Scenes around a Mulberry Tree by Floodplain Photographer Ellen Kenny
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- Wildlife
The Mulberry Tree on the Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area
Despite the erosion that has exposed half of its roots, the Conservation Center’s mulberry tree survived another winter, with a rich diversity of berry eaters gracing its branches from mid June through mid July. The robins and cedar waxwings dominated the tree early in the season while the berries were still red. When the berries were riper, the tree hosted woodpeckers (alternately pecking limbs and biting off berries), veeries, kingbirds, orioles, goldfinches, grosbeaks, tanagers, grey and red squirrels, and chipmunks, among others. By the end of June, the tree was like a daycare center for fledgling robins, able to flap from branch to branch but still begging loudly from their berry- plucking parents. Inevitably, our mulberry is one day destined to lose its grip on that bank. When that day comes, I think we need to plant a new one.
