Diario de gayleenjacobs

My first observation is of a Red Squirrel here, pictured eating his favorite food, pinecones. While taking this picture, he was reasonably good and did not do his usual angry chattering (chee-chee-chee.) I have witnessed these little guys be as aggressive as a bear! They are territorial and will let you and any other animal know when you have crossed the line with their noisy chatter. (chee-chee-chee) Some people love these adorable animals with their big personalities; conversely, they can be problematic when they get into people's houses or eat all the bird food.
According to Bird Watching HQ, this squirrel I have taken a picture of is an American Red Squirrel. Like the name of this tiny creature, he is "red with a white belly, and they are smaller than the grey squirrel and fox squirrel but larger than chipmunks." (https://birdwatchinghq.com/squirrels-in-alaska/)
Scientific Name: Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
Average Length (Including tail): 11- 14 inches / 28 – 35.5 cm
Weight: 7.1–8.8 oz / 200–250 g
Their lifespans are short, with "severe mortality during their first year," and about 80% do not survive the first year. Their lifespan is anywhere between 2.3-8 years maximum. They have many predators throughout their area, which is extensive, but here on Baranof Island, it is eagles, gulls, martens, goshawks, owls, and bears. (https://birdwatchinghq.com/squirrels-in-alaska/)
I live on Baranof Island, where I found that the Red Squirrel is not indigenous to this island. Squirrels were imported to this island in 1922 to feed and attract Martens and to encourage trapping for their pelts. (https://www.kcaw.org/2015/04/01/ferocious-red-squirrel-to-grace-legislators-office/) If you are interested, there is much more information on the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. These squirrels are common and found throughout Alaska despite being introduced in some parts of Southeast Alaska. (https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=redsquirrel.main/)

My observation for this week is the Steller Jay, and its species name is the Cyanocitta stelleri. They are in the same category as ravens, crows, jackdaws, and magpies. These Corvidae are some of today's most intelligent, sassy, and fun birds. First, the Stellar Jay that visited me is one of four couples I have watched throughout the summer. They usually will tell me they are near with their ungodly screeching, almost a caw, but their throats sound as though they are sore, like they have been smoking too much. I keep a bag of nuts around and throw a few out when they see me walking along the usual path I take a couple of times a week.
An interesting fact about Steller Jay's name comes from the naturalist Georg Steller, "an 18th-century German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer" (1). He had many animals and plants named after him because he was "credited with discovering a number of animals and plants, some of which bear his name, either in the common or scientific name." (1) One of them was the "Steller Sea Cow" which went extinct during his lifetime. Here are some other names you might have heard and never knew that it was this man and where their names came from: the Steller sea eagle and Steller sea lion. The Steller Jay was named after him in 1741. (2)
Now for some interesting facts about them. They and the blue jay are the only ones in North America with a crest. They are the only "New World jays that use mud to build their nests." (2) Steller Jays have a considerable variation in colors ranging from hues of blue to black. They are known to be nest robbers, especially the Dark-eyed Junco and the Pygmy nuthatch, which on Baranof Island we have many. Another astonishing thing about these crazy birds is their ability to mimic almost anything they hear: other birds, squirrels, cats, dogs, chickens and even things like cars and lawnmowers. (2)
The last interesting fact I read is, "The oldest recorded Steller's Jay was a male, and at least 16 years one month old when he was found in Alaska in 1987. He was originally banded there in 1972." (2)

(1) https://rachelcarsoncouncil.org/rcc-bird-watch-and-wonder-program/bird-lore/stellers-jay-whats-name/
(2) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Stellers_Jay/overview

