Marvelous day today.. 73F balmy; but this is going to swell the buds of new leaves before the deep cold of January and February arrives. At 10 I went to the Woods and began work on a new North Rim Trail. From near the east end of the Northern Loop, the route follows the deer trail north, ascending to the upper northwestern forest of juniper, walnut and mixed deciduous species. It then runs west along the southern edge of the upper terrace to connect with the highest eastern section of the Ravine Trail before that trail descends to the East Pond.
The route was thick with Smilax briars, juniper branches and vigorous growth of Symphoricarpos coralberry.
By 3 o'clock I was beaten bruised and scratched up; but the trail was through and flagged with dull orange. It will take weeks of additional trimming and many more traverses before it is in good shape; but it is now possible to follow the route all the way. The North Rim Trail will provide a view over the eastern Woods, particularly in the winter and access to the upper terrace with its very different habitat. The forest and shrub layer there is thicker than on the floodplain. It provides more shelter and food for wildlife. This trail is going to be a favorite for students interested in wildlife. There are several places where a motion camera would be kept busy recording the traffic of animals from their dens excavated in the earth along the south-facing upper slope and along their paths. This trail is also the one most exposed to the sound of traffic along Highway 9. It will be best at times when traffic is light.
A sad footnote to the day came early when I found the recently deceased old mangy dog that I had observed in the Woods several times in November. The carcass is decomposing near the junction of the Northern Loop and the new Northern Rim trails.
No deer today, although yesterday just past 5 PM I watched a trio of yearlings in the SW Woods.. not terribly concerned about me. The West Pond appeared to be covered in a light scum (of pollen?). It should be too early for Juniper (?) but the scum had the yellowish-golden tint of juniper pollen. The cold is coming.. strong north winds will bring in the New Year!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
A new place and new trees
Scores of visits to the Woods and I had never seen this place before.. From the top of the Dune Trail, the way west along the crest of the Dune is fiercely guarded by dense curtains of briars. Today I ventured past the curtain, moving very slowly, disentangling each length of brier before it could rip clothing, shin, ankle, arm, neck. West along the crest there is an open area, an active wildlife highway, well used deer beds and unusual large trees, not common elsewhere in the Woods. I measured/ recorded several large Bumelia or Sideroxylon there. In the past week I've added 45 new large trees. The Dune crest and the swale to the south and west is a well protected, all but inaccessible sanctuary, where wildlife can rest undisturbed by passing biologists .. and new discoveries can remain hidden from most explorers. I must return and explore.
Monday, December 26, 2011
More Trees
Last two days I've added 22 trees to database, beginning with the series at #301. Approximate minimum size of 40 cm DBH.. noting GPS coordinates, species, diameter and morphology or unusual features. Working east along the South boundary south of the Dune. Continue east of the OWP recycled Coca-Cola sign board.
On walk-around encountered the barred owl again on the north side of the west pond. Cool to mid high 40's, low 50's.
Today had some inspired thoughts about Oliver's Woods as an example of peri-urban ecology.
Tuesday 27 Dec good 3 hour excursion with Michael and Becky discussing phenomena in the Woods. Water flow, plants, animals.
On walk-around encountered the barred owl again on the north side of the west pond. Cool to mid high 40's, low 50's.
Today had some inspired thoughts about Oliver's Woods as an example of peri-urban ecology.
Tuesday 27 Dec good 3 hour excursion with Michael and Becky discussing phenomena in the Woods. Water flow, plants, animals.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Solstice, Wind Symphony and Owl Surprise
Good, slow 45/100ths inch of rain fell on Monday the 19th. I visited the Woods through the SW Gate in the afternoon on a warmish (55F) Wed the 21st, Winter Solstice. I was greeted by a calm whitetailed doe near the NW corner of the dune. She declined to run; but her two yearlings, a 100 meters east, ran off to the west, white tails flashing.
