Oak catkin with oriole Print

Oaks are wind pollinated, and the male inflorescence depicted here is a long string filled with male flowers. (Some wind pollinated hardwoods place their small male flowers on long strings; these are called catkins. Birch, poplar and alder also have catkins.) Here they are depicted as mature flowers, the grains developing a brownish gold color as they finished their development. Soon the wind will scoop them and disperse them out into the world. About one in every 100,000 pollen grains will reach the magic goal: the tiny female flower on some other oak tree. I imagined this scene occurring at dawn. The oriole is waiting for the cold-blooded insects to receive enough heat from the air that they can start moving around. then the bird can have breakfast. The oriole is patient not because it is wise but only because impatience would solve nothing.