the end of March. Do you feed southern flying squirrels all year? Am considering peanut butter or dog food as bait to attract others. Currently I'm putting out sunflower seeds and almonds, he really liked the almonds.

Transplanting a Tree Three

Please forgive the poor photos. But you get the idea(s):

-Most of the roots are lost - this is a 6' tree!

-The tree is essentially moved bare-root, as I was not able to dig it out intact.

I can hardly wait until spring, to see if this thing survived. I will be sure to water it frequently.

Kathy Marty and Joey in their natural habitat.