The ponds had risen in an asymmetrical fashion - the E Pond was up to 2.30 ft and the W Pond was up to 2.10. Both began at 2.0 before the rain. There were a dozen busy aquatic insects (small chironomids?) flying over a small SW corner of the Western pond.. couldn't make out from a distance what they were. Otherwise, the ponds were quiet. A downy woodpecker was working hard to extract the small peanuts from Claire's titmouse feeder by the E Pond.
I returned to the Woods on a much colder afternoon, today, the 22nd via the trash station. Approaching the south entrance by the H10 post, I disturbed a large barred owl that flew 100 feet west and then looked at me until I moved on. I wandered east across the recently washed-over ragweed delta. The patches of big-leaved Polygonum that had remained green along the service road were now dead and brown. Along the delta stream channels, I found a curious hole in the soft wet sand, 1.5-2 inch diam. and a foot deep, straight down. I wonder what could have made that. I dipped in a stick and the bottom 3 in. came up wet with ground water.. a good test location for shallow water table depth.
W of the Elm Bridge I heard a loud, high-pitched sound like the call of a hawk ringing through the Woods. After a moment. I discovered it was from the large branches of a broken elm lodged against the upper bole of a stout young green ash. In the 12-17 mph N wind the two trees played a unique wind symphony together. I wondered how the sounds of other trees rubbing and rattling against each other would change as the wind shifted strength and direction.. and if animals living in the Woods took any notice.
West of the Bur Oak Bridge, the white barked trunks of a small group of sycamores stood out. There are not many of these in the Woods ( fewer than 20?). I expect they will grow well and their numbers should increase.
I need to find the diameter tape and begin documenting more of the large trees in the south Woods.
Leaving the Woods I took the Dune Trail south and stopped at the big leaning Bur Oak snag, to push aside a jutting broken branch.. and to my surprise flushed the barred owl from its perch on the bur oak snag just 10 feet from me. It left a dead vole or large mouse, still intact, belly up on the bur oak. I moved along without delay so that the owl could return to its dinner before the storm arrived.
The ponds had risen in an asymmetrical fashion - the E Pond was up to 2.30 ft and the W Pond was up to 2.10. Both began at 2.0 before the rain. There were a dozen busy aquatic insects (small chironomids?) flying over a small SW corner of the Western pond.. couldn't make out from a distance what they were. Otherwise, the ponds were quiet. A downy woodpecker was working hard to extract the small peanuts from Claire's titmouse feeder by the E Pond.
I returned to the Woods on a much colder afternoon, today, the 22nd via the trash station. Approaching the south entrance by the H10 post, I disturbed a large barred owl that flew 100 feet west and then looked at me until I moved on. I wandered east across the recently washed-over ragweed delta. The patches of big-leaved Polygonum that had remained green along the service road were now dead and brown. Along the delta stream channels, I found a curious hole in the soft wet sand, 1.5-2 inch diam. and a foot deep, straight down. I wonder what could have made that. I dipped in a stick and the bottom 3 in. came up wet with ground water.. a good test location for shallow water table depth.
W of the Elm Bridge I heard a loud, high-pitched sound like the call of a hawk ringing through the Woods. After a moment. I discovered it was from the large branches of a broken elm lodged against the upper bole of a stout young green ash. In the 12-17 mph N wind the two trees played a unique wind symphony together. I wondered how the sounds of other trees rubbing and rattling against each other would change as the wind shifted strength and direction.. and if animals living in the Woods took any notice.
West of the Bur Oak Bridge, the white barked trunks of a small group of sycamores stood out. There are not many of these in the Woods ( fewer than 20?). I expect they will grow well and their numbers should increase.
I need to find the diameter tape and begin documenting more of the large trees in the south Woods.
