Walking through the Woods with my eyes up watching the crowns of
the trees, I love seeing the beautiful spring green of the expanding
leaves. Over the weekend, I noticed that the pecan and walnut trees were some of the last to flush their leaves. Box elders, elms, bur oaks, viburnums, cottonwoods, plums, mulberry, red bud were all in the early bunch. Sugarberries, green ash, were later. Pecan and Walnut were two of the latest. I still haven't seen any leaves on the exotic invasive Mimosa. I wonder why pecan and walnut are often late. Do they invest in less freeze tolerant tissues, like maybe compound leaves?
Near the East Pond by the large pecan at the bend in the trail, the first yellow tiger swallowtail flitted by me, floating in the under story. Earlier I've seen several/ many of the goatweed leafwing (one of our two common earliest butterflies), many red admirals on the Elaeagnus autumn olive, some painted ladies, a few viceroys (looking rather worn).
Last couple of days ran into Jenna, Sonia, Ellen at the NW corner, looking for edibles.
Spring time need to find and cut new threatening exotics like amur honeysuckle, Ailanthus tree of heaven, Nandina heavenly bamboo, and Celastrus oriental bittersweet vines. Yesterday went to reduce the patch of bittersweet. Going to be a long task. Small area less than 50 feet x 50 feet there are hundreds of spring sprouts with new leaves. Each must be carefully sorted out, cut and treated. I gave up after >50 as day was closing. I think I may need to use strategy of waiting for larger bittersweet vines to climb up over a meter tall, then cut and treat those, hoping to eliminate the entire plant. Cutting scores of 2-4 inch tall sprigs, each 2 mm in diameter and partially hidden in fallen leaves or under native vegetation, requires long periods of kneeling or sitting. With ticks starting to move in the Woods, that may not be a great idea.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Aquatic Woods, day after big rain
Saturday it rained from mid morning to late night. 2.5 inches.
Today, Sunday, I went to see the Woods. Glorious. Clear skies, fresh sunlight playing in the upper branches of all the trees with their new leaves flushing.
I entered the SW Gate with my rubber boots, and walked up to see the water. It now extends to the first big cut bur oak logs.
I walked the southern boundary to the outflow and cleared blockage up from the culvert and several places along the watercourse.
The new clear water everywhere was mostly shallow less than 2 feet deep. I watched dozens of dytiscid diving beetles exploring the expanded habitat looking for prey, mosquito larvae or other protein. There were very young tadpoles (maybe from bullfrogs?) able to feed as herbivores on the refreshed mats of aquatic alga,, or as predators upon mosquito larvae. By the western end of the watercourse I found the black squiggly mosquito larvae, that would be become adult mosquitoes in a week or less. But there were also minnows (Gambusia). My guess is that they spent the winter in the NW pond and when the fresh rains led the pond to overflow and spread aquatic habitat over much of the rest of the southern woods, the minnows ventured out. They may be / should be a good help against the mosquitoes until the water gets too shallow.
I had seen cranefly adults - like giant mosquitoes for a few weeks, but they had been waiting for a day like this. They were now common and numerous.
The water depth of the two ponds: NW Pond 2.59 feet and East Pond 2.84 feet.
The NW pond had two large old slider turtles sunning on a log on the far side. The East pond had one red-eared slider sunning itself on a floating log.
Today, Sunday, I went to see the Woods. Glorious. Clear skies, fresh sunlight playing in the upper branches of all the trees with their new leaves flushing.
I entered the SW Gate with my rubber boots, and walked up to see the water. It now extends to the first big cut bur oak logs.
I walked the southern boundary to the outflow and cleared blockage up from the culvert and several places along the watercourse.
The new clear water everywhere was mostly shallow less than 2 feet deep. I watched dozens of dytiscid diving beetles exploring the expanded habitat looking for prey, mosquito larvae or other protein. There were very young tadpoles (maybe from bullfrogs?) able to feed as herbivores on the refreshed mats of aquatic alga,, or as predators upon mosquito larvae. By the western end of the watercourse I found the black squiggly mosquito larvae, that would be become adult mosquitoes in a week or less. But there were also minnows (Gambusia). My guess is that they spent the winter in the NW pond and when the fresh rains led the pond to overflow and spread aquatic habitat over much of the rest of the southern woods, the minnows ventured out. They may be / should be a good help against the mosquitoes until the water gets too shallow.
I had seen cranefly adults - like giant mosquitoes for a few weeks, but they had been waiting for a day like this. They were now common and numerous.
The water depth of the two ponds: NW Pond 2.59 feet and East Pond 2.84 feet.
