Winter Reds

Freezing Rain in the Trees

Now, I realize that freezing rain is downright dangerous for driving… but it is SO GORGEOUS when it paints every needle and twig with icy crystals! Pictured here is a Pin Cherry (Prunus pennsylvatica), and an Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), two of my dearest Pennsylvania friends. [Again, remember you can always click pictures to enlarge for a better view].

Cold Sunrise at the Farm

The Moon is waning. Here in the Philadelphia area the coming New Moon in Sagittarius (December 9, 2007) heralds wind, cold, and (hopefully) snow. When I woke around 4am today the moon was still high with Venus, and by dawn it was eclipsed by passing wisps of cold, grey clouds.

(Note for star gazers: the Moon is nearly conjunct Venus; that means they're really close together in the sky from our perspective. Seriously, just make yourself get up early for five minutes, and soak in the beauty before sunrise.)

No one calls in the winter wind like the Eastern white pines along the western side of our cottage. Without their leaves, the oaks may groan and the walnuts may roar, but the Eastern white pines still kick up a clatter, their voice clearer in the winter without the deciduous trees to drown them out.

I encourage you to visit Cady May at Meanwhile, Back in the Holler and listen in on what the trees have to say in her neck of the woods. She's composed a timely video which is as much a documentary as it is a lovingly constructed work of art: Autumn in a Tennessee Holler.

Trees and Pumpkins

Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, the colors of autumn are in full swing. We are having a warm October, which means my garden is still ripening red tomatoes, and the pumpkins have their second wind: new flowers and fruits appear every day.

We’ve pulled about 30+ pumpkins off our plants this season. Early in September we began decorating around the farm with pumpkins: under trees, on doorsteps, atop and beneath fenceposts, and leaning against sheds. Our hope is that a handful of seeds survive the mid-winter raid by the squirrels, providing us with another year of pumpkins for next season.

These two are beneath the Eastern white pine next to the house – I’ll let you know next spring whether they manage to resprout!

Autumn is around the corner

The trees are preparing for the cold months. Last night we had temperatures in the 40’s (Farenheit), and I’m about to begin bringing in the potted houseplants and kitchen herbs. Summer has a few more breaths left here in Eastern Pennsylvania, but come next weekend we’ll be saying hello to the autumn. This gives me just enough time to sow some autumn veggies!

I intend to celebrate the Autumn Equinox with a tour of the changing leaves in my area – which of course is good news for Arboreality!

Frozen Pine Needles

Winter is still very much alive in this neck of the woods!

A Fresh Eye for the Trees

My folks gave me a new camera for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad!), and I am currently in the process of learning how to use it. Soon I will be sharing clearer and more detailed tree images for you. Just in time for the spring blooms, eh?

Shown in today's image, the bark of our Eastern white pine.

Visit from a Great Horned Owl

Last night--or rather--very early this morning, I had a visit from a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). It was sitting on the lower of the two horizontal branches in this image.

December was the first time I spotted the Great Horned Owl. It was watching me one night from up high in a Black walnut, and called out when I started to approach. According to an article at the PA Game Commission website, “[t]hese owls hoot to stake out territory and as part of the species' mating activity, which in Pennsylvania takes place in December or early January.”

This morning we had a full-view at tree-branch level from an upper window looking out on the Eastern white pine next to the house. Even better, we’d left all our outside lights on last night to watch the snow coming down, so we had a full-color, up-close-and-personal-view of an owl at eye level not two meters from our window. They don’t call it the “Great” Horned Owl for nothing – this is one HUGE, and beautiful owl!

Apparently, I inadvertently lured the owl here with the birdseed I’ve been setting out since the weather turned cold. I like to offer birdseed in winter for the dual benefit of feeding the birds through the cold months, and allowing me to see them all in their many colors from the window where I work.

Of course, the seed attracts more than birds. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and both Red (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and Gray (Sciurus carolinensis) squirrels also make their rounds, and I eagerly visit the window each morning just before dawn to see who is out munching.

About a week ago, I learned of a new visitor – a Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), (which I first mistook to be a very pretty rat).

The vole, like the birds, is taking advantage of my carefully selected feeding station. Not only is it near the window for me to see, but I have also placed a large piece of Silver maple deadfall (from a summer windstorm) beneath this tree. It’s near our woodpile, and the many naked branches and wood stacks provide protection to the birds from hawks and other predators (it’s important to offer protection when you decide to feed wildlife).

