Trees & Birds of Arbor Day

Though I didn't plant a tree yesterday honor of Arbor Day, I did take pictures of trees. Here's a weeping willow that managed to survive the tornado last year. About half of it was blown down, as you can see. Thankfully, the rest lives on to provide my favorite color combination.....sky blue and spring green!

Yesterday afternoon I had to run into Cedar Falls to pick up the sweet corn seed we had ordered from the Earl May store. On the way, I sidetracked to a rural cemetery where some of my paternal ancestors are buried. This is a good time of year to stop at cemeteries......farmers out planting corn in the surrounding fields will think you are there because of Memorial Day coming up in a few weeks. They won't realize you are in reality an oddball obsessed with taking photos of any interesting thing you can find.

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And, there was something intriguing right next to the cemetery gate…..a mystery tree! I have no idea what its botanical name is. Maybe you can tell me. It was a very tall, pointy-shaped tree, absolutely covered in cones......it must be a conifer of some sort. What is puzzling is that the branches looked more like those of a deciduous tree, with the needles situated in bundles.

Here and there on the branches were these lovely magenta-colored flowers or buds:

 

If you know what kind of tree this is, please say so in a comment. I will try to consult Google or a tree book to get more information, too.

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[Update:  It might be a “Larch” tree, a coniferous deciduous tree, oddly enough. The link states:  In the Civil War era and earlier, it was common to have a larch tree in a town cemetery to symbolize death in the winter and rebirth in the spring.]

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Earlier in the day, my son and I were in Waterloo for an orthodontist appointment. Afterwards, we decided to get a quick treat at Burger King. We were sitting in the drive-through lane and noticed this robin nesting close by amongst vines on a fence. (Click the photo to enlarge it to full-screen to see the robin better.) Just beyond the fence is a busy four-lane street always filled with noisy traffic. Apparently, that doesn't bother Mrs. Robin!

This rooster pheasant scurried by after I dropped my son back at school:

After that, a stripey-necked killdeer dropped in for a brief appearance:

This pair of annoyed Canada geese honked and scolded at the human who was bothering them in their peaceful abode in the wetlands southeast of Readlyn. I don't blame them.

Haha......they got caught on video, too! I hope you can hear them honking over the sound of the wind. If you listen closely, you will hear frogs croaking, too......they've just started their season of singing! Have a great day!