The NW pond had two large old slider turtles sunning on a log on the far side. The East pond had one red-eared slider sunning itself on a floating log.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
April in the Woods
A rainy cool day, close to 2 inches of slow, all-day 40-50 F rain. Will it slow or speed the changes of this past fortnight? The first week of April the forest floor of Oliver's Woods turned green. The Symphoricarpos deerbrush produced its leaves. The Galium bedstraw and Stellaria chickweed exploded in rapid growth accompanied with patches of abundant violets. I wonder how it is that a plant can grow that rapidly.
By the 10th of April, the ground was closed.. covered in green. White-tailed deer have gone. Have not seen them since March. Now there is food everywhere for them and no hunting season. Harsh winter storms are gone. They do not need the shelter of the woods or the food. I met Tim and we discussed morels in the Woods. He pointed out first box turtle of the year a few feet from me. It did not move for our entire 30 minute conversation. I mentioned that box turtles could outlive either of us.. could be 100.. and never leave a home range greater than a couple of classrooms.
First one or two mosquitoes but no great numbers. First single tick on me.. that may signal the coming of the end of my visits to the Woods until late autumn. Maybe just a few more spring walks.
I was delighted to find again the single uncommon Botrychium grape fern.. the only place in the Woods where it grows. This year just two fronds near the big cottonwood trio along the western wash. The blooms of the redbuds were beautiful but are falling and will be mostly gone or going after the all day rain of this storm. The sweet smell of the Elaeagnus autumn olive is strong in the Woods and the red admiral butterflies are drawn to the nectar. The canopy of elm and sugarberry and ash is still no more than 60% flushed but most every tree has some green showing. The pecan, ash and sugarberry are the cow's tail of the phenology. I was surprised and delighted to find one lone Ornithogalum star of Bethlehem blooming white with the wild onions west of the Elm Bridge.
I was also delighted to see that some of the identified, numbered, tagged trees on the Tree Tutorial Loop, needlessly cut last summer by the line crew - are sprouting new shoots and look like they will make a come-back despite having been wrongly cut.
I stopped and examined young honeysuckle leaves and was struck that the first (lowest) three pairs of leaves were not intact ovals, but more like indented fern leaves with 7 or so lobes per leaf. Can't remember ever really paying attention to that.
The good big craneflies in the Woods have had good wet mucky conditions and I have seen several flying.. but no abundant swarms this spring. First few strands of spider webs are coming back to the trails - not many. I stopped and watched one spider in tis web by the East Pond. It had captured and wrapped a syrphid flower fly. I checked the stalks of the 3-4 young Ailanthus Tree of Heaven invasives, but have not seen leaves this year. The patch of bittersweet I cut last year has flushed leaves and is beginning to regrow.
The most startling, striking thing in the Woods this month has been a large patch of bright traffic orange flux on an Ampelopsis grape vine southwest of the Elm Bridge. Brilliant and striking. I had forgotten but then remembered seeing it once years before. Quite something. Caused by Fusicolla merismoides. https://www.backyardnature.net/n/x/orgslime.htm
"Fusicolla merismoides (family Nectriaceae) is often considered the definitive tree slime fungus. This appears to be a large complex of many phylogenetic species. Almost every strain barcoded to date has a different sequence."
So, the fungus causing our orange slime/fungal volcanoes on Deep South grapevines apparently is actually several fungal species, see http://www.dnabarcodes2011.org/conference/program/schedule/treeslime.pdf
By the 10th of April, the ground was closed.. covered in green. White-tailed deer have gone. Have not seen them since March. Now there is food everywhere for them and no hunting season. Harsh winter storms are gone. They do not need the shelter of the woods or the food. I met Tim and we discussed morels in the Woods. He pointed out first box turtle of the year a few feet from me. It did not move for our entire 30 minute conversation. I mentioned that box turtles could outlive either of us.. could be 100.. and never leave a home range greater than a couple of classrooms.
First one or two mosquitoes but no great numbers. First single tick on me.. that may signal the coming of the end of my visits to the Woods until late autumn. Maybe just a few more spring walks.
I was delighted to find again the single uncommon Botrychium grape fern.. the only place in the Woods where it grows. This year just two fronds near the big cottonwood trio along the western wash. The blooms of the redbuds were beautiful but are falling and will be mostly gone or going after the all day rain of this storm. The sweet smell of the Elaeagnus autumn olive is strong in the Woods and the red admiral butterflies are drawn to the nectar. The canopy of elm and sugarberry and ash is still no more than 60% flushed but most every tree has some green showing. The pecan, ash and sugarberry are the cow's tail of the phenology. I was surprised and delighted to find one lone Ornithogalum star of Bethlehem blooming white with the wild onions west of the Elm Bridge.
