Grass and Birch, Brooklyn Bears Community Garden

Last Sunday, between the Brooklyn Blogade and the Atlantic Yards Camera Club, Frank Jump and I wandered for about an hour in the bitter cold. The Camera Club was meeting at the Brooklyn Bears Community Garden, so we spent some time there.

Birch Trunk

Detail, Birch Bark

The only blooms to be found were a Witchhazel and a few Snowdrops.

Witchhazel

Snowdrops

There still was plenty of color.

Variegated Pine

Rose

Bergenia Leaf

Shelf Fungus

Wheelbarrow

Seedhead

Hydrangea

Pine Cone

Frank and I were there too early for the garden to be open. We spent some time shooting from outside the fence, then wandered around some more before coming back. By the time we were back, the garden was open and the photographers had begun to gather inside.

I saw Jon Crow, one of the leaders of this garden, whom I met recently for the first time at the Brooklyn Community Gardeners meeting three weeks ago. He excitedly pulled me aside to show me this:

This is the damage a sapsucker made along all the stems of a large Viburnum in the corner of the garden. Here’s a detail shot.

The precision of the holes is impressive. Jon and another gardener observed that, despite the extent of the damage, the branches were never girdled, so the plant itself may well recover from this.

Fearing for the health and survival of this huge specimen plant, gardeners tried to deter the Sapsucker with aluminum foil. It was ineffective. In fact, Jon sent a photo of the bird in action a day after I took these shots.

Jon asked, “This is going on the blog, right?”

Yes, Jon. It’s on the blog!

Related Posts

Flickr photo set
Brooklyn Blogade
Atlantic Yards Camera Club

Links

Strolling with the Flatbush Gardener
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker vs. Yellow-bellied Developer