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| Jul 29, 2010 - 06:41 PM |
Queen City News - Helena's FREE Weekly Newspaper |
Helena, Montana |
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On Thanksgiving Day, I decided to drive up to the Tizer Gardens where I had visited earlier this year and have a look around. As we drove through the fog of Helena, I wondered if the gardens have a winter charm similar to their summer delight.
No other visitors were there, but Belva Lotzer was there hanging decorations on a pine tree in the area near the gift shop. She owns the gardens along with her husband Dick Krott, who was out for a winter walk. She immediately recognized me and we talked about birds and our earlier summer experience. She took us down to the winter gift shop located in the guesthouse. As we walked, we took a look at the vegetable garden. One could tell it had been a vegetable garden at one time because skeletons of raspberry bushes remained and creeping pea posts were still there. Now instead of yielding fruit, the garden sleeps under the blanket of snow.
We also saw that the once free-flowing Prickly Pear Creek had iced over. In some spots, though, the creek had broken through the ice, creating mini-waterfalls and giving the atmosphere a feeling of serenity. These waterfalls, Lotzer said, were an unusual surprise because they are not there in the summertime.
Clark’s nutcrackers broke the silence of a bleak midwinter day with their constant, hoarse cawing. These winter commoners were after cakes of suet placed in suet cages near the other bird feeders. Since all the spring and summer birds have left, it seems these members of the corvid family have taken over. Despite the fact that they can be annoying, these birds are very smart. This is true of many corvids.
As we entered the guest cabin that had been made over into a gift shop for the winter, the warm scent of cider filled our noses. We gladly accepted when Lotzer offered us some of this delicious drink. We then wandered around the one-room house heated by the wood cookstove and looked at all the books and other trinkets that were for sale. Outside the cabin were offered bird feeders and some seed. The cabin is situated next to the creek, and there was a campfire burning slowly next to it, which we could stand around if we pleased.
We found snow several inches deep covering the garden paths and leafless bushes and trees covered with snow. There were few signs of life until suddenly we heard the high pitched “pik” call of a woodpecker. Lotzer had explained earlier she had been seeing a lot of woodpeckers around lately, but we had not seen any so far. Mom and I simultaneously looked up into the tree next to the feeding stations and saw what we took to be a hairy woodpecker (picoides villosus). When it flew down to the suet feeders about five feet from our faces, though, we found it to be the much smaller version of this black-and-white bird, the female downy woodpecker (picoides pubescens). The bill of the downy is much shorter than that of the hairy variety, and size is a major factor in identification. We marveled as the smallest species of woodpecker in the United States uttered its contact call just a few feet away. I went to get dad because I knew he would be very impressed at our sighting.
As soon as I got back, we heard another bird calling. I took it to be another downy but when it flew to the feeders and crept up the pole, I saw that it was indeed the female hairy woodpecker. The hairy was a good 30-percent larger than the downy, and the bill seemed massive. I was so impressed and so were mom, dad and Belva. We watched the birds for probably five minutes, shooting several pictures, before they both flew away.
We then searched for more bird life and found many dark-eyed juncos. These were the slate-colored subspecies. These, I believe, are the prettiest subspecies of junco, with their pink bill, snow-white bellies and slate-gray wings and heads. Last time we visited the gardens, Oregon juncos were present because they are more of a summer junco species. Audubon appropriately dubbed slate-colored juncos “snow birds” and many people still know them by this name. You may discover these birds in your yard before the onset of a winter storm. Audubon knew the Oregon junco as the Oregon snow finch, an entirely different species than the slate-colored. Oregon, slate-colored, pink-sided, white-winged, gray-headed and red-backed juncos all used to be considered different species, but with the recent consideration of the American Ornithologist’s Union, they are all one species now.
Taking the dark-eyed juncos and a few chickadee songs as an ending to our trip, we purchased a suet feeder and two thistle socks for our birds, told Belva goodbye and drove back to our own home. Now, the flowers are not in bloom anymore and the ground is covered in snow. But you may find yourself surprised by how pleasant it is to see a creek that has broken through the ice or how delightful to hear the downy and hairy woodpeckers call back and forth. The Tizer Gardens, as I have learned, are worth a visit at any time of year, snow or shine.
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The Queen City News is published every Wednesday in Helena, MT, by Mossback Media, LLC.
Contents are copyrighted and cannot be used in any form without prior permission from the QCN.
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