Winter lays bare the twisted branches, bird’s nests, and mistletoe

My dog focuses on the ground when he walks. His powerful sense of smell gives him a window into the world that I do not have. When he walks our neighborhood, he is consumed with finding and evaluating all the latest scents. He wants to know which other dogs have visited his park and if they pose a threat. Squirrels, raccoons, and rabbits: they all leave a scent trail. Then he marks his territory by urinating every few steps so no one will doubt it’s his neighborhood.

My dog doesn’t look up, as his focus is below. Up above are trees and even I take them for granted for much of the year. In spring and in summer, the branches are covered with green leaves. I can see and hear birds flying around up there on a spring or summer day.

In autumn, these leaves turned color and blanketed the ground. My neighbors paid someone to clean up the mess and take it away, then paid more for mulch to spread around in their gardens. Meanwhile, I filled one garbage bag after another with colorful leaves from my neighborhood, transporting them to my garden, where they now serve as free mulch to cover and build the soil.

There are fewer birds by the time winter comes. The smart ones have migrated south to find warmer weather with more insects and seeds. Soon, they will be back to join the hardy ones that have stayed all year: assorted blackbirds, sparrows, and some small chirpy thing that might be a vireo.

Woodpeckers have stayed also. Acorn woodpeckers make holes in the trees and fill them with acorns and other nuts. So they have a food supply throughout the year (as long as they can keep the squirrels from stealing them).

You might get seasick watching this GIF I created, since it’s a little shaky. I just pointed my phone camera upwards to capture this small bird far above me. You can see how they continue to peck holes in the trees, either for insects or to stuff later with acorns.

Deciduous trees become bony frames in winter. These branches and twigs once supported a tableau of changing colors throughout the seasons. Now stripped of their finery, only the structure remains, aside from a few leaves remaining on certain varieties of oaks. But winter also reveals some secrets.

There's a nest. It was hidden until the leaves left the tree bare.

This small one looks to be in a precarious position, but it seems to be strong.

What kind of a mess is that? Only the squirrel knows.

Olive trees still have some leaves and a few fruit that went unharvested. If this one had been in my yard, I'd have picked them all by now.

Oak mistletoe. Some species of oak trees drop their leaves and all that's left is this parasitic plant that grows on the branches. It's mistletoe.

People in some European countries put a clump of mistletoe in their house. When someone walks under it, they get a kiss.

A mighty sycamore tree goes bald as well, just like most of the oaks.

Thus we await spring and the new life it will bring.

All photos by the author or public domain. The green-leaved oak (second picture) is public domain from Pixabay. Woodpeckers made the GIF.