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/184314430

For my observation this week, I have chosen what is commonly known as Labrador tea, a species of Azaleas (Rhododendron). Its botanical name is Rhododendron groenlandicum. To identify, it is a smaller, erect, standing, sparsely branched bush about 2-3 ft tall, with white umbrella flowers that bloom in June and July (EdibleWildFood). It has evergreen leaves that can be identified with their slightly curled feature, with the back of the leaf being rusty-brown and fuzzy. "It often grows in dense colonies…it generally reproduces by spreading vegetatively, and less commonly, from seed." (EdibleWildFood).
Labrador tea loves the bog or muskeg, as we call it here in Southeast Alaska. It is abundant and can be found in large spaces of "wet peaty soils" growing for the taking. (EdibleWildFood) "It is native to boreal North America. It is found in the tundra and drier, rocky mountain places." (EdibleWildFood)
There are a few medical possibilities with Labrador tea, but there have not been enough studies to prove "scientifically" that it can do everything it is known for. But here are a few of the medical potentials. "People take Labrador tea for sore throat, chest congestion, coughs, lung infections, and other chest ailments. They also take it for diarrhea, kidney problems, joint and muscle pain (rheumatism), headache, and cancer.". Interestingly, Labrador Tea has also been used for abortions and feminine problems. (RxList)
One issue with Labrador tea that many people are unaware of is that it "contains diterpene grayanotoxins." (Jansen, A. et al.). The grayanotoxins in the pollen of the flowers, which can be harmful to humans although seldom deadly, can be found in honey. This honey is called "mad honey." An incident of this is "recorded by the Greek warrior-writer Xenophon in 401 BC in his Anabasis "(Jansen, A. et al.), where four hundred warriors ate this mad honey and were so crazy and hallucinogenic that it took nearly four days for them to come to their senses, but after the four days, it was as if nothing had happened.
When I first came to Alaska, I was introduced to this Tea as Russian Tea, where we would soak the leaves in boiling water and add a sugary powdered drink called Tang® to it when we were feeling a cold or flu coming. Every fisherman in the fleet had their recipe. I still have an area right near my house where I will go out and pick a handful of leaves and boil them up when my throat feels rough.

“Labrador Tealedum Groenlandicum.” EdibleWildFood, www.ediblewildfood.com/Labrador-tea.aspx. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

"Labrador Tea: Health Benefits, Side Effects, Uses, Dose & Precautions." RxList, RxList, 11 June 2021, www.rxlist.com/labrador_tea/supplements.htm.

Jansen, Suze A et al. "Grayanotoxin poisoning: 'mad honey disease' and beyond." Cardiovascular toxicology vol. 12,3 (2012): 208-15. doi:10.1007/s12012-012-9162-2

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185324967

Large-leaf Avens (Geum macrophyllum)

When I went to my little place to take the picture, it was raining. Pippin and I were soaked to the skin when we finished taking photos. But this is the usual weather this time of year, and I enjoy rain even when it's falling from the sky like someone has a bucket pouring it out. It wasn't too cold, so it still was enjoyable.
I have chosen a common weed that grows everywhere in Alaska called Large-leaf Avens (Geum macrophyllum) but can be found "across the northern hemisphere, but also present in southern Africa and the Andes of South America" (Fretig). "The genus Geum in the rose family (Rosaceae) contains about 40 species" (Fretig).
It hasn't been used for food but instead more for medicinal purposes by Indigenous peoples by using the root to make tea for stomach pains and the leaves in a poultice for boils. The people groups have been identified as the Nuxalk, Quileute, Snohomish and Quinault (Brietze et al.).
If you look closely at the pictures I have put up, you will see that the leaves are "shaped like a maple leaf and are significantly larger than the other leaflets farther down the leaf blade", so you see the larger leaves at the top and then as they run down the stalk with each leaf getting smaller (Fretig). In another picture, the one with the hand is holding the remains of the summer bloom that has turned into "fruiting heads of this species a bristly, pincushion-like appearance" (Fretig). Unfortunately, it is too late in the season to see the pretty five-stared yellow flower that resembles a cinquefoil (Potentilla), a closely related species.
Another weird trait that the flower has is that it has an ultraviolet black dot at the bottom of the petals that, as humans, we cannot see. However, it attracts little flies who can see this dot will pollinate for the Avens because of these "nectar guides." (Fretig)
I have watched this weed throughout the summer, and the flowers are not spectacular; they are easily missed because they aren't elegant. I have also noticed they are often some of the first weeds to pop out in the spring and some of the last to die out. In my observation, they wait underground when the snow and cold arrive, and in the first bright sun, they will break the ground and show their sweet leaves. These Large-leaf Avens are some of my favorite plants to watch throughout the seasons.

Brietze, Chanda, et al. "Large-Leaved Avens • Geum Macrophyllum." Biodiversity of the Central Coast, 2016, www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/large-leaved-avens-bull-geum-macrophyllum-ssp-macrophyllum.html.

Fertig, Walter. "U.S. Forest Service." Forest Service Shield, United States Department of Agriculture, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/geum_macrophyllum.shtml. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.