Leaving the Woods I took the Dune Trail south and stopped at the big leaning Bur Oak snag, to push aside a jutting broken branch.. and to my surprise flushed the barred owl from its perch on the bur oak snag just 10 feet from me. It left a dead vole or large mouse, still intact, belly up on the bur oak. I moved along without delay so that the owl could return to its dinner before the storm arrived.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Eight Deer, Santa Missing
Out in the NE Woods Friday 16 Dec on the new Tree Trail I spotted eight white-tail deer together (yearlings and does) moving north along the border of the field and then dashing away west into the Woods.. no jolly rotund man in red suit.
After 33/100 inch of rain Tues-Wed Dec 13-14 the E and W ponds both register 2.0 feet depth. The W. Wash is filled with water but dry just before the Elm Bridge. No signs of turtles or other large creatures in the ponds. Lots of tracks of deer and raccoons in soft sand at the Elm Bridge.
With all the leaves down, the Woods are LOUD with the sounds of traffic on Hwy 9.. nothing to buffer and damp the sound.
Russell and I out Sunday 18 Dec 4 PM blue painting tops of steel posts in Woods to facilitate spotting. Spot another couple deer and hear a dog barking (at us) in the dense brier patch between the two dune trails. On the Tree Loop, Russell spotted a big Meloe oil or blister beetle.. just the posterior wiggling, sticking straight up out of a pencil-width vertical hole in a mound of soft soil. Remarkable that a large beetle like that is out exploring in mid December.
We also met two folks (non-university?) inside the NE Gate collecting natural items in a zip lock bag for decorations.
On the Main SW Trail someone (mouse?) is chewing on small (1/4" diam) surface roots from an elm by the dry deepest pool along the trail. Maybe they've found some attractive fungi growing there? Nearby blue-taped 50 meter cedar post marker has become a fecal marking focus for a larger animal .. coyote? coon? Need Nick to I.D.
In the center of the Woods, scores of robins were busily foraging in the leaves on the forest floor before the arrival of Monday's predicted storm. It was warm enough (58 F) that a few muscoid/calliphorid flies and noctuid moths were flying.
The soil surface along the Main SW Trail is remarkable now. Where flowing water has pushed away the thicker deposits of new fallen leaves, the light rains this week have beaten the underlaying organic duff and left a soft airy blanket on the forest soil.
After 33/100 inch of rain Tues-Wed Dec 13-14 the E and W ponds both register 2.0 feet depth. The W. Wash is filled with water but dry just before the Elm Bridge. No signs of turtles or other large creatures in the ponds. Lots of tracks of deer and raccoons in soft sand at the Elm Bridge.
With all the leaves down, the Woods are LOUD with the sounds of traffic on Hwy 9.. nothing to buffer and damp the sound.
Russell and I out Sunday 18 Dec 4 PM blue painting tops of steel posts in Woods to facilitate spotting. Spot another couple deer and hear a dog barking (at us) in the dense brier patch between the two dune trails. On the Tree Loop, Russell spotted a big Meloe oil or blister beetle.. just the posterior wiggling, sticking straight up out of a pencil-width vertical hole in a mound of soft soil. Remarkable that a large beetle like that is out exploring in mid December.
We also met two folks (non-university?) inside the NE Gate collecting natural items in a zip lock bag for decorations.
On the Main SW Trail someone (mouse?) is chewing on small (1/4" diam) surface roots from an elm by the dry deepest pool along the trail. Maybe they've found some attractive fungi growing there? Nearby blue-taped 50 meter cedar post marker has become a fecal marking focus for a larger animal .. coyote? coon? Need Nick to I.D.
In the center of the Woods, scores of robins were busily foraging in the leaves on the forest floor before the arrival of Monday's predicted storm. It was warm enough (58 F) that a few muscoid/calliphorid flies and noctuid moths were flying.
