Winter trees: Beautiful nakedness!

Love this bark!! How gorgeous is that?

I can't get enough of this texture.  I love all the textures of nature, especially contrasting against each other. 

This is older bark of a black gum tree, I believe.  LOVE IT!

Nature Quiz! What seed lies here?

Clue: They spin as they fall to the ground. 

Clue: They're from a tree.  The tree trunk is very tall and straight. 

Clue: The flowers are beautiful orange and yellow.  The tree is in the magnolia family.

Clue: This picture and the next shows the way the seeds are grouped in the tree tops.

Figure it out yet?? Tuliptree! 

Lots to see and learn, even on walks in winter! 

Happy Winter! 

Go forth and explore! 

Hunter

Almost grown-ups in no time!

June 9, 2013

Chickadee Nestlings...

Chickadee Eggs...

Chickadee Nest...

Beautiful Skunk Cabbage

Leaves are starting to appear. 

Signs of Spring!

Skunk Cabbage

We Welcome You! 

Pretty Seeds

Leave your dead flowers and dried seeds all winter long!  They're beautiful, they provide shelter for wildlife, and they feed the birds!

Coneflower

Phlox

Bat

Bat flying in circles at the park at dusk.  

Out of the nine bats that are found in PA, the six smallest bats hibernate in caves over the winter including the most common Little Brown Bat and the endangered Indiana Bat.  The three larger sized bats migrate south (Eastern Red Bat, Hoary Bat, Silver-haired Bat).  

I wonder what this ones up to.

Bats of PA

November Morning

One of the first frosts.  (Nov 20)

Sweetgum still holding its leaves.

Can you ID those frosty leaves?

Guess that milkweed!

Can you tell which species of milkweed this is just by the seedpods?  

A. Butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa

B. Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

C. Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata

Coral Honeysuckle

Last remaining flowers dangling from the native Coral Honeysuckle vine.

Larval host plant for Snowberry Clearwing and Spring Azure.

Nectar source for hummingbirds and bumble bees.

Leaves fused at the base and evergreen.

The fruits have developed, but not yet been snatched up by birds.

Lonicera sempervirens Factsheet

Black Gum

Taste of fall...

Black Gum Info from Virginia Tech Tree Key

Seed Elegance

Goldenrod, Solidago

Native perennial with clusters of yellow flowers in late summer.
State flower of Alabama, Kentucky and Nebraska.
Scientific name, Solidago, means to make whole or heal.
Goldenrod has many medicinal uses as a tea including soothing a sore throat, treating urinary tract infections, and reducing allergies.
Contrary to popular belief, goldenrod does not trigger hay fever.  Its heavy pollen is carried by insect pollinators, not blown in the wind, like the real culprits, ragweed and many tree flowers.