A pile of fruits, a pile of feathers, and a mystery to be solved . . .
In a corner of the main north entrance to the Noble Research Center, I encountered this mystery today:
And I’m all like:
So let’s get to work on this.
First, this wasn’t here on Nov. 3 (Saturday), I did not check yesterday (Sunday), and when I found it today (Monday, the 5th) it had already been scavenged. I count examples like these as scavenging/removal on day 0.
Okay, so there’s a feather pile and a fruit pile. The fruit pile is on top of the feathers. The fruits show no signs of digestion, other than some of them having been opened and the pits are exposed. There is a single large pit inside a small fruit that is round and black with a highly glossy finish.
After much reading, comparing, consulting, etc., I’m pretty well convinced that these are chokecherries, Prunus virginiana.
Paul Wray photo, Iowa State University
My…
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