American Sycamore Seed Ball

Here is a close up of an American Sycamore seed ball.

Genesis 1:11 "Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so."

Lilies

Psalm 104:24
"O Lord, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions."

Eastern White Pine Cones

Scotch Pine

I am not the best on IDing pines but this seems to be a Scotch Pine that we saw in this park park in June 2015. The pine cone and two pine needles per bundle match up with Scotch pine.

Moon

Psalm 148:3 "Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!"

Shot taken 6:50 AM June 10th 2015

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly

Psalm 104:24,25 "O Lord, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions.
25 There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great."

Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly

2 Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Forest Canopy

Yellow Wildflower

Lotus corniculatus L.

Walking along a trail I found these small flowers growing in the grass. This blow up I accomplished with an extension tube. 48mm f/7.1 1/640 sec. ISO 200 -0.7  step

Grass Seeds

Eastern Meadow Lark

Saw this bird while hiking behind a ball field.

Mocking Bird

I saw this bird as I was checking the Missouri river for flood height.

Remeasure Eastern Cotton Wood Tree

June 1st 2015

Circumference 9' 8 7/8"

Height 108'

Canopy 61' and 73'

Total points 241

The decrease in height is due to the problem of looking through other branches that are not part of the tree I was measuring. The circumference increased 7/8"

June 14th 2014

Circumference 9' 8"

Height 115.8 '

Canopy 67' and 71'

Total Points 249

June 14, 2014 photo

Wandering Black Locust

When I took the first photo I thought the stem crossing the trail was a vine. But when I arrived closer I noticed that this was not a vine but a Black Locust tree that was searching for light.

There were stems growing vertically off of the horizontal stem.

Quality of Light

There is something about a forest that is clear below. One of the things this means is light is not getting through the upper canopy to allow for tall shrubs and trees to grow below. This would signafy that all the light is being captured. But that is not ture because if it was ture I would not be able to see into these woods. This then brings up the question of the quality of light. Can light be used up and the residual light we see not be useful for much plant growth?

This brings to mind the Scripture Jesus talks of light being dark. 

Matthew 6:23 ""But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"

Let the light of Jesus shine within you.

Blackberry Flowers

Hiking in a park we came across these Blackberry Flowers. We will be back to reap the fruit in July.

Western Kingbird

I saw this bird along with a few others chirping in some trees. I had to walk a ways to get a clear shot.

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS

1/500 sec.

ISO 100

-1 step

f/7.1

42 mm

Slippery Elm

Not being familiar with this tree I was watching when the leaves came out to ID the tree. It is a Slippery Elm. One of the characteristics of this tree is the vertical  lines within the bark. American elm  does not have this. Am elm bark is blotchy in color. 

The buds were round and not angled and oblong like Am elm.

Oak Savannah

Oak Savannah is being created by cutting out the undergrowth. These woods are more park like and attractive to look at in the summer. The photo below is adjacent to these woods and shows how the forest looks without management.

Fallen Log

Here is a fallen log across the trail I was hiking on at the Oak Savannah woods. I enjoyed just sitting there and listening to the birds sing and the other woods noises. It was restful and provided one of the reasons I go into the woods often. I enjoy waiting in the woods for what can be observed. This does not happen if I'm in a hurry. Learning happens as I wait.

It is the same with the Lord Jesus. Hurry does not provide much benefit. It is as I wait on the Lord quietly that I gain peace and understanding with the things of God and life.