By Cindy Flanagan

Cold winter walks are anything but dormant. Take pause at any shrub or deciduous tree that has shed its leaves and indulge in its fabulous twiggery. Yes, twigs. They hold wonderful clues that help you in identification. We in the Pacific Northwest are fortunate to have a diverse range of deciduous trees from towering giants like the Big Leaf Maple to small understory shrubs like the Vine Maple. Knowing just 7 key features of twigs can make your winter walk really fun and open up a whole world of curiosity for you. Here are a few twigs our Rainier Audubon Nature Journaling group explored during our online session in January.

Not only can you spend your chilly time oohing and ahhing about twigs. There is more excitement coming our way. Twig rituals in nest making are almost upon us. The Great Blue Herons (GBH) are getting ready to use their fine architecture and carpentry skills to build their condos of nests. Watching GBH nest building is easy to observe from a distance. How does the GBH choose its twigs? How big or small are they and does that depend on the stage of nest building? Do only the males bring sticks? What species of wood works best? These are some of the questions our Rainier Audubon Nature Journalers group has been exploring. In February, we will continue to explore herons and their nesting behaviors, especially nestmaking.  Come join in. All you need is a pencil and some paper. Let’s dive into these nests!

Our Zoom link is the same link each month.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81031877091?pwd=TEpwcDZ4TDVhaFIxMWlUbnVrbEhzdz
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