New Year's Day trees

Beautiful clear cold New Year's day. I went to the Woods through the SW gate at 2:30 to find some more of the big trees.
Along the Dune, I discovered several large Bumelias, one 68 cm in diameter, maybe the largest Bumelia in the Woods. This species is commonly broken more than other trees of the same age and size. The wood is heavy and dense; but the main trunk is often broken off at 3-5 meters, then vigorously resprouts. This large Bumelia was home to some animal that gathered fresh green juniper leaves I could see inside the top of the hollow trunk. Bumelias still have some of their green elliptical-obovate leaves remaining.
The Woods are quite dry now. The soil west of the Beaver Dam is like dried peat moss. The leafy mould is crisp and dry. Skunks, armadillos or other foraging animals have turned over a large area of the forest floor northwest of the Dam, looking for food. This seems to be a favorite foraging spot for them.
Moving east on the South Boundary trail I measured a few more large old dead bur oaks.. probably all the same age cohort. I wonder what killed them- drought? In the western Woods it was probably flooding(?) Need some good stand reconstruction. At the Willow basin I measured the largest black willow, then quit and began to walk home when I met Joe and Laura. We shared our walk out together talking about the Woods and Joe's air quality work. No deer seen today.