CALICO ASTER

Saturday's hike brought us to the woods edge where we encountered Calico Aster wild flower. The above photo shows them growing along the ground and close ups below.

Song of Solomon 2:12

"The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land."

Persimmon Fruit

These fruit are Persimmon. They taste good when ripe. But really bitter before.

Isaiah 16:9

"Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away."

Blue Jay

On our hike Friday there were a lot of Blue Jays flying back and forth. This one landed on top of this tree about 75 yards away. I got the photo with my  Canon EF 75-300 4.5 - 5.6 III zoom lens. I under exposed it 2/3 of a stop. Setting it on Aperture priority.   

Canon EOS Rebel T3

f/8 1/800 ISO-100 300mm -0.7 step

John 1:3 "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

Hebrews 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Tree Stem Butt Rot

Here are 2 healthy trees that I will watch to see if the exposed parts of the stems of these trees will cause them to be in distress. Currently there seems to be no problems at all.

This Bitternut Hickory seems to have some butt rot in the base of the tree. 

Here the E. Cottonwood tree seems to have grown together at the base and further up the stem of the tree. Why was there a gap in the middle? Why did the tree wait to grow together further up the stem?

This tree does not seem to have the problem the Bitternut Hickory has. There is not as much decay happening with this tree.

Slippery Elm

Shingle Oak Remeasured

Photos taken the 26th of May 2014.



Shooting up the bole of this tree you can see the scars of old branches that grew in the past.



Photo of the tree in October 2010

 2014 Measurements
height 87'
 canopy 66' 56'
Circumference 101.25"
Total points of 203.5

 Oct 7 2010 measurement:
 height 83'
Canopy 63' one way and 67' the other
Circumference 95.5
Total points of 194.6

Height increased 5% Circumference increase 6% in 3 1/2 growing seasons.

There is a E Cottonwood tree encroaching from the left side of the photo. Notice the Shingle oak top growth is growing away from that tree.

Psalm 97:6 "The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.

Sumac

Purple Martin

These Purple Martin houses are set up by the Missouri River.



This was fun to shoot. This bird is bring food to her youngsters. Photos taken the 20th of July.

Chuck's Purple Martin Page has some great info.

Also look at the Purple Martin Assn.

Grass Contrast

Contrast of grass between August and March.

The August photo was taken a day after a 3" rain.

Conk Growth on Dead Log

1. 
   

Black Cherry

When I came upon this tree I noticed the black cherries. Yet many times these are not there. There also is other ID's of this tree that help you.

The wood of Black cherry is second only to Black walnut in value of furniture or paneling.  The problem of Black cherry as you can see by this tree there are not many large trees that have commercial value. Because of this it would be hard to sell these trees.

The bark I photographed here was not prevalent on the whole tree. I found this one spot that had the ID of horizontal lenticles that are characteristic of this species.

Artichoke 'Green Globe'

Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies butterfly. This butterfly flew by for our viewing.

Honey Locust Seed Pods

CHINESE ELM Ulmus parvifolia

I have been coming to this park for years. And have walked down this way as I have looked at trees. But I forgot of these trees planted in these 2 rows as you see here. 

I sat down here and took this photo. They are at an angle to the park boundary and the access road to the parking lot. So at a glance they seem to be just some trees planted in the park.

The trees are old now, but in years past was this area used for ceremonies such as weddings or photos? I can envision wedding photos or year book pictures taken here. People may still come to celebrate life here with photos.

As the name implies, these trees are not native to the US. It grows naturally in China, Viet Nam, Japan and Korea.


The fragrance of Chinese elm is unlike other elms, it seems peppery or spicy. The finish of the wood for furniture turns out well with less work than most woods.

Click on the link at the bottom of this post to see the 2010 post I did of these trees from the other end.

Bald Cypress Cones

Walnuts

Blue-winged Teal

Got this shot of Blue Winged Teal in June.

White Oak with Acorn

American Coot

These coot run along the water to start flying. After they get airborne they can fly well.

These birds are seen in the water like ducks.

Voice slow low pitched slow grrrr, grrrr, or grrrt or katoot katoot.

When I hunted ducks, I never shot these. I guess they weren't good eating.