Fortunately, the owl is very patient. I watched for a half hour while the owl quietly observed the vole munching and skittering among the dead limbs on the ground. Eventually, I was drawn away from the window, but I secretly hope that the owl didn’t get its dinner this morning, so I might get the chance to see it again tonight!

I doubt I can get a picture for you without disturbing the owl, but I will try! In lieu of my own images to share...

Paul Beiser has some wonderful pictures of a Great Horned Owl at his website.

Also, over at Mike’s Birding and Digiscoping blog, you can see some serious owl-on-owl whoopass.

Laura's Birder Blog has a gallery of Great Horned Owl pictures from a nature center.

And at Birding in Maine, John and Sharon Briggs share their recent encounter with the Great Horned Owl.

First Snow Fall

With the exception of the occasional flurry, this is our first snow of the winter season, which started just minutes ago! I can’t believe that during my first year away from Seattle, that I would miss all the outstanding rain, wind, snow, and storm that they’ve been seeing this season. Harumph!

The tree in the background of this image is one of the big Eastern white pines next to our home. C’mon snow! Let's see some accumulation!

Festival of the Trees 7 is now online at The Voltage Gate

Happy New Year everyone! Jeremy of The Voltage Gate is kicking our new year off right with the Festival of the Trees 7. Stop in to enjoy blog posts and pictures about trees and forests, including discussions on Christmas, Environment, News, Science, Humor, and of course – Photos!

Did you miss this month’s festival? Not to worry! The Festival of the Trees runs on the first of every month. Next month’s Festival of the Trees 8 will be hosted by Gingko Dreams. Submissions can be sent to kelly [at] gingkodreams [dot] com. Deadline for submissions is January 29th.

If you would like to host the Festival of the Trees, be sure to check out the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn more. It’s fun, easy, and a great way to get first pick of some of the greatest tree and forest posts around the blogging world.

Oh yes - and I’ve been meaning to point out a new link in the Arboreality sidebar… For those blog carnival fanatics out there (who also enjoy reading and/or blogging about ecology), there’s a new carnival on the block called Oekologie. Check out the coordinating blog for more details.

Maples, Moon, Mulberries, and Mysteries

Good morning! Here are some of the dawn’s catch, including our waning moon framed by a silver maple (we’ll investigate the silver maple more closely in a separate post).

The second image is what I believe to be another variety of mulberry (so far I believe that there are at least two if not three or more types of mulberry trees growing around here). Based on the leaves, I believe this to be a white mulberry.

The third image is of the type of mulberry growing next to the cottage. This might ALSO be called a white mulberry, or possibly a red mulberry. I’m going to have to do some research to help learn the difference between them.

I’m still planning to show you more about the really great mulberries growing by the cottage. We’re also still working on the unidentified-possible-mulberry-possible-something-else tree (which might even be a quaking aspen) from a couple weeks ago. Zut alors! So many trees, so little time!

Also, remember the mystery tree from January that turned out to be an Eastern white pine? Not to be out done, the evergreens are in blossom as well which you can tell of the Eastern white pine seen in image four, and the oriental spruce Christmas tree I planted in January seen in image five.

Finally, we’re still working on the identity of the mystery tree seen in the final image. I wanted to share another update on its progress – it’s really filling out nicely!

Hmmm… so much for focusing more on my work and less on my tree blog!

Arbor Day Tree Blogging

Around the world, people celebrate Arbor Day at different times, but the purpose is always the same: to celebrate the trees.

In my new home state of Pennsylvania, Arbor Day is celebrated on the last day of every April. If you are interested in learning more about Arbor Day, it’s history, and the many dates upon which different countries and states celebrate this special day, you can visit The National Arbor Day Foundation online.

What better excuse than Arbor Day to share a large selection from the plethora of trees that I have gathered for you at Arboreality?

I offer you these tree images in celebration of Arbor Day, and wish you all a wonderful, leafy-green, Happy Tree and Forest Day!

Brachiation

The other day, UltimateWriter commented on the prospect of climbing these trees… I continue to look up wistfully into the branches, but have yet to venture into the above.

In these images you can see some ideal seating in the lower branches, and have a better view of what I’ve been talking about with the divergence from the primary trunk into several stout, parallel branch/trunks.

The bottom image shows one of the largest branches to be cast off in the last big windstorm. This behavior has influenced my theory that this tree is somehow naturally inclined to grow in such a non-uniform manner. There is evidence of previous similar breaks along the tree, as well as places where limbs were sawed off to prevent them from encroaching on the cottage.

