Shingle Oak bud and White Ash Bud

Here is a photo of Shingle oak leader bud. Notice that they are grouped at the tip. This is typical of oaks.

Here are some photos of White Ash. Notice the year end color change.

Tentrils of Greenbriar

Here is a photo of tentrils of Bristle greenbriar. Though this might not be Bristle but Hellfeter greenbriar, because it wasn't bristly in the upper part of the vine.

Angled stem of Eastern Cottonwood

Eastern cottonwood has interesting ribbed (angled) stems. I saw
these trees growing in a flat area by power lines. This area
had to be scarified to install the power lines. The buds are
red and lay flat against the stem.

The stems have grown tall in just a few years. Cottonwood is one of the fastest growing trees

Bristly Greenbrier

Photo of Bristly greenbrier (Smilax hispida)
It climbs up other plants by tendrils. A tendril is a filifom spiral shoot that winds around anther body.

This plant does not have ornamental value but could be used as a break. You don't want to touch it without gloves.

Looking on the internet I could not find a photo of it in the wild. There is a lot of it in Missouri.

Tree Lesson

Trees are the largest plant, live a long time, have one main trunk, massive root system and extend their branches over a broad area. Trees grow in most areas except in the extreme cold or dry climate. Usually trees will grow higher than 20’.


Roots of trees are the part of the tree that grows in the dirt. They provide support, gather water and nutrients.

Tree trunk, (bole, stem) is the part of the tree supported by the roots. The trunk supports the branches.

The tree branches are supported by the trunk. the branches support the twigs which support the leaves.

Ginkgo leaf

Ginkgo leaf

Thanksgiving ride

I rode my bicycle to this pond to watch early Thanksgiving morning. I spooked up some ducks when I arrived.

Box elder maple

Box elder bud and twig.


Notice that Box elder maple has green twigs.


Here is the bark of Box elder


Here is a Box elder maple twig.

Shagbark hickory bud

Here is a Shagbark hickory bud. the loose scales are easy to spot.

Pin Oak

The Pin oak leaf has narrow lobes.


Here you can see that Pin oaks have smooth bark.

They are planted a lot as ornamentals.

Crows

I was watching a field of crows eating at Blue Valley park. Guard crows were in the trees circling the group. Most would continue walking across the grass searching for food. A few would fly over to the trees to the east. Then a few would fly back to the grass to eat.

There were more than 1000 of them.

When they were flying over to the trees they would have the tips of their wings pointed up. When they would land going west the tips were aligned with the wing.

This would go on for about 10 minutes. When I had pulled up with my truck and stopped. The crows gave me space but weren’t bothered.

Then all of a sudden all the crows were flying except 1 section of them. And it wasn’t 10 seconds before that group were on the move also.

I thought someone must be walking across the park or a couple of stray dogs were coming this way. Then I saw a red tailed hawk land in a tree to the north. The red tail shown in the sunlight.

All the crows are gone and 1 Red tailed hawk was sitting in the tree. Later another Red tailed hawk flew over and both of them flew off together.

Some of the crows might of gone to the Blue river bottoms to the east. A few crows
moved back into the trees to my east. But moved away quickly.

White Oak 234 Points

Here is a White oak tree.
I measured the circumference at141".
Height at 75'
Canopy at 73'
Total points = 234

This tree is in Hidden valley park. On the southeast side at a motorcycle rally area.

It will be interesting if I can find this tree and others I have been measuring in the summer. The photo would look completely different.

Bur Oak 241 Points

My wife (Jill)and I went hiking Saturday and we say this big Bur oak. I went back and measured it Sunday morning.
Circumference = 156"
Height = 63 '
Canopy = 88'
Total points = 241

White Oak leaves on ground

One can sometimes tell the type of tree nearby according to the preponderance of leaves on the ground.

White oak is distinct from other oaks by the narrow smooth lobes. The bark also has more of a whitish color to it.

The tree attains to a dominate position in the forest. Meaning it will be taller and thicker than the other trees in the forest around it.

Creek bank root system exposed

The creek has exposed the root system.

Buck brush in understory

Here is a photo showing preponderance of Buck Brush in the understory. They are the last plant to lose its leaves this fall.

Here is the Osage Orange tree with the bumper crop of Hedge apples.

Fall Colors Penguin Park

Pawpaws and Bitternut hickory in the rain

I hiked in the rain Saturday. I did not make it to the glade. That will have to be another day. The trail along a power line and will be good for more exploration especially on a bicycle. What was neat about the hike I thought there would be a creek with a lot of water flowing by the sound. But it was just the rain hitting the leaves.

The trail wound around a draw and followed the power line for a while. I took a photo of some Pawpaw which are a beautiful understory tree in the fall. The orange tree behind the Pawpaw was a Bitternut hickory.

