Saturday, November 21, 2015

Turkey and Thanksgiving Mulberry Green

Early winter arrived last night and today with 40 mph winds and the jet stream cutting south over Oklahoma. Almost freezing last night and a 'hard' freeze tonight, 26F, or so. At 3 pm I walked in through the SW Gate to see what had happened to the Woods with all the shaking and rattling of 12 hours of brisk wind. A hundred yards in, along the South Boundary Trail, I encountered a lone female turkey walking north on the same trail I was on. She was lame, or not happy, using one of her legs/ feet. She ran ahead of me twice, a short ways, although I was not trying to approach her, then she flew to a perch in some heavy low branches of the oak of the Two Friends.
The strong winds of the past twelve hours have brought down almost all of the leaves.. including many still-green mulberry leaves along the SE Trail. Interesting that some trees hold their green leaves much longer.. wonder if this is true mainly for invasive species? In patches where elms were dying the trunks still carried scores of late green leaves.
On the Tree Loop, the Juniper cedar #91 had a bare patch of stem where a buck had rubbed antlers.
The berries of Ligustrum privet are ripe with a glaucous black. The Symphoricarpos buck brush berries are ripe. The Elaeagnus leaves are green, but I saw no berries there.
Also along the tree loop, 50 feet east of cedar #91 a big (>60 cm DBH) old open-grown elm (?) with large, low branches had tipped over and captured & crushed a cedar and some other trees beneath it. I went to examine the base of the fallen tree. The roots had all been eaten up..j ust weakening rot had held the tree up. No sign of scolytid beetle galleries under the bark.. only cerambycids and other wood borers.
Crowds of robins were gathered along the stream and around the East pond. I think they know there is a cold night in store.
The south side of the forest, still has good growth of green Stellaria chickweed and other inch high annuals.
The recent rains had supplied water across the bed at Island Crossing; but not flowing at Elm Bridge.
Lots of medium size branches down along the trails. Interesting sample of lichens from above.. covering the fallen branches. 
I did not see any deer.

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