I was also delighted to see that some of the identified, numbered, tagged trees on the Tree Tutorial Loop, needlessly cut last summer by the line crew - are sprouting new shoots and look like they will make a come-back despite having been wrongly cut.
I stopped and examined young honeysuckle leaves and was struck that the first (lowest) three pairs of leaves were not intact ovals, but more like indented fern leaves with 7 or so lobes per leaf. Can't remember ever really paying attention to that.
The good big craneflies in the Woods have had good wet mucky conditions and I have seen several flying.. but no abundant swarms this spring. First few strands of spider webs are coming back to the trails - not many. I stopped and watched one spider in tis web by the East Pond. It had captured and wrapped a syrphid flower fly. I checked the stalks of the 3-4 young Ailanthus Tree of Heaven invasives, but have not seen leaves this year. The patch of bittersweet I cut last year has flushed leaves and is beginning to regrow.
The most startling, striking thing in the Woods this month has been a large patch of bright traffic orange flux on an Ampelopsis grape vine southwest of the Elm Bridge. Brilliant and striking. I had forgotten but then remembered seeing it once years before. Quite something. Caused by Fusicolla merismoides. https://www.backyardnature.net/n/x/orgslime.htm
"Fusicolla merismoides (family Nectriaceae) is often considered the definitive tree slime fungus. This appears to be a large complex of many phylogenetic species. Almost every strain barcoded to date has a different sequence."
So, the fungus causing our orange slime/fungal volcanoes on Deep South grapevines apparently is actually several fungal species, see http://www.dnabarcodes2011.org/conference/program/schedule/treeslime.pdf
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Green up and chill down
After days (M-Th) in the low 70's (F) and mild spring winds, I went to the Woods through the SW Gate to see what spring had brought.
Elms in the Woods in the past few weeks have produced millions of green winged samara seeds, each ready and capable of producing a full new tree with a lucky landing. Boxelder are flushing green winged samara seeds along with early green leaves, just beginning to unfold. When box elder fully flush their leaves, it will close the under story. That is not near to happening yet.. just a few of the larger trees. Mexican plum Prunus mexicana are in bloom all over the Woods and this is that short ten days when it is easy to see every wild plum in the Woods. They are flowering white blazes in the sparse deciduous forest before leaves emerge.
Across the floor of the Woods, all the green is beginning, but just beginning. The Symphoricarpos buck brush is just opening leaves. The Gallium bedstraw and Lonicera honeysuckle are growing fast and will be much more dominant before the upper canopy flushes its high leaves and takes the light. ( Interesting contrasting strategies plants select, either grow early and fast before canopy leaves put you in the shade, and benefit from a thermally sheltered near-ground environment, or wait and begin growing much later from high, on exposed branches, where cold winds could kill early growth, but sunshine will be abundant for all the main growing season. )
Spring onion patches are here and there. The rabbits and deer love them. Standing back from all, and looking, one can see the green is growing. It is now ubiquitous.. not universal.. there is still more bare brown winter forest floor than green growing spring verdure.. but it is changing rapidly.
Then came Friday with its cold N wind and overnight hailstorm. Saturday night we will have 29 F frost; but spring has started and will not be stopped. All the flowering trees will now survive. It will be a good year for their flowers and seeds. Water, moist soil, mild days. The local biota will grow well this spring.
Elms in the Woods in the past few weeks have produced millions of green winged samara seeds, each ready and capable of producing a full new tree with a lucky landing. Boxelder are flushing green winged samara seeds along with early green leaves, just beginning to unfold. When box elder fully flush their leaves, it will close the under story. That is not near to happening yet.. just a few of the larger trees. Mexican plum Prunus mexicana are in bloom all over the Woods and this is that short ten days when it is easy to see every wild plum in the Woods. They are flowering white blazes in the sparse deciduous forest before leaves emerge.
Across the floor of the Woods, all the green is beginning, but just beginning. The Symphoricarpos buck brush is just opening leaves. The Gallium bedstraw and Lonicera honeysuckle are growing fast and will be much more dominant before the upper canopy flushes its high leaves and takes the light. ( Interesting contrasting strategies plants select, either grow early and fast before canopy leaves put you in the shade, and benefit from a thermally sheltered near-ground environment, or wait and begin growing much later from high, on exposed branches, where cold winds could kill early growth, but sunshine will be abundant for all the main growing season. )
Spring onion patches are here and there. The rabbits and deer love them. Standing back from all, and looking, one can see the green is growing. It is now ubiquitous.. not universal.. there is still more bare brown winter forest floor than green growing spring verdure.. but it is changing rapidly.
