I cannot think of a more appropriate symbol of love than the cardinal. Here in the Valentine season, flocks of bright red males can be seen gathering at the edge of thickets and hedgerows, looking every bit like brilliant heart ornaments in the branches. Of course, the duller, reddish-brown females are sure to be nearby.
It is widely believed the Cardinals mate for life. Each pair shares its own slight variations of the regular cardinal song. In the coming weeks, watch these birds closely. The male will break away from the winter flock, take to some high branch — perhaps among the newly emerged maple flowers — and burst forth in sweet song. If you listen closely, often times you’ll hear his lady nearby, singing a duet with him. Her song tends to be softer, but longer and duration and slightly more complex.
John James Audubon described it thusly:
“During the love-season the song is emitted with increased emphasis by this proud musician, who, as if aware of his powers, swells his throat, spreads his rosy tail, droops his wings, and leans alternately to the right and left, as if on the eve of expiring with delight at the delicious sounds of his own voice. Again and again are those melodies repeated, the bird resting only at intervals to breathe.”
It is during this time of love that the female will oftentimes perch in the lower branches as the male hops around on the ground below searching for food. Once a suitable morsel is found, he flies up to the female’s side and feeds it to her. In these tender moments, it is almost as if they are kissing. It’s enough to melt a fella’s heart.
Cardinal couples share the day-to-day duties of life, and they seem to do it happily. His sweetheart is there for him, for life, and yet he puts so much effort into courting her and winning her love. Come what may, she is always by his side, sharing a morsel of food and song. Can there be a more pure symbol of love than this?
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Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. Birds are his first love, and he can identify an impressive range by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.
Here in Aiken, we’re halfway through acorn season. The white oak acorns are mostly split and starting to sprout. The red oak acorns, which are later to sprout, are still good for harvesting. The differences in germination time are due to tannin content, which is a factor in both flavor and processing methods.
Though there are many species of oak that produce them, acorns can be divided into two classes.
White Oakacorns come from trees his leaves’ edges are usually smooth or lobed. The acorns tend to fall in a short period of time (late August through September), and, soon after falling, they tend to start sprouting and become unusable. They’re usually smaller and less nutritious, but do tend to be less bitter and easier to process.
Red (or Black) Oak acorns come from trees whose leaf edges are usually pointy or spiky. The acorns tend to fall over a longer period of time, but do not sprout until the following year, which means they can be collected from early autumn to spring. They’re usually larger and more nutritious, but tend to be more bitter and take longer to process.
All acorns are edible. They contain complete protein and all of the eight essential amino acids necessary in the human diet.
On average 3.5 ounces provides the RDA of protein (6.3%), fats (54.8%), carbs (39%), plus lots of B vitamins and minerals.
However all acorns contain tannins and phytic acid which must be removed prior to consumption. Thankfully, soaking them in water will remove these. If acorns are eaten unprocessed, the high level of tannins will bind with nutrients, making them unavailable and can even cause organ damage – especially to the kidneys.
Please don’t become overly obsessed with this and think that every particle of it must be removed. We regularly seek out foods and drinks with the astringent and bitter flavors that tannins provide. Think: tea wine coffee and chocolate. Tannins do contain antioxidants and anti-microbial properties and may be useful in the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Gathering acorns.
In gathering acorns, you’ll find that most of them you collect will be no good. Do not gather acorns that are green, have their caps attached, or have holes or cracks in them. In addition, any that have black streaks on the shell have probably been infected with a fungus that turns the nut meat black. Lesser infected acorns can be trimmed of this black area.
Once collected, dump them into a bucket of water to clean dirt and debris off of them. Remove all that float. (Note: If the origin is of the white oak variety, this dunking in water may cause them to sprout). Once cleaned, they may be immediately cracked for processing, however, you may find that the nut meat sticks to the shell. Drying them first will shrink and separate the nut meat from the shell, making them much easier to crack.
To dry, spread them out in a single layer on some movable surface – canvas, sheet pan, plastic bin cover, whatever — and dry in the sun for a couple of weeks. Take them inside to avoid rain and morning dew. Dried acorns can be stored for many years.
