MORE OBSERVATIONS

Waking time is an automatic 5:30 am.  During this season of the year, rising time does not equate to waking time.   I call the interim time between 5:30am and 7:00 am Observation Time.

What is the final destination of the plane so high in the sky that only the slow moving contrail is evident?  Will the one dark cloud provide some long anticipated rain? 

There is no wind; why all the activity of moving branches in the two big juniper trees?  Then I realize it is birds, in a frenzy, feasting on the juniper berries.

It is not light enough to identify all the birds. I know many are robins, some are what our family refers

to as LBJ's (little brown jobs) and some appear slightly larger than robins, maybe the Townsends that I hear during the day.  What's the big attraction to the juniper berries?

Do the birds know something I don't know?  Maybe a harsh winter is around the corner.  Maybe there is a secret ingredient that increases stamina or maybe the berries are just plain tasty.  The age-old story about robins getting drunk on the berries has been disproved.  It all has to do with their digestive system.   

Beneath the waxy coating of a juniper berry, a green pulpy flesh surrounds a few seeds.  Fruit-eating birds normally quickly separates the pulp from the seed in their gut, digesting the sugary pulp and converting it to fat stores.  Then they excrete the seeds, as they fly off to forage other areas.

Seed eating birds have a different strategy.  Seed eating specialists like robins, are thought to have stronger gizzard muscles that can crush the seeds to extract their nutrients, and seeds typically have higher fat and protein content than the sugary, pulpy mass that surrounds them.  Yes, the robins do get into stress if they don't have enough water to help them pass the berries through their crop without fermenting and causing them distress.  Make a note.  If you have robins and berries, provide a water source and you will eliminate a robin slamming into your window.

There are many species of juniper, three are native to Oregon.  According to 'Trees to Know in Oregon', the chances are good that the western juniper is the one we will see at our elevation.   Junipers offer both food and protection that helps wildlife through a hard winter.  According to one FAO document, juniper berries are the only spice derived from conifers, though tar from pine trees is sometimes considered a spice as well.

Junipers have a long history with humans.  A friend who moved this spring gifted me with many of herspices.  One of which is a name brand jar of juniper berries.   Probably the most famously used are the unripe green berries used to make gin.  The powdery white coating you find on some berries is a yeast that can be used to make a sourdough starter.

The outer scales of the berries are relatively flavorless, so the berries are almost always lightly crushed before using as a spice.  The berries are used in northern European and particularly Scandinavian cuisine to 'impart a sharp, clear flavor' to meat dishes especially wild birds and game meats.  They also season pork, cabbage and sauerkraut dishes.  Other juniper-flavored beverages include the Finnish rye-and-juniper beverage known as sahti, which is flavored with both juniper berries and branches.  A caution I read several times is that juniper berries do add great

flavor, but shouldn't be eaten in excess.  They contain a powerful diuretic and eating more than a couple can cause terrible abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

Enjoy the fall days and the changing nature that surrounds us.  You may find something else to observe.