Around the area I’ve investigated several other trees of apparently the same species and roughly the same age. While they all show evidence of this same type of divergence in their structure, few show as many different branch/trunks as this one!

Of needles and cones

We’re still investigating our first mystery tree in Pennsylvania, which is a species of evergreen growing just outside my cottage. Unlike other evergreens I've known, this one has some unique growth habits which we will revisit in a day or two.

By my best educated guess, what we have here is an Eastern White Pine. However, until that is confirmed, we’ll just keep looking and hypothesizing.

In these images we see the needles and cones of our specimen. I’ve placed them in front of my hand so that you can see them better with the contrast from the background, and so that you have a sense of size.

I’ve also included an image of the leaf litter… there are so many beautiful things to see on the ground, and in this image we have the benefit of golden sunset light!

Feeling lyrical...

Oh mystery tree,
big evergreen
what do you think
when you look at me?

I hear you singing
all night long;
wonder at your
whispering song.

Upon your branches
birds alight,
they emerge from rain
to dance for their food,

while you, sweet mystery
stand on with pride
extending your fingers
long and green.

Outside my window,
the squirrels nitter
looking in at me
with deep perplexion;

they ask, ‘why do you
hide in there,
with a great loving tree
so cozy out here?’

© 2006 JLB

Mystery Evergreen Tree Trunk

In this image you can see the divergence from the primary trunk near its base. It’s really quite amazing… I’m considering unscrewing the screens from the upstairs windows so I can take a few pictures from that perspective and show you just how awesome this tree looks out the window while I work.

One of the great benefits of having these trees by the house is their marvelous attractiveness for birds. The best is on rainy days, when suddenly a short rain break hits… out rush all sorts of birds, and many of them gravitate to these trees, giving me a close-up view of their marvelous colors and markings!

I'm still inclined to think that this is some type of White pine... but that's still an educated guess. The DCNR describes the Eastern White Pine with some of my trees' characteristics, but does not discuss their over-all growth habit. Clearly more research is in order.

Mystery Evergreen Tree

Good morning and happy Monday everyone!

As promised, this week we’ll be looking at an as-yet-unknown evergreen tree. There are actually a few of them around me, but we’ll investigate a couple in particular which you can see alongside my cottage in the Friday, January 27, 2006 entry. These evergreens, while appearing to me to be some type of pine (based on needles and cones), are unique in their overall growth pattern from other evergreens I know.

What I know
In my experience, most evergreens grow in some sort of conical, tapering pattern. There is typically a single trunk (unless there was a split somewhere in the tree’s history, which sometimes results in two main trunks). From this single trunk one usually sees branches of progressively younger generations as one heads towards the crown, resulting in the standard conical shape. Deviations from this shape often include bent tops, disproportionate sides, or the die-back of lower branches leaving most of the greenery near the top of the tree. Western red cedars also appear to have multiple trunks on occasion.

What I see
The evergreen trees beside my cottage are completely different. There appears to be one primary trunk at the ground level which diverges around 1.5 meters from the ground. At that point it becomes several branching trunks, all of which curve up vertically to parallel what appears to be the original trunk. The branches do not follow the standard pattern with which I am familiar, but rather appear to break off and resprout much like you might see in a Big-leaf maple tree.

At first, I thought this was the result of some strange pruning… but after this last windstorm, I’m rather convinced that it is the natural growth habit for this species. Why? Because during the storm, the tree cast numerous branches, some of them large, to the ground. I can clearly see where new branches are likely to resprout, continuing the somewhat random growth pattern seen in this image. I can also see that what originally appeared to be a major hack job on behalf of the gardener is in fact more likely to be the natural loss of branches in previous years.

As seen in last Friday’s entry, the over-all outer shape of the tree is indeed semi-conical and somewhat tapering… but when you look up their skirts, there is an entirely different story in these trees.

Are these trees simply some type of White pine with a rather unique history, or are they an entirely different species? Conjecture is welcome, as are questions.

Happy New Moon, Happy New Year!

Here you can glimpse a bit of the shadow I mentioned of the mystery tree, and one of its branches in the foreground. Beyond it you can see the Christmas tree, and a corner of our cottage.

Next week we’ll be exploring the large evergreens you can see next to my home. They grow in a way unlike any other evergreen I’ve encountered before, as you too will see when we visit them from many different angles.

This Sunday January 29th we’ll experience the first new moon of 2006 in Aquarius, which also marks the new year for many cultures. Best wishes and fresh starts to you all!