Locust Tree Pods

When I was a child, we had a Locust Tree in the backyard. The tree reminded me of Africa because of the wide, horizontal growth pattern of its branches like one might see in an image of the Africa plains. However, I now know that many of the species are native to North America.

While I found the appearance to be quite impressive, we kids hated that tree for one reason; the seed pods. I don’t think it happened every year, but many times that tree produced huge numbers of long seed pods. The pods held five to eight seeds, if I recall, and they all had to be raked and removed from the yard. Raking grass clippings after mowing was always an undesirable task. But, raking the pods was gruesome. They were heavy and cumbersome to get into the leaf bags.

We have quite a few naturally occurring locust trees on our property. Some have outrageously long, sharp thorns which makes them, yes again, appear as “Africa” to me. Others seem to have less substantial thorns. And, while I had never specifically noticed this in the past, the trees produce seed pods.

A couple of days ago I filmed a female (or perhaps juvenile male) Rose-breasted Grosbeak in one of the locust trees near our old barn. When I reviewed the images, I came to see that the bird was reaching for and pecking at (perhaps even sampling) the exposed seed in a couple of pods on the tree.

It always brings joy to me when I realize that the wild birds receive nourishment from the wild plants that make a living on our farm-gone-wild.