Stormy Greening of the Woods

The Woods are becoming a bright spring green all over. The native hawthorn Crataegus viridis scattered here and there in the Woods are in full white bloom and light up the understory canopy. Good time to find them all and mark their locations. The forest floor has been transformed. The past two weeks of wet and cool alternating with spring sunshine and mild warm days has been pulling life upward from the roots in the winter soil, up to the buds and new leaves. The elms have broken their flower buds and the green scales are beginning to fall on the forest floor.
The honeysuckle is well out. The Eleagnus is fully out. Most of the Ligustrum privet has open leaf buds although new leaves are unexpanded.

Tim Chorley set turtle trap in the larger eastern pond of the west two. He observed two snapping turtles there yesterday.

The ravine trail is partially closed by a big hackberry break and drop down from up slope by the rusty old truck seat remains. A tree top looks to have been damaged in the past with some decay following and weakening the junction which then snapped with the fairly strong north winds of the past two days.

Returning from OJAS in Ada and judging papers I was wanting peace and went to the Woods with my axe to clear the larger stump stubs from Hackberry Alley and elsewhere.

I walked all the trails and was struck at how green everything was. The Woods are changing rapidly. Fortunately the foot trails are holding up nicely and remaining fairly clear.

At the Beaver Dam, water was a few inches deep in the channel but not flowing. From the SW Gate the trail was dry (well, soggy/ mushy but no standing water) until about 50 feet before the jct with the Two Friends Trail.

I saw no deer again this afternoon.