The soil surface along the Main SW Trail is remarkable now. Where flowing water has pushed away the thicker deposits of new fallen leaves, the light rains this week have beaten the underlaying organic duff and left a soft airy blanket on the forest soil.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Wintry Woods
5 PM as the sun was setting in a wintry western cloud bank I entered the SW Gate to see the Woods. There was a light sleet falling after the very light few hundredths inch of rain this afternoon. The Woods by the gate, had a delicious smell, two parts decaying leaves, one part wine under the big bur oaks. I wandered up to the lodged green ash and thought how it had done well, despite having fallen partially over. Its upper branches were still supported 30 feet up, hung in another good sized ash.. and its roots, partly tilted out of the soil in the beginnings of a mound, were raised a critical few inches above the flood level. When the surrounding forest had all of its roots drowned, some of the roots of this tree would still be able to breathe.
i walked down to the Grandfather cottonwood following the dark soft soil swept clear of leaves along the main channel of the floodwater; then south on the W Dune trail to the odd grave-like pit by the redbud. There I decided to try forging north in search of Carpenter's steel stake 200 feet north. The briars were a thick curtain; but I had clippers and slowly made progress through.
I was struck by the way in which the Smilax greenbriar were densest beneath the branches of the junipers. Birds, waxwings and others recruit to the branches of the cedar to feed on the ripe cone/ berries in winter. They poop out the seeds of Smilax they have also consumed. They shelter for the cold night in the evergreen where the boundary layer effect of the foliage buffers a space against the wind and cold. The greenbriar, growing thick as a wall beneath and up into the branches of the Juniper provides a thorny fence against herbivores that might otherwise chew the bark or rub antlers there. All parties benefit in a mutualism built on several functions, food and shelter for birds, dispersal of seed and support for vine growth for the greenbriar, dispersal of Juniper seed and protection of tree from large vertebrates capable of damaging it.
I clipped my way westward to the end of the dune and escaped northwest to the Main SW Trail. It may be tough to find that particular steel post. The whole area is densely covered in briars growing over standing and fallen junipers.
I walked east along the E-W trail to the Wash. There was plenty of water, but the Elm Bridge area was dry. Up around the Tree Loop and by now it was quite dark. A full moon lit the sky but its light was obscured by solid clouds. I walked the trail down to Island Crossing testing my ability to pick out enough features in the dark to keep on the trail. Some of the light blue blazes were faintly visible as slightly lighter shades on the bark of the trees.
Heading west I heard large animals (deer, I assumed.. or racoons, skunks etc.) moving in the dark but could not see well enough to see any. I imagine they were surprised to discover a human wandering along the Woods' trails at night. This is their normal visual world.. dark or twilight. They must be able to navigate, find food and run fast to escape danger in the darkened woods.
The west walk back across the Woods was quite dark and gave me a tingle of adrenaline struggling to discern the trail. I reached the SW Gate and paused there reflecting that here was a new way to know the Woods.
i walked down to the Grandfather cottonwood following the dark soft soil swept clear of leaves along the main channel of the floodwater; then south on the W Dune trail to the odd grave-like pit by the redbud. There I decided to try forging north in search of Carpenter's steel stake 200 feet north. The briars were a thick curtain; but I had clippers and slowly made progress through.
I was struck by the way in which the Smilax greenbriar were densest beneath the branches of the junipers. Birds, waxwings and others recruit to the branches of the cedar to feed on the ripe cone/ berries in winter. They poop out the seeds of Smilax they have also consumed. They shelter for the cold night in the evergreen where the boundary layer effect of the foliage buffers a space against the wind and cold. The greenbriar, growing thick as a wall beneath and up into the branches of the Juniper provides a thorny fence against herbivores that might otherwise chew the bark or rub antlers there. All parties benefit in a mutualism built on several functions, food and shelter for birds, dispersal of seed and support for vine growth for the greenbriar, dispersal of Juniper seed and protection of tree from large vertebrates capable of damaging it.
I clipped my way westward to the end of the dune and escaped northwest to the Main SW Trail. It may be tough to find that particular steel post. The whole area is densely covered in briars growing over standing and fallen junipers.
