Sunday morning in the Woods.
I took loppers and saw to clear a trail across the center of the Tree Loop oval.. from the 100 m post on the west side by the blackjack oaks to the 300 m post on the east side. I connected with orange flagging bits, the trails to the central bumelia and the snail experiment, following a route made by animal traffic.
Yesterday and today I saw no tracks of dogs anywhere. They look to be gone.
A large 71 cm DBH cottonwood snag ( # 617) has broken this spring along the SE Trail. It will be interesting to watch the decomposition and colonization by beetles and fungi.
Spring wildflowers in bloom in the Woods today: purple violets (2), Cardamine toothwort, Capsella shepherd's purse, Lamium amplexicaule & L purpureum Henbit, Taraxacum dandelions, Stellaria chickweed.. also foliage of Galium bedstraw.
I saw first frog of the spring leap into the long pool along the southern wash. All the waters of the Woods have been notably quiet until now.. no amphibians, insects, turtles etc observed. I have wondered why?
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Phenology notes
Out early Saturday morning to the NE Tree Loop. Beautiful clear, sunny morning and day. The Woods are on the brink of green-up and coming alive. From the Trans OWP trail, I looked across the open understory of the Woods. The 2 m tall privet and russian olive have their new leaves and the floor of the Woods is gently greening with early growth of grasses. Geum avens has been green and growing for two months and young violets have had their first green leaves for 2-3 weeks. On the raised warm soil above the pipeline, there was the first dandelion in bloom. On the sunny hillock south of the Tree Loop, there was a blooming Lamium purpureum henbit.
Throughout the Woods the blooms of Prunus mexicanus plum are opening full. I watched honey bees (probably hungry from the winter) busily gathering nectar at one tree. This week, or fortnight would be a great time for a short research project. Locate and map each flowering plum in the Woods by GPS. They will be easy to see for about 10 days before all the other trees flush their leaves.. and their distribution is interesting.. sparse.. not rare but not typically abundant in any patches either. Often just one small tree by itself. Elm, sugarberry, soapberry, pecan, walnut, oak, mulberry, juniper, hickory, sycamore, willow, cottonwood, green ash, others.. these tend to be found in groups or patches - not so for plum. It would be interesting to look at its distribution and ask 'why?'. It is a way to ask the question why are some plants 'rare'. There are probably a 100 plum trees in the Woods.
I found two large healthy amur honeysuckle with fresh green leaves fully out and one surviving stump I cut last year. I'll need to cut again and try to eliminate.
Around the Tree Loop the redbuds are coming into their own. All are flowering and their blooms will develop for the next ten days. (Around Norman the Forsythia are all blooming bright yellow and the bright flowering peach in the side back yard is looking at its best with full young flowers.
The west central portions of the Woods S of the East Pond are full of small 'vernal pools' the size of a bathtub or smaller where a rotten stump or some disturbance has left a depression. Perfect project for someone interested in aquatic invertebrates to monitor and sample.. Daphnia, copepods, mosquito larvae etc. I have seen no sign of mosquitoes (or ticks) at all.
With the dandelions (above) there were also early green growth of Galium bedstraw. Sitting along the Pipeline Trail by the big walnut, I saw a short stubby Schinia moth fly over and watched a good diversity of warblers and small woodland birds foraging.. great light for viewing. In the partly soggy SW Woods there were bright red male cardinals chasing each other and small groups of robins foraging. Marvelous time to be in the Woods.
Throughout the Woods the blooms of Prunus mexicanus plum are opening full. I watched honey bees (probably hungry from the winter) busily gathering nectar at one tree. This week, or fortnight would be a great time for a short research project. Locate and map each flowering plum in the Woods by GPS. They will be easy to see for about 10 days before all the other trees flush their leaves.. and their distribution is interesting.. sparse.. not rare but not typically abundant in any patches either. Often just one small tree by itself. Elm, sugarberry, soapberry, pecan, walnut, oak, mulberry, juniper, hickory, sycamore, willow, cottonwood, green ash, others.. these tend to be found in groups or patches - not so for plum. It would be interesting to look at its distribution and ask 'why?'. It is a way to ask the question why are some plants 'rare'. There are probably a 100 plum trees in the Woods.
I found two large healthy amur honeysuckle with fresh green leaves fully out and one surviving stump I cut last year. I'll need to cut again and try to eliminate.
Around the Tree Loop the redbuds are coming into their own. All are flowering and their blooms will develop for the next ten days. (Around Norman the Forsythia are all blooming bright yellow and the bright flowering peach in the side back yard is looking at its best with full young flowers.
The west central portions of the Woods S of the East Pond are full of small 'vernal pools' the size of a bathtub or smaller where a rotten stump or some disturbance has left a depression. Perfect project for someone interested in aquatic invertebrates to monitor and sample.. Daphnia, copepods, mosquito larvae etc. I have seen no sign of mosquitoes (or ticks) at all.