To use, the acorns must be cracked and shells removed. This can be done individually with a nutcracker or by deftly hitting each one, point-side down, on a piece of wood, (to keep them from zooming away), or by putting mass amounts of them between sheets of cloth or canvas and pummeling with a flat stone or some similar device.
Some acorns have a dark, thin skin on them if this will not remove easily, try soaking the acorns for a few minutes. If no luck, dry these soaked acorns in the sun for one to two hours. Rub a quantity together in your hands. Or you can ignore the skin. Some say it makes no difference whether it’s there or not.
Processing
With shells removed, the acorns are ready to leach in water to remove tannins. How long does it take? When are they done? The short answer is that they are done when they’re done. Taste a small piece. If it is not bitter or leaves an astringent feel in your mouth, it’s done. It takes as long as it takes — from a few hours to two weeks; much of this depends on the method of leaching, and the size of the acorn pieces. Acorn flour leeches so much more quickly than whole or half pieces. It also depends on the leaching method chosen.
Hot water leaching
Quickest but only larger chunks can be processed. Heat a large amount of water. Put acorns in a smaller pot. Pour a generous amount of boiling water over them. Boil 20 minutes. Pour off water. Replace with fresh boiling water. Repeat until acorns are done. Four times? Eight times? Do not ever let cold water come in contact with the acorns during this process this will bind the tannins into the acorn and they will never be removed. Boiling remove the fats from the acorns and cooks their starches, limiting their use as a binder in baking-type dishes.
Cold water leaching
Slower, but the fat and nutrients are retained. Chop or grind acorns to the size of course kosher salt or larger. Put in bowl. Cover with a generous amount of water. Let’s sit. Water will turn yellow. Poor off water. Replace with more water. Refrigeration not necessary. Change water twice, (or at least once), per day. Four days? Seven days? Depends on the original tannin content. When done, place acorns in a cloth and squeeze water out. Spread on sheet pan 1/4 inch or less thick and dry in the sun. When dry, it can be used as-is or ground into flour.
Random notes
Generally the larger the cap and proportion to the acorn, the more tannins it will contain.
Do not pick acorns off of the tree. Green acorns that have fallen may be okay if they turn brown when dried.
Red oak acorns in their shell are good for 5+ years when stored away from both moisture and temperature extremes.
White oak acorns should be used soon after gathering.
Only crack what you can use in a reasonable amount of time.
Since they oxidize and turn brown after cracking it might be best to drop them in water as you shell them.
Soaking them in this water overnight may loosen the skins.
Using a food processor or blender at the start may grind acorns into too fine a powder — difficult to leach without losing content.
When leaching, adding baking soda to each water-change may help to accelerate the removal of tannins.
The leaching water may never become completely clear. Use taste to determine when they are done.
Leaching can be accomplished by putting acorns in the sack and throwing it into a stream. Alternately, a mesh bag placed in the toilet tank, (not the bowl!) will provide regular changes of fresh water.
When drying acorns/flour after leaching, stir every few hours.It may take up to a day to completely dry.
Completed acorns/flour have a shelf life of about one week. For longer storage, keep in the fridge or freezer to keep oils from going going rancid.
Subjecting acorns to temps 150° or above at any point — during storage drying, processing — will cook the starches.
When cold leaching above 75° the main danger is fermenting acorns. Changing the water two times daily may prevent this. Otherwise leach them in a jar in the fridge.
Now What?
What to do with the acorns and flour after all this work? Boiled, coarsely chopped acorns are good added to holiday stuffing/dressing. Mashed (boiled) acorns with butter make a nice side accent. Fritters are good. Below is a plate of fritters and acorn “butter” I took for show-and-tell to a friend.
This is a photo from 2016, mainly for record-keeping purposes, not for bragging rights.
My finished products wouldn’t make the cover ofBonAppétit, but they contain a complement of carbohydrates, fats, protein and a range of essential nutrients.
What do they taste like? The fritters are reminiscent of veggie burgers — or of those wonderful pan scraping we eat when no one’s looking. The butter makes a nice topping on baked winter squash. The flour has a neutral flavor (there are a couple acorn halves beside the flour, for show).