I walked east along the E-W trail to the Wash. There was plenty of water, but the Elm Bridge area was dry. Up around the Tree Loop and by now it was quite dark. A full moon lit the sky but its light was obscured by solid clouds. I walked the trail down to Island Crossing testing my ability to pick out enough features in the dark to keep on the trail. Some of the light blue blazes were faintly visible as slightly lighter shades on the bark of the trees.
Heading west I heard large animals (deer, I assumed.. or racoons, skunks etc.) moving in the dark but could not see well enough to see any. I imagine they were surprised to discover a human wandering along the Woods' trails at night. This is their normal visual world.. dark or twilight. They must be able to navigate, find food and run fast to escape danger in the darkened woods.
The west walk back across the Woods was quite dark and gave me a tingle of adrenaline struggling to discern the trail. I reached the SW Gate and paused there reflecting that here was a new way to know the Woods.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Central Mystery in the Woods
Sunday Dec. 4 after a good 85/100ths inch of rain I went to the Woods via the SW Gate. Along the main SW Trail there was a peculiar medium diameter elm near the lodged Green Ash. The bark of the elm stood out from a distance as almost orange. A little closer approach and I could see the outer bark all up and down the tree had been chiseled off by woodpeckers foraging for bark beetles. In places, they had removed the bark down to the xylem sapwood and left revealed the pretty engravings of the Scolytus multistriatus bark beetle oviposition galleries. The beetles had attacked and killed the tree with the elm disease Ophiostoma ulmi.
East, west and south of that tree there were a half dozen elms with fresh new leaves flushing out along the stem.. likely with the death of the upper branches and the loss of apical dominance. It will be interesting to see if any of these trees are alive in the spring or die over the winter.
Turning north from there off any trails the Woods are now open enough that you can wander and see new things. I encountered two deer beds.. 2 foot long crumpled ovals, like large fortune cookies, where deer had spent the previous rainy night and left the leaves flattened.
There are mysteries here. Large 4 foot x 2 foot shallow divots in the soil, 1 foot deep. Were they excavated by people or the result of some natural process? Like a rectangular crater created by the overturned root mound of a fallen tree.. but where is the tree?
There are the two old hollow steel posts standing a meter tall or more in line like the markers of a decades old botany plot. I would like to work out what they once marked. There are old faded rows of trees, cedars, lined up as if along the edge of two different early farm roads or old boundary fences.. east of Hackberry Alley. Maybe some will match Carpenter's 1950's hand drawn map of fence lines and trees (and pits) in the Woods 55 years ago.
Continuing north I wandered in to the southern end of the group of the biggest trees. There were on the ground the largest bur oak leaves I can recall.. but I could not locate the tree.. must be close by somewhere.
Walking off trail you encounter the small county roads of the small vertebrates in the woods. Narrow 4-5 inch wide paths shared by coons, mice, possums, skunks, armadillos and others as they travel from point A to point B in their nightly commutes.
The rain makes the trails visible enough to walk along and mark with tooth picks. Thinking of the animals that use these same trails week in and week out like we use the roads near our homes.. I thought again of the likelihood that most small vertebrates in the Woods don't often see the Woods the way I do.. its colors, light and shadow and patterns.. because these animals are rarely out during the day. Their world is Oliver's Woods at night. Their view is the Woods at twilight and in evening darkness.
There seems to be a small family group of 3-4 white tailed deer that are using the Woods for their winter shelter.
Now in the Woods the last of the canopy leaves are down. The green that stands out now are Euonymous strawberry vines, Eleagnus Russian olive and Ligustrum Privet (latter two both exotic).
East, west and south of that tree there were a half dozen elms with fresh new leaves flushing out along the stem.. likely with the death of the upper branches and the loss of apical dominance. It will be interesting to see if any of these trees are alive in the spring or die over the winter.
Turning north from there off any trails the Woods are now open enough that you can wander and see new things. I encountered two deer beds.. 2 foot long crumpled ovals, like large fortune cookies, where deer had spent the previous rainy night and left the leaves flattened.
