@unk-p horrified that farmers would do something like that. Just unbelievable.
Hope that you will find a solution that is good for all, @jeanne-mayell
@jeanne-mayell hi Jeanne, i can't find the article i was reading about the migration patterns of grackles, but it said that the ones who show up in the Northeast usually head out by the end of April, whereas the ones down near the Gulf of Mexico (near me) are permanent residents. But who knows, that article could be incorrect.
I have never seen any grackles in my yard, probably because they prefer open lawns and fewer trees. My lawn is just barely big enough for 2 people to have a picnic, surrounded by jungle. I do have a tube type feeder that i refill every afternoon. Mainly doves, cardinals, and bluejays visit it. Oh, and squirrels. It has a weight activated perch that is meant to exclude squirrels and heavier type birds- but i deactivated that feature as soon as i got it, because everyones gotta eat!
Here are a couple of other articles about grackles that you may like: Give Grackles a Break
https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/outdoors/2015/04/10/give-grackles-break/25608875/
and: Coping with Grackles
https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/beginners/getting-started/coping-with-grackles/
If nothing else works, you could always rip out the lawn and put in more trees and plants, lol ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
@unk-p. Thank you, so there is hope that they still might leave. I have love for them now, though, thanks to you.
To my arborist friends, I revisit this thread now that spring has sprung and my mystery tree has sprouted leaves. At some point late this summer we'll remove it, but not until later because if predictions hold true and we're in for a hot summer, this really helps keep the house cooler and all that.
Anyone familiar with the infamous "Tree of the Heavens" - what I've googled is still inconclusive - does this look like it to you? (It still looks more like our Walnut trees but it's growing too fast and I don't remember our walnut trees sprouting the little white flowers)
@dannyboy The leaf structure is different than that of a Tree of Heaven. Walnut tree flowers are not white. The male flowers are yellow-green catkins produced in spring when new foliage appears. The female flowers have attractive pink or reddish pistils. The large leaves (up to 24 inches) are pinnately compound, with 11 to 17 leaflets that are a lighter green in color than most trees. Guess you have to keep trying to identify your mystery tree.
That's definitely not a tree of heaven. I'm not a tree expert, but I can spot ailanthus from a mile away. The app iNaturalist is good for identifying mystery plants. You take a few pictures of the specimen in question, and either the app identifies it for you OR other iNaturalist users in your area offer suggestions.
My yard is truly the island of misfit nature :-). Thanks for the app suggestion!
@dannyboy I could be wrong.. I don't know what sector you live in or if this tree grows in your area? But looks like wild black cherry. Please go to google and type in search bar "wild black cherry tree images" We have a lot of them here in my sector and they can be toxic to your ruminants so sure don't want them in their pastures/feed lots.
@journeywithme2 OMG I think we have a winner! I tried the app and it told me it was a flower not a tree so I just sort of gave up after a couple of other searches turned up nothing. But - the flowers, the leaves, and the little berries that come out later in the year - I think you have it! Thanks to you and everyone for helping me solve this mystery!
I am in Northern Michigan and have no other trees like this in my immediate vicinity so I have absolutely zero clue how it got here or how it's spread (okay the spread makes sense with the berries we get later in the summer)
While this is where my dog... uses the facilities and hangs out on nice days, (and while he does eat like a goat) I would say at this point we haven't had an animal actually eat anything from this tree.
Maybe I'll harvest some of the berries when they go to fruit and drop them a little farther away from the house and see if they'll sprout new trees a little further away from the foundation.
Several websites also say the wood is valuable - someone once told me if I ever needed to take the walnut trees down to make sure whomever I called paid ME and not vice versa. This seems like it might not be "bonfire wood" after all.