Confusing Plant Names and Demanding Birds
Great Reedmace - or Bullrush - or "True" Bullrush - or?
There is a wetland area where I went looking for birds in the snow this morning. Most of the wetland is a shallow pond that is being gradually taken over by Cattails and this specimen called to me to take its portrait. As I did so, a large Raven flew lowish overhead, calling to another that answered from a good distance to the north.
Great Reedmace (Typha latifolia) is a rather under-used common name for this plant now almost out of use in England where they are simply known as Bullrush and in Canada as Cattail. Reedmace was the preferred common name given by botanical taxonomists to the species, but it has never been that “common” in use as the popular name has been Bullrush for centuries – despite the fact that it is not actually a rush.
Confusingly, there is a similar appearing wetland plant also known as “True” Bullrush (Schoenoplectus lacustris) that is a sedge.
Then we have the Lesser Cattail/Bullrush (Typha angustifolia) that grows in deeper water up while this specimen is restricted to depths of no more than a half metre.
As if that nomenclatural complexity was not enough to tax me this morning, the reason for being out at this location was to fill bird feeders at the banding station on which this wetland exists and to make a census of the birds around today – something I do every week from November to the end of March. When I got to the feeding area I found that the lid on the feed store was locked firmly shut with ice and there were no tools available to break the grip. The birds, especially the Chickadees, sat a couple of feet away in the bushes and swore at me vociferously, “get an effin move-on, won’cha?” being the message. Twenty minutes of stomping through snow to find some sort of primitive tool eventually got the lid open and meals for the next several days provided. Although almost no banding is done in winter, this feeding station supports the local population of resident species until spring comes around. It also mentally boosts me – I very much enjoy these regular duties, possibly a little less so at -20C as it may be by the time of my next visit. It’s quiet there, closed to the public, just us, the birds, occasional deer and the spoor, but never a sight, of coyote and fox.