I made the “butter” with grapeseed oil and salt, which brings out the nutty flavor of the acorns. Fritter II is made with garlic, egg white, and baking soda and was fried in oil. Fritter I is the same, only it also contains wheat flour. Experiment with recipes. Research and see what others have done.
Alternately, you can do what squirrels do with some of those acorns. Bury them. Then see what happens.
From 2016, an acorn we collected from Aiken’s own Marion Oak, and which is now growing in my mother’s yard. You can see the oak — now taller than I am — in the brightly-lit center of the photo. In the foreground is my mother, taking a break from her gardening this past summer.
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Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. His first love is birds, and he can identify an impressive range of birds by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.
It is now midwinter, the time when a fellow’s thoughts turn to… bluebirds. More specifically, to bluebird houses. During February, bluebird couples begin scouting out suitable nesting locations for the spring season. Now’s the time to make sure those houses are clean and ready for new tenants.
Being the landlord of a bluebird house, like everything else these days, has become a somewhat complicated process. It is written that one must check the progress of the nest on at least a weekly basis and —throughout the season — open the box and check out the eggs/chicks with flashlight and notebook in hand….
Reading up on the latest advice sometimes leaves me wondering if I should even put up any boxes — but I do. I put up the boxes, taking all of the precautions, just as my parents did for many decades. Then I lift up a prayer for the bluebirds’ success. Through all those seasons, I can count only one catastrophe — a blowfly infestation — which thankfully didn’t repeat.
I do not profess to be an expert in bluebird “houseology”– there is much easily-found advice online from qualified bluebird societies and advocates. I do have some strong opinions, though. Perches — the little peg beneath the entrance hole of the birdhouse — are to be avoided at all costs. Adult bluebirds do not need them. Perches allow predator-type birds to leisurely land at the entrance and easily pluck out a baby bluebird meal. Also, gaily decorated houses with bright colors can potentially attract the attention of hawks and other predators. Keep it subdued.
The main threats to the nestlings are from snakes and raccoons. Take care to trim branches or bushes near the bluebird house — or relocate the house. Snakes are amazing in their ability to extend their bodies across difficult distances to reach a food source. A cone, baffle, or other type guard on the birdhouse pole is necessary to keep snakes, raccoons and other critters from crawling up.
I have been lucky to have a few bluebirds keeping residence in the yard this winter. A bluebird-friendly landscape is key to enjoying their company year-round. Suitable housing, a birdbath, some berry bushes and vines, and a few bugs that happen to hatch out on the warmer days are all that is required in winter.
Some berry-bearing favorites for fall and winter include staghorn sumac, American beautyberry, pokeberry, Eastern red cedar, mistletoe, lantana, smilax and honeysuckle, plus yaupons and other hollies. A bird-feeder with dried mealworms, suet crumbles and/or cornmeal is the icing on the cake for a bluebird.
Dogwood berries are a bluebird favorite.
Come spring, keep in mind that, during nesting season, the primary diet of most backyard nestling and fledgling birds is insects. Take care to avoid pesticides that might eradicate their food supply or potentially work into the food chain and sicken the birds.
Last thoughts on the housing issue– bluebirds are cavity nesters. Their traditional homes consist of woodpecker holes in trees. The loss of this habitat is one reason why, nearly a century ago, bluebird societies formed and began promoting birdhouses. If you happen to have a dead or dying tree in your yard, and if it is safely possible, do not cut it down– especially if it already has woodpecker cavities in it. Leave it for the bugs and the birds. The bluebirds (and the wrens, nuthatches, woodpeckers and warblers) will thank you for it.
Before bluebird houses, there were plentiful old woodpecker holes — the natural nesting choice for these cavity-dwelling birds.
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Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. His first love is birds, and he can identify an impressive range of birds by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.
Joro spiders are making headlines, but the sensational stories being spun about them have put our non-native spiders in the crosshairs, while leaving the average person confused about whether the Joro poses any risk to their gardens and pets.
