Changes

 It is the golden time in the Woods again. Yesterday afternoon I went to the Woods' NE Gate to see how the Woods have changed. We have now had some good 1-2 inch rains. The ground is no longer parched. Daytime temps have fallen to pleasant 50's-70's - a favorite time of the year. Fifty feet inside the NE Gate there stands a young black hickory with beautiful rich, butter yellow leaves. There are a half dozen of these in the Woods. They light up the under story in late October.

 Along the trails a diverse carpet of yellow leaves light the way. Yellow from the green ash, and elm, and sugarberry. Red from persimmon and haw and Virginia creeper. Beautiful sight and fresh autumn smell of fallen leaves. Later leaf drop species like bur, pin and blackjack oak, most of the cottonwoods, and willows still hold green leaves.

 To my surprise, the light rains have resuscitated some wilted shrubs like the Callicarpa beautyberry. In August, all of these had leaves that were dry as paper, wilted or shriveled. They looked beyond the point of survival. But rains saved the leaves of half or more of the beautyberry. They will get in one more shot of photosynthesis to feed the roots, stem and new buds for next year before increasing cold induces leaf drop.

Other species did not do as well. There were three of the Euonymus spindle trees in the Woods (that I knew of). I enjoyed one nearest the second largest cottonwood tree in the Woods. It held its green leaves later than others, but it did not survive. A larger spindle tree on the SW side of the East Pond is better and producing its distinctive decorative seeds.

Some trees and shrubs are maturing their fruit: the soft red berries of Symphoricarpos buckbrush, the red rose hips of multiflora rose, the large incongruous grapefruit-sized bright green fruit of the one Osage orange, or bois d'arc in the Woods. Squirrels have chiseled down some of the nuts from the large pecans, but most of the pecans are still holding on.

There is work needed with some large pecan tree tops down, massively blocking trails and requiring a saw to clear. I will wait until after first frosts put the ticks and chiggers to bed for the year.

I stopped to investigate under the bark of a large log and found a gathering of beetles that I did not recognize. Flat, the size of two grains of rice, cordovan color with black eyes, antennae that looked like darkling beetles. A half dozen were feeding with some smaller saw-tooth grain beetles on fungi beneath the bark. Exciting to find new species in the Woods.

And the greatest new change in the Woods is a new bridge across Island Crossing. Looks well designed and well built, with a set of log steps down the steep bank. This is a great addition and will be helpful for wet days and winter.