Overrun by Accessories

I purchased an inexpensive underwater sport camera for an upcoming trip to the Philippines, and now I need to hire a team of scientists to put it together.

First order of business, I downloaded instructions from the interweb and read through them a bit. Actually, the camera itself isn’t terribly complicated; it’s standard stuff: charge the battery, format the SD card, set the electronic options to your liking. I can manage that, provided somebody smart (read: Desiree here) can help me if I get a brain cramp.

The mounting accessories are the impossibly complicated part of this toy. There are handfuls of weird parts with ears and knobs and shoes and clamps for mounting the camera to handlebars, helmets, vehicles, clothing, and possibly a UFO if you can catch one.

To simplify, I may just hold the camera in my hand while it’s tethered to my wrist. I’ve posted a photograph of the camera and its attendant accessories.

Camera and Accessories

—Mitchell Hegman

It’s the Berries

In the end, the Townsend Solitaire wins.

If you are unfamiliar, the Solitaire is a somewhat bratty, juniper-berry-obsessed bird. Gray in color and quick on the wing, it’s a member of the thrush family, which includes the Western Bluebird and the American Robin. Here in Montana, these slim gray birds don’t bother migrating. Instead, they overwinter in the scrub and survive almost entirely on juniper berries. But they don’t just eat them: they stake claims. A single Solitaire will pick a cluster of juniper bushes in the fall and defend it with unwavering conviction, chasing away any bird or any innocent passerby (read “Mitch” here) that wanders too close to its chosen stash.

I am familiar with this because solitaires have been staking claims on my property for as long as I can remember. Typically, I see them perched high in the ponderosa trees or junipers so they can watch over their holding of juniper berries.

Theirs is a simple strategy: “It’s the berries, stupid.”

Given the abundance of juniper here, these birds thrive. While other nearby species have struggled to maintain stable populations, the Townsend Solitaire has held firm.

Both last year and this year, a Solitaire has included my house in its area of claim. So far, we’ve gotten along swimmingly.

Photo: Jonathon Jongsma

—Mitchell Hegman

All the Pretty Berries

This time of year, most berry-producing plants and bushes in our region put forth their fruit.  Yesterday, on a climb into the mountains to find huckleberries, I found all manner of berries on full display.  Posted are a few photographs from the day.

I never sample any type of berry unless I have identified the berry and plant for certain.  I am especially wary of brightly colored or strikingly patterned berries, which tend to be poisonous. 

   

Baneberry (Poisonous)

False Solomon’s Seal (Poisonous)

Huckleberry (Delicious)

My Truck on the Road Below

—Mitchell Hegman

Wild Strawberries

The large strawberries you purchase from the local grocery had much smaller beginnings than you may imagine.   The fruit you purchase is the hybridized version of Fragaria virginiana, more commonly known as wild strawberry. 

Wild strawberries grow from coast to coast in the United States—preferring well-drained soils and full sun to partial shade.  Wild strawberries plants thrive in great abundance around my cabin.   While the leaves and runner vines are easy to spot, the tiny fruit is often well hidden under the leaves.  When you find ripe wild strawberries, you will discover the berries to be a fraction of a fraction of the size you find in the produce section of stores.

I poked around near the side door of my cabin and managed to harvest a small handful of the wee fruit.  Though small, they are flavorful and sweet when fully ripened.

I have posted a couple photographs I captured with my smarter-than-me-phone.

—Mitchell Hegman

Sources:  https://www.lakeforest.edu, https://www.gardeningknowhow.com

Red Twinberry

On a trip to my cabin, I found more than a few red twinberry bushes displaying fruit.  Red twinberry, also known as Utah honeysuckle, is one of the first shrubs to put forth flags of green in the spring.  They are very hardy.  I consistently find them growing in my favored huckleberry patches.  The berries are pure red and grow as conjoined twins.  This makes them easy to identify. 

Red twinberries are edible.  They also have three remarkable things going for them.  First, they are nearly tasteless.  Secondly, they are filled with water.  Finally, red twinberries produce small, inconspicuous seeds.

After chewing on pine needles or nearly choking on overly-flavorful gooseberries (this is for you, Roland Vickers), munching on a somewhat tasteless berry has its advantages.  Personally, I think the twinberry has just the hint of a hint of watermelon flavor.  I like them.

I particularly enjoy the water content of these berries.  As I am picking huckleberries, I often swipe a few twinberries from nearby plants and munch on them.

—Mitchell Hegman