The articles aren’t being written by experts and the titles foment fear with terms like ‘invasion,’ ‘take-over,’ ‘massive’ and ‘venomous.’ I found many errors — as well as outright fear-mongering — in my review. And those errors stick around: A gardener friend asked if I’d heard about “those Japanese spiders, parachuting down from the sky by the thousands.” When I told him I had, he confided in me, “I hear their bite is deadly.”
This isn’t true, but it makes for an exciting news segment. Another friend came to me proclaiming to have finally identified the large spider in her front yard as an invasive species. It turned out to be a native golden silk orb weaver.
A Forsyth County man set his house on fire trying to eradicate the perceived threat after being alarmed by sensationalist media coverage. (1) Clearly there’s just a lot of bad information out there.
Here’s a rundown of the facts:
The Joro (Trichonephila clavata) has already been in our area for at least 8 years, during which time they have settled in nicely side-by-side with our native species.
There’s no bite risk to humans or mammals. Their fangs are too small and weak to effectively pierce human skin, but even if they were to succeed, their venom is mild and has evolved to harm insects, not mammals.
While their babies do “balloon” as many spiders do, traveling in the breeze on strands of silk, adult Joros certainly do not parachute down in the thousands.
Their prey includes pests such as the invasive crop-damaging brown-marmorated stink bugs (which many spiders won’t touch), mosquitos and yellow jackets, making the outdoors a little more pleasant for all of us and helping farmers naturally control pests.
The news stories routinely confuse two different things: Invasive species that come in and cause major problems (think fire ants), and non-native species that find a comfortable place in their new ecosystem, and do not cause harm. Joros are non-native, but are not considered to be invasive.
Worse, still, some news stories post pictures of the wrong spiders. They confuse the Joro with similar-looking native species like the golden silk orb weaver, Trichonephila clavipes, or with other native black and yellow species like the writing/garden spider, Argiope aurantia. The truth is, most of us would have trouble telling the difference between these spiders. IDs are best left to the experts.
Why is it difficult to ID the Joro? The Joro and the native golden silk orb weaver both spin webs that are gold in color. Both are large spiders that have very large webs that become noticeable in fall. Both are primarily yellow and black, with yellow and black striped legs and a yellow body with a red or burgundy spot on their underside, and a bright yellow mottled pattern on their back. But both species have variations in colors as well!
Is it really a Joro Spider?
Can you tell which of these are Trichonephila sp.? Can you tell which are non-native Joro spiders, Trichonephila clavata and which are the native golden silk orb weaver, Trichonephila clavipes? I’ve been talking with my spouse about the misinformation on Joro spiders for months now, and he still wasn’t able to identify the spiders in these photos with confidence. I’ll put the answers at the bottom of the article for anyone who wants to try their hand at identifying our native species versus the non-native Joro.
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What do the experts say?
Will Hudson, a University of Georgia extension entomologist, explained, “People shouldn’t be frightened of the spider at all, and in the event they ever cross your path, admire them,” he said. “They are really cool, and they are beautiful. You can go over and admire it, you can get as close as you want to get a really good picture with your cell phone… They’re just spectacular.”
Hudson says he’s held them numerous times, and his grandchildren even hold them. “They’re completely harmless.”(4)
Nancy Hinkle, another UGA entomologist adds “Joro spiders present us with excellent opportunities to suppress pests naturally, without chemicals.” She is trying to convince people that “having large spiders and their webs around is a good thing.” (5)
Entomologist Linda Raynor, who specializes in behavioral ecology and the evolution of sociality in spiders at Cornell University, says “There is no evidence that this spider presents any sort of an ecological risk or risk to people or pets of being bitten. The only way you get bitten by orb weavers is if you put your fingers in their faces, and even then, it is rare.” (6)
Richard Hoebeke was the first to positively identify a Joro spider in northern Georgia in 2014. This past year he said, “I think people need to make peace with Joros and accept the spiders because they are not going anywhere.” (5)
The Rule of Thumb
Here’s the moral of the story: If you see one of these spiders, take a moment to enjoy and marvel at the colors, the beautiful architecture of its web, the wonderful role this creature plays in keeping the balance of insects in check. Don’t like spiders? No problem! Leave them alone, and they’ll return the favor. No need to kill them.