Then came Friday with its cold N wind and overnight hailstorm. Saturday night we will have 29 F frost; but spring has started and will not be stopped. All the flowering trees will now survive. It will be a good year for their flowers and seeds. Water, moist soil, mild days. The local biota will grow well this spring.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Loud Frogs and Cut Soils
Spring phenology is growing stronger each day in the Woods.
Saturday St Patrick's Day March 17, I went with Sarah to hunt for steep slopes exposing a soil profile. A twelve foot high wall from the bottom of one of the northern ravines provided a good vertical cut through the Pleistocene parent material deposited by water and wind. The upper 10-12 inches, right beneath the litter of oak leaves, was a dry light brown, developing a more reddish hue a foot below the surface. A similar arrangement was also visible on a steep-cut bank of the Main Wash. Sarah collected samples to do an analysis of percent clay and sand. Interesting to think about the winds and floods that deposited the deep sand and clay soil, that was subsequently cut by the Canadian River, leaving the highest terrace of its floodplain, as the floor of Oliver's Woods.
The next evening, I walked into the Woods via the 'toe-slope' NW Pond at the base of the slope up to the top of the Pleistocene sediments. One loud frog was chuckling on the far side of the pond, almost like a woodpecker, a leopard frog? On the eastern side of the Woods spring peepers were lightly beginning their chorus as the day was getting late. Top branches of many of the exposed elms are beginning to swell leaf buds; but just as many smaller elms have no sign of spring coming yet. The water is still flowing at a good rate, out through the old beaver dam. I slowly chased a herd of five white-tailed deer as I walked the trails. I cut and cleared away two medium sized cedars blocking the trail east of Tall Stump. A greater diversity of birds, chickadees, junco, cardinals and other passerines were busy in the Woods.
Saturday St Patrick's Day March 17, I went with Sarah to hunt for steep slopes exposing a soil profile. A twelve foot high wall from the bottom of one of the northern ravines provided a good vertical cut through the Pleistocene parent material deposited by water and wind. The upper 10-12 inches, right beneath the litter of oak leaves, was a dry light brown, developing a more reddish hue a foot below the surface. A similar arrangement was also visible on a steep-cut bank of the Main Wash. Sarah collected samples to do an analysis of percent clay and sand. Interesting to think about the winds and floods that deposited the deep sand and clay soil, that was subsequently cut by the Canadian River, leaving the highest terrace of its floodplain, as the floor of Oliver's Woods.
The next evening, I walked into the Woods via the 'toe-slope' NW Pond at the base of the slope up to the top of the Pleistocene sediments. One loud frog was chuckling on the far side of the pond, almost like a woodpecker, a leopard frog? On the eastern side of the Woods spring peepers were lightly beginning their chorus as the day was getting late. Top branches of many of the exposed elms are beginning to swell leaf buds; but just as many smaller elms have no sign of spring coming yet. The water is still flowing at a good rate, out through the old beaver dam. I slowly chased a herd of five white-tailed deer as I walked the trails. I cut and cleared away two medium sized cedars blocking the trail east of Tall Stump. A greater diversity of birds, chickadees, junco, cardinals and other passerines were busy in the Woods.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Roaring Wind Dancing Trees
5 o'clock this afternoon with strong gusting 30-40 mph SSW winds I went to the NW entrance of the Woods to see what the past 24 hours had brought. Before dawn there had been some good thunderstorm rain with just over an inch of rain, followed by gusting winds that increased in the afternoon. I walked past the NW pond - well filled at 2.62 ft depth and then on to East pond, even more well-filled at 2.82 ft depth. The East Pond was up over the trail junction and I needed to step out well away to avoid soggy shoes. There were small branches down all around, and two small cedars blocking the trail where I will need a saw, just east of Tall Stump.
I stopped west of Fence Corner to watch the trees tossing in the strong wind. The bouncing crowns were moving chaotically back and forth, all out of synch. It struck me as I watched that the different crown shapes, compass orientation and height created this chaotic bouncing around and provided an extra measure of protection to the forest. If a stand of trees were all planted at the same time, all the same species, they would likely move together and would be subject to more torque and greater likelihood of blow down or breakage. The tossing chaos of the different height stems and different shaped crowns provided more turbulence and broke up the force of the wind.
Good that none of the trees had leaves out yet. That would have increased the force on the branches.