On the way back I forgot the trail looped around the draw and became disoriented. But Molly my dog knew the way.

Hiking in the rain brings a different element to the hike. Instead of hearing you footsteps you hear rain pattering against the leaves.

Glades

A natural piece of land in the middle of a forest that has few or no trees. This would happen mainly due to rocks with little soil for tree growth. Hence a glade instead of a forest. Because of the lack of soil the glade holds little water for plant growth. Hence the desert types of plants that grow there.

Eastern Red cedars will grow in this area. The tree cover will allow water to be caught and this changes plant adaptation to the area.

To restore a glade the cedars need to be cut and allowed to dry for at least 1 year. Then a prescribed burn is done to rid the ground of invading plants that are not adaptive to a glade environment. The fire also prepares the ground for glade type plants to grow.

I know of a glade type area in Hodge park. Looking through the photos to find a picture of it I was not successful. So I thought I would go back out there and find it and take a photo. It is not large enough to be classified as a glade.

Some of this information was found from this article.
Glade

Sandbar Willow

Hiking in La Benite park I came across some Sandbar willow (Salix exigua). It is
characterized by long extremely narrow leaves.

Willow has a soft look to it because of the narrow leaves.

This reminds me of the gentleness of the Lord. It leads us to repentance.

Ephesians 4:2
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

Tuesday October 3rd Watkins Mill MO State Park

I go to the lake shore near sunset. 3 ducks flew over. A Great blue heron landed in a dead tree to the west. A turkey vulture landed behind me and is rustling his feathers.

Clouds are orange. Air plane exhaust streaks can be seen going in 4 different directions. A train whistle can be heard in the distance.

The lake is still in the cove where I'm sitting. Out in the main body of water I can tell there is a little breeze. The tops of the trees are moving a little but now they are still.(Yes there was close to a full moon.)

A fish splashes about 30' to my right. The bat I saw last week is out catching bugs as it flies 20' in the air just off the lake shore.

Now the orange is off the sky and its blue gray. Clouds are in the western ½ of the sky.

A couple of fish splash in the water 3 or 4 birds chip, chip can be heard. A cow moos twice.

10 geese honk as they come in and splash land 100 yards in front of me.

The Great blue heron continues to watch from his perch on the dead tree. The turkey vulture continues to ruffle his feathers behind me.

A lot of fish are hitting the water now. It is getting hard to see to write.

The bat is still working the sky at about 20'.

The heron stretches his neck out and makes 4 deep guttural calls.

The night bugs are sounding in force. I can't see the lines on my paper. So I head back to my camp.

Wednesday morning 4 October Watkins Mill MO state park

7 small ducks on water. I can't see any ID marks. The gull I have been seeing has black wing tips. So it puts it to the ring billed gull or the herring gull.

I saw another Turkey vulture convention. They gather in the early morning and fly around in a mob for a short time then disperse to their areas.

I think of Colossians 1 in the Bible. It talks about all power if that wasn't enough it is according to God's glorious might. Which is unlimited. God has promised us so much. We need to acquire it by the prayer of faith. Just as there is so much to learn of nature and enjoy. God has so much for us. Go to Him, He wishes to lavish on us abundant life.

Honey locust leaves are 80% down. Last week it was just a few vines and sumac that had changed colors. Now there is a lot of color. What a difference a week makes. The Paw paws are bright yellow. They are a great tree for color. Honey locust leaves are raining down as I write.

Photo of Osage orange striking yellow green combination with an orange tree in the background. The background tree is a Pignut hickory. End buds less than 1/2” tight bark 5-7 leaflets. It is the best fall color tree I have seen today.

Vines Growing up Vines of Honey Locust

Honey Locust Gleditsia triacanthos alway seems to have vines growing up the trunk.

Honey locust thorns

Flowers

Hop hornbeam bark

Here is the bark of Hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)



Sometimes its shredy and sometimes its not. Small understory tree.

Muscle wood (Carpinus caroliniania) is also called Ironwood.

Proper Bird Watching Technique

Just joking. From here I saw 3 Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) I liked this spot a dominate Pignut hickory surrounded by Eastern Red ceader.

I measured the Pignut hickory (Carya glabra).
Circumference 6' 3" or 75 inches
Height 75'
Crown 51.5 feet
Total points 178 (Ht in feet + circuference in inches + crown diameter/4)

Here is what I saw looking up.



Later I was hiking along the lake edge and I came across this Bur oak also called overcup oak(Quercus lyrata).
Circumference 13' 3" 159"
53' high
76 feet crown diameter
Total points 231

Bumper Crop in Hedge Apples

Here is a photo of a bumper crop in Hedge Apples

Below is a close up. They seem to be yellower than normal.

The tree is in ano open field. There are many stems coming out of a stump. I want to take a picture of this tree in the winter.