Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/360116
Pines are beautiful to behold, with bundles of dark green needles and bark in earth tones. They are the true originals of our landscapes. Mine have been here many years, home to eastern screech owls and red-shouldered hawks. Pileated woodpeckers probe the chunky bark for insects. In spring and fall, migratory birds rest and feed in the canopy after their long flights. An osprey will sit high atop one to eat his "catch of the day" from the Gulf, just a quarter-mile distant. Once a black vulture stopped by to groom herself. Eagles build their nests in pines, and only mature trees can support these huge struc- tures. Great horned owls sometimes lay their eggs in a crotch of a pine. In the wild, a pine creates a "community" that is practically impossible to replicate and takes years to establish. Grape vines — some as thick as a man's arm — climb the trunk, THIS TREE HAS A PLETHORA OF PURPOSES IN THE ECOSYSTEM Story and Photos By Fran Palmeri Contributing Writer Sarasota News Leader August 8 & 15, 2014 Page 103