Japanese Angelica Tree with Warblers

 Pine Warbler 10-10-2014 Mere Point Yard

It seems that autumn was so long ago, and the colors of autumn appear so bright and bold against this current monochrome winter landscape. During fall migration my yard was filled with warblers for at least two weeks as these tiny, but colorful birds descended on these plants in my back yard. These colorful pants were filled with berries and birds and it took some research and the help of some facebook friends to help me discover what species of plant it is.

Japanese Angelica Trees in Autumn 10-6-14

This is what the trees look like at the corner of my yard.

This is a close-up of one of the leaves.

“The leaves are bi- or tri-pinnately compound” (*see link below)

Pinnate means: having the characteristics of a feather or wing.

They are attached to these thorny stems or trunk, and drop from this joint leaving a long stick that is bare and points to the sky in winter.

 

This one must be at least 15 feet tall!

My research revealed that Japanese Angelica is considered an invasive species in some states, though I could not find anything about it on the Maine website of invasive species. The best info I found was on a Pennsylvania website. I’ve included all the links below at the end of this post. But the birds didn’t care about any of that. They just wanted the berries and they ate them every day until they were gone. I saw fewer warblers after that! All these photos were taken between October 6 through October 10th, 2014 in my own yard.

 Black-throated Blue Warbler 10-10-14

 

 Palm Warbler eating Japanese Angelica fruit

 

 Palm Warbler on Japanese Angelica leaf

 

 Yellow-rumped Warbler with Angelica berries

 

 Yellow-rumped Warbler

• Japanese Angelica Tree Pennsylvania DCNR* (quote above)
• Maine Invasive Species
• Maine Invasive Species Fact Sheet
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension Invasive Plants Info
• Pinnation Wiki Article

 

There’s a warbler in there somewhere!