Snag

Here is another snag I found not far from the one I posted on Dec 2nd. I used the term den trees which is a live tree that wildlife uses for nests etc. The proper term is snag when the tree is dead.

Woodpeckers are the first to use the snag to hollow out a cavity for nesting. Later other birds such as chickadees, blue birds, kestrels and screech owls will use these holes.

There is a Missouri Conservation pamphlet on this which recommends 7 den trees per acre. I would use 7 trees as a max. Another article recommended 2 to 3 den trees an acre. But it's obvious, that if wildlife is a priority, protecting den trees and snags will help.


Psalm 43:3
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places.

Crows

I saw a bunch of crows on my lunch hike today. These fellows seemed to be enjoying themselves.


Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Den Tree

Here is a great example of a den tree. It seems to have holes pounded out of it by woodpeckers. I think this is an old ash tree because of the tight fissured bark typical of Ash trees.


Psalm 33:14
From His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

Shade Tolerant Forest

Earlier I posted about a Shumard oak falling. The trees around this dominate tree were leaning away to reach for available light. Notice how these trees are leaning away from where the Shumard oak stood. There now is a hole in the canopy which will be occupied by another tree.

Here is the next generation tree that I think will replace the fallen Shumard oak. It stands just to this side of the fallen oak. Oaks usually don't replace themselves. A more shade tolerant tree such as this maple usually come up underneath the oaks.

Oaks are able to dominate the forest if there is a disturbance such as a fire. Indians used to burn the forest before Europeans settled here. We are now coming to accept the need for fire to sustain an oak dominated forest. As development spreads the feasibility of prescribed burns becomes less because of the risk of burning houses etc.

These woods which are within the city limits will never be burned so they will convert to a forest of trees that are more shade tolerant.


Psalm 119:41 "May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord,
Your salvation according to Your word,

Cardinal

Saw this Cardinal at my feeder Saturday



Luke 12:24 " "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!

Fallen Tree

I was driving by this area when I remembered there was an interesting tree but I didn't see it. So I got out to look for it.



I photographed this tree in March 2005.


But the tree was not to be seen. It is now on the ground.


Here are the photos I took this Monday morning. 26-Nov-07










Psalm 34:18 "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. "

Osage Orange Nov 27th Visit

Going back to my favorite Osage orange tree, here is 2 photos taken 27-Nov-07

Here is a link to the tree in the summer of 2006

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2010/475/1600/PA020009.jpg

Notice the multiple stems.

Job 1:10
" Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land."

Missouri State Forest Nursery Now Taking 2008 Orders

Missouri state forest nursery now taking 2008 orders.

A history of the nursery can be read here.

Different assortment of trees, wildlife cover bundle, nut tree bundle, quail cover bundle, pecan variety bundle, etc.

The order form can be accessed here.

Fallen Shumard Oak

Here is a photo of Shumard oak. I have not been able to tell the difference between this tree and Northern red oak, unless I can see the buds. Now that the tree is on the ground I ID it as a Shumard oak because of the straw colored buds.





Here you can see the weakness in the bole of the tree that more than likely weakened it which caused it to fall in a storm.

The tree being down made it easy to measure.
Circumference at 4 1/2 feet was 91"
The height was 74'
The canopy was 71' across 18 (for tree points you count 1/4 of canopy)
Total points 183

2 Samuel 3:38 "Then the king said to his servants, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?"

Split Tree

My guess is that one side or the other will break off and fall.


Mark 3:25 "If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand."

Red Headed Woodpecker

Saw this Redheaded woodpecker on my hike yesterday. The squirrel below chased the woodpecker away when he landed on the squirrel's tree.

This woodpecker made a lot of racket. You can hear its call here. But this recording does not do justice to the racket that the woodpecker I saw yesterday made.


Psalm 20:4,5 "May He grant you your heart's desire,
And fulfill all your counsel!
We will sing for joy over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners,
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions."

Clouds

Chinquapin Oak, Bur Oak, and Shagbark Hickory Comparrison

I hiked back into some woods I have not seen for a while for lunch. I knew there were some large trees at this one spot. I came across a couple of Bur oaks, Shagbark hickory, Chinquapin oak. There were some smaller Hackberries and American elms. I got some photos of the bark of the large trees and a few photos of leaves for comparison.

This first photo is showing the mature bark of a shag bark hickory. One interesting thing about Shagbark hickory bark is that bats like to sleep under the shag bark.

Here is the bark of young Shagbark hickory. Don't pay attention to the poison ivy vines. The bark is tightly fissured with flat smooth ridges.

this third photo shows the bark of Bur oak. This is a good contrast of a red oak bark with a white oak (group) bark. The white oak (group) has light gray scaly bark.


This photo shows the white bark of Chinquapin oak.





Of the 4 leaves on the log the one on the left is a Bur oak leaf and the third leaf from the left is a Chinquapin oak leaf. The leaf on the right is from the shagbark hickory. The second from the left is a leaf from American elm.

White Oak in Intermitant Stream

Photo taken 3-Nov-07


This White oak is in the intermittent stream. You don't usually find White oak in streams. This intermittent stream must not carry water for long.

White oak (Quercus alba) will become the dominate tree in the forest. It probably is called white oak because of the bark. The bark isn't white, but compared to the other barks in the forests it seems whiter.

Cross Timbers

Researching Post oak I came across this site called The Ancient Cross Timbers. The area is dominated by Post oak and upland forest savanna. Cross Timbers area runs from Southeastern Kansas to Central Texas.

Oklahoma Travel Net has a travel log showing what the area looks like for perspective vacationers.
The area is not suitable for normal farm crops. The low economic value has more likely allowed the area to be left for preservation today.

Here is a good site on Cross Timbers ecoregion .

Precarious Boulder

I ran across this boulder a year ago and neglected to post it on this blog. This photo is from the winter of 2006.

This is left from erosion. I don't see how it could have rolled down the hill and ended up in this position.

Red Maple / Acer Rubrum

Here is a Red maple I found a few weeks ago.


The leaves on this tree are not as deeply lobed as other maples.

Beaver Activity

On our walk today we came upon some beaver activity.


Wood chips on top of fallen leaves is indication of recent activity.


Here is a tree they have dropped.


Another tree girdled.


Looking for a beaver lodge did not bring any luck. We did not see any beaver runs either.


My wife pointed out some wild onion.


Not being used to a cold and cloudy hike it was good to get back and have some hot soup with the wild onions.

Post Oak / Quercus stellata

It's not often that I come across a Post oak. They are listed to be native where I live but I have not seen any for a long time. Yesterday I came across this one. It is a small tree with blocky bark. The leaves are unique in that the lobes form a distinctive cross.


The bark is listed as ashy gray and later in its life becoming blocky. This tree is on a hill which probably does not have good soil and therefore may be shallow before bedrock. My guess this tree is quite old thought it is less then 10" dia. You can see the scale by the leaf near the bowl of the tree.

End buds grouped at the end of the twig is typical for oaks.





Trees of Missouri lists the hairs on the under surface of the leaves as star shaped. I want to return to see those with a hand lens.

The tree is drought resistant and is also slow growing. But it will live up to 300 years or more. It may live where clay is below the surface of the soil about 20" which creates soggy soil in the spring and dry soil in the summer.

The wood is used for railroad ties, fence posts, general construction, firewood, and furniture.

Pawpaw / Asimina triloba

These yellow leaves are Papaws. These trees produce suckers coming up from roots, creating a thicket understory in many woods around where I live.