BIRCH: FEMALES TAKE OVER FROM MALES

Walking past the birch trees behind Thornbury Methodist Church I saw a lot of brown dust on the ground and several dead caterpillars.

Whoah! Hang on a minute!  Those aren't caterpillars; they are the male catkins which are now breaking into little dusty pieces and dropping off the birch trees. (the straight needles are from the nearby cedar tree)

Photos are a bit indistinct but I hope you can see the male catkins going brown and the green female catkins, which are still mostly pointing upwards, getting longer.

 The ousted males are being succeeded by females.

Birch, sometimes called the Lady of the Woods, is evidently feminist.