There are mysteries here. Large 4 foot x 2 foot shallow divots in the soil, 1 foot deep. Were they excavated by people or the result of some natural process? Like a rectangular crater created by the overturned root mound of a fallen tree.. but where is the tree?
There are the two old hollow steel posts standing a meter tall or more in line like the markers of a decades old botany plot. I would like to work out what they once marked. There are old faded rows of trees, cedars, lined up as if along the edge of two different early farm roads or old boundary fences.. east of Hackberry Alley. Maybe some will match Carpenter's 1950's hand drawn map of fence lines and trees (and pits) in the Woods 55 years ago.
Continuing north I wandered in to the southern end of the group of the biggest trees. There were on the ground the largest bur oak leaves I can recall.. but I could not locate the tree.. must be close by somewhere.
Walking off trail you encounter the small county roads of the small vertebrates in the woods. Narrow 4-5 inch wide paths shared by coons, mice, possums, skunks, armadillos and others as they travel from point A to point B in their nightly commutes.
The rain makes the trails visible enough to walk along and mark with tooth picks. Thinking of the animals that use these same trails week in and week out like we use the roads near our homes.. I thought again of the likelihood that most small vertebrates in the Woods don't often see the Woods the way I do.. its colors, light and shadow and patterns.. because these animals are rarely out during the day. Their world is Oliver's Woods at night. Their view is the Woods at twilight and in evening darkness.
There seems to be a small family group of 3-4 white tailed deer that are using the Woods for their winter shelter.
Now in the Woods the last of the canopy leaves are down. The green that stands out now are Euonymous strawberry vines, Eleagnus Russian olive and Ligustrum Privet (latter two both exotic).
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Warm Day in Early Winter Robins for Tea
Mid 60's this afternoon. I had to quit my desk and go walk in through the SW Gate at 3:30. I carried the blue paint and sprayed the tops of a half dozen steel posts in the Woods. Marvelous time to be out. Cold storm winds coming in a few hours. The Grandfather cottonwood has lost all but 10% of its leaves, one of the last trees to drop leaves. Its large trunk has rising clockwise twist. Do other trees in Oliver's Woods twist clockwise?
At the Elm Bridge the sand was dry but upstream there were 30 plus robins drinking and sipping along the edge of the pool. I wonder what the male female ratio of the flock might be. The East Pond is stable at 1.54 feet and developing a little more oily sheen of organic decomposition. One white-tailed doe and two yearlings along Hackberry Alley. The doe did not seem overly concerned and did not run away until I walked closer to her. There are several to many twig girdled meter-long thin branches dropping now. They have been cut by cerambycid girdlers. I collected two lengths to look for egg niches. In the forest the rose brown leaves of Viburnum rufidulum shrubs are some of last remaining. At the edge of rubbish cliff above the Elm Bridge a massive dead elm trunk has broken south in the wind. The golden color of the fallen pecan, hackberry and cottonwood leaves has now faded entirely to different light shades of brown. The color went quickly.
At the Elm Bridge the sand was dry but upstream there were 30 plus robins drinking and sipping along the edge of the pool. I wonder what the male female ratio of the flock might be. The East Pond is stable at 1.54 feet and developing a little more oily sheen of organic decomposition. One white-tailed doe and two yearlings along Hackberry Alley. The doe did not seem overly concerned and did not run away until I walked closer to her. There are several to many twig girdled meter-long thin branches dropping now. They have been cut by cerambycid girdlers. I collected two lengths to look for egg niches. In the forest the rose brown leaves of Viburnum rufidulum shrubs are some of last remaining. At the edge of rubbish cliff above the Elm Bridge a massive dead elm trunk has broken south in the wind. The golden color of the fallen pecan, hackberry and cottonwood leaves has now faded entirely to different light shades of brown. The color went quickly.
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