Satin Flower and Osoberry

You may recall I went up to Highrock Park a week or so ago in search of the earliest of indigenous spring flowers here, the Satin Flower. There were none visible then nor at my next visit a few days ago. But today, there they were, nodding delicately in the breeze. Spring is so late this year that I expect the spring flowers will be treading on each other's heels rather than appearing in the fairly measured progression they follow in normal years. One truly balmy spring day will do it. Below is an impressionistic treatment of another of the earliest native spring blooms I saw today, the Osoberry or Indian Plum.

Indian Plum

A few days ago I promised we'd have a look at early blooming wild flowers and here is the one I always notice as first and earliest. Indian Plum or Osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis) is found on a small bush with a few bright spring-green leaves as it is pictured above. It produces a small fruit that figured in the diet of local First Nations people though I find it a bit tart for my tastes. It's also very popular with birds. These were photographed in Highrock Park but the plant is found all over the city in small parks or overgrown vacant lots.

And the Winner Is...

My visit to Highrock Park on the weekend did yield a winner, pictured above, in the First Local Wildflower to Bloom Sweepstakes. All of the flowers I've photographed so far this year have been on plants that were introduced by European settlers during the last 150 years or so. The diminutive little flowers in this post are, however, on a common wild bush native to this area called Indian Plum. The fruit look like plums but are very small, about the size of a pea, and are very popular with birds. To the right is a photo of the fruit I took a few years ago in May.

Indian Plums, Snickering Squirrel and the Elusive Northern Flicker

When I photographed the flowers of the Indian Plum earlier this spring I read that one rarely sees the fruit since it is a favorite food for wild birds. This is not surprising since it comes so early - right now there are no other wild fruits or berries to eat. I can also see why it is not a part of our diet - these lovely little fruits are only about the size of a pea. Shortly after photographing these I noticed the squirrel on the left below.

Why do I think the squirrel is snickering? I suspect it is because he knows I will fail once again to get a good clear photo of the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) (right). I have dozens of photos of parts of Northern Flickers. They are very shy and have an unerring sense of anyone watching them. They always manage to be partly hidden behind the trunk of a tree or a branch as in this photo and seldom perch for long in a wholly unobstructed fashion.

I might not be so obsessed with Northern Flickers if it were not for the tiny hearts that cover their breasts. (Click the photo to enlarge it and you will see what I mean.)

Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis)

While out at Saxe Point Park I started to tune in to some of the common local plants that are blossoming and leafing out for spring. Here's one I especially like because of the casual grace of its flower clusters and its brilliant fresh green leaves. Its common name is Indian Plum or Osoberry.