After a fairly long late cold spell, the Woods are now ready to pop their buds. Along the trail, the Liriope monkey grass was showing fresh green. The Multiflora rose was beginning to show 10% new fresh leaves. The Elaeagnus autumn olive had leaves 20-30 % open in the under story and of course the Ligustrum privet had its green leaves from over the winter.
Such enormous strength in the roots and trunk to hold up the largest trees, pecan, walnut, bur oak, cottonwood, even tilted over at an angle, in this roaring wind.
I stopped west of Fence Corner to watch the trees tossing in the strong wind. The bouncing crowns were moving chaotically back and forth, all out of synch. It struck me as I watched that the different crown shapes, compass orientation and height created this chaotic bouncing around and provided an extra measure of protection to the forest. If a stand of trees were all planted at the same time, all the same species, they would likely move together and would be subject to more torque and greater likelihood of blow down or breakage. The tossing chaos of the different height stems and different shaped crowns provided more turbulence and broke up the force of the wind.
Good that none of the trees had leaves out yet. That would have increased the force on the branches.
After a fairly long late cold spell, the Woods are now ready to pop their buds. Along the trail, the Liriope monkey grass was showing fresh green. The Multiflora rose was beginning to show 10% new fresh leaves. The Elaeagnus autumn olive had leaves 20-30 % open in the under story and of course the Ligustrum privet had its green leaves from over the winter.
Such enormous strength in the roots and trunk to hold up the largest trees, pecan, walnut, bur oak, cottonwood, even tilted over at an angle, in this roaring wind.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Who is going to eat all of that algae?
After a month or two of relatively dry weather, last night the Woods received three quarters inch of rain, with twice that on its way tomorrow. At 5 I went to the SW Gate to see the Woods after the rain.
The southwest Woods has been a swamp all winter with standing water all around the roots of the green ash, elm, sugar berries, persimmons, black willow and others. As I walked northeast, I encountered the new-flooded swamp water 20 feet earlier along the trail. I wonder when the soil eventually dries, as it must this late spring/ summer, how long will it take for earth worms and other soil invertebrates to recolonize the previously-drowned soil? Who will come first? Will the pioneers have rapid population growth with few competitors, or gradually, slowly increase into still challenging too-wet environments? Is the pattern the same each year - or set by random, stochastic factors?
Through the main portion of the Main SW trail where water has been standing the longest, there are great streams and mats of green algae attached to submerged fallen branches, twigs, exposed roots and partly submerged logs. The algae got a fast start more than a month ago during some mild winter weather.. then was exposed to prolonged, harsh, deep cold last fortnight. Looks like the cold killed some of the algae, changing the luminous bright green of new growth into yellow floating mats of damaged algae intermixed with healthy green.
Now all through the algae there are thousands and thousands of small Physa snails..living the dream.. like living in a bowl of ice cream. They should grow quickly. With the additional flooding from rain tonight and Tuesday, their algal feast should be well hydrated and available.
With my knee boots on, I walked the trail and observed the water flow. I moved small logs to open the flow from backed-up areas. The Woods are draining at a good rate now; but the water will be higher tomorrow and there are weeks/ months of water left to drain.
I wonder what native crayfish would do to the mix in the Woods?
The southwest Woods has been a swamp all winter with standing water all around the roots of the green ash, elm, sugar berries, persimmons, black willow and others. As I walked northeast, I encountered the new-flooded swamp water 20 feet earlier along the trail. I wonder when the soil eventually dries, as it must this late spring/ summer, how long will it take for earth worms and other soil invertebrates to recolonize the previously-drowned soil? Who will come first? Will the pioneers have rapid population growth with few competitors, or gradually, slowly increase into still challenging too-wet environments? Is the pattern the same each year - or set by random, stochastic factors?
Through the main portion of the Main SW trail where water has been standing the longest, there are great streams and mats of green algae attached to submerged fallen branches, twigs, exposed roots and partly submerged logs. The algae got a fast start more than a month ago during some mild winter weather.. then was exposed to prolonged, harsh, deep cold last fortnight. Looks like the cold killed some of the algae, changing the luminous bright green of new growth into yellow floating mats of damaged algae intermixed with healthy green.
Now all through the algae there are thousands and thousands of small Physa snails..living the dream.. like living in a bowl of ice cream. They should grow quickly. With the additional flooding from rain tonight and Tuesday, their algal feast should be well hydrated and available.
With my knee boots on, I walked the trail and observed the water flow. I moved small logs to open the flow from backed-up areas. The Woods are draining at a good rate now; but the water will be higher tomorrow and there are weeks/ months of water left to drain.
I wonder what native crayfish would do to the mix in the Woods?
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