With the dandelions (above) there were also early green growth of Galium bedstraw. Sitting along the Pipeline Trail by the big walnut, I saw a short stubby Schinia moth fly over and watched a good diversity of warblers and small woodland birds foraging.. great light for viewing. In the partly soggy SW Woods there were bright red male cardinals chasing each other and small groups of robins foraging. Marvelous time to be in the Woods.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Spring beginning
At 5 this evening I went to the NE Gate to see what news there was from the Tree Loop. Warm beautiful Friday afternoon.. low 70's F. Last week the 3 Pyrus Bradford Pear and the small rough-leaved Cornus dogwood were the only species showing early green leaves, or doing anything, besides the Ulmus elm flowers that had been open for three weeks.
Now the Cercis redbuds most all had mauve flower petals showing out of their buds, not open. Acer negundo box elder mostly had tiny green leaves emerging. The Prunus mexicanus plum had swollen flowers with white petals closed but clearly emerged from the bud. The Robinia locust north of the East pond had small tight balls of green showing all along the thorny stems. Most trees still showed no development, oaks, pecans, walnut, cottonwood, mulberry, soapberry, hickory, chittamwood, hackberry, green ash, persimmon, common pear, coffee tree - nothing, still dormant.
Around the Woods the green on the forest floor is developing. Spring onions are more abundant and it is clear the deer are enjoying them. The ground-hugging Geum avens and small early leaves of Viola are more evident.
At the NW Pond a pair of pileated woodpeckers noisily drilled away on some of the dead green ash around the pond. The pond depth was 2.4 feet with water or boggy conditions up to the highest stepping stone. At the East Pond the depth was 2.06 feet. The West Trail was boggy along a quarter of its length. Two white-tailed deer browsed along the south facing slope east of the East Pond. Lots more squirrel activity than usual. I saw a half dozen running around different parts of the Woods.
Now the Cercis redbuds most all had mauve flower petals showing out of their buds, not open. Acer negundo box elder mostly had tiny green leaves emerging. The Prunus mexicanus plum had swollen flowers with white petals closed but clearly emerged from the bud. The Robinia locust north of the East pond had small tight balls of green showing all along the thorny stems. Most trees still showed no development, oaks, pecans, walnut, cottonwood, mulberry, soapberry, hickory, chittamwood, hackberry, green ash, persimmon, common pear, coffee tree - nothing, still dormant.
Around the Woods the green on the forest floor is developing. Spring onions are more abundant and it is clear the deer are enjoying them. The ground-hugging Geum avens and small early leaves of Viola are more evident.
At the NW Pond a pair of pileated woodpeckers noisily drilled away on some of the dead green ash around the pond. The pond depth was 2.4 feet with water or boggy conditions up to the highest stepping stone. At the East Pond the depth was 2.06 feet. The West Trail was boggy along a quarter of its length. Two white-tailed deer browsed along the south facing slope east of the East Pond. Lots more squirrel activity than usual. I saw a half dozen running around different parts of the Woods.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Parched Spring
It has been unusually dry the past two months. This evening with a beautiful hazy full moon rising, I set out for a walk through the SW Gate of the Woods. The soil inside the gate is dry enough to be dusty. The bur oak leaves are crisp on the ground. The forest floor is crackly as I walk along. We expect (hope for) a half inch of rain beginning tomorrow.
Armadillos or skunks or ..? have been busy foraging in the dry leaves along the trails looking for small invertebrates to consume. The arcs of turned leaves as they were looking for snails, beetles, spiders, are a reminder of the feeding ecology of the small citizens of the Woods.
We have had a plague of five young dogs (siblings) along the southern perimeter of the Woods since November. I am sure they have suppressed or killed much of the small wildlife (up to and including young deer). I was happy to see a young cottontail dashing south into the dense dune vegetation from the beaver dam area.
Today has been delightful.. low 70's and sunny. This spring has seen late cold surges of wintry (mostly dry) air and bitter winds, with interludes of warming spring days up almost to 80 F. The winds three days ago were gusting over 50 mph and brought down branches that had been broken and hanging since the January 2007 Norman ice storm.
The warming days have been enough to bring out the early inconspicuous flowers at the tips of the elm branches. Full spring is ready, waiting, ready to burst upon the scene.
Armadillos or skunks or ..? have been busy foraging in the dry leaves along the trails looking for small invertebrates to consume. The arcs of turned leaves as they were looking for snails, beetles, spiders, are a reminder of the feeding ecology of the small citizens of the Woods.
We have had a plague of five young dogs (siblings) along the southern perimeter of the Woods since November. I am sure they have suppressed or killed much of the small wildlife (up to and including young deer). I was happy to see a young cottontail dashing south into the dense dune vegetation from the beaver dam area.
Today has been delightful.. low 70's and sunny. This spring has seen late cold surges of wintry (mostly dry) air and bitter winds, with interludes of warming spring days up almost to 80 F. The winds three days ago were gusting over 50 mph and brought down branches that had been broken and hanging since the January 2007 Norman ice storm.
The warming days have been enough to bring out the early inconspicuous flowers at the tips of the elm branches. Full spring is ready, waiting, ready to burst upon the scene.
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