Another nice day gave us a chance to tour the south woods. The highlight of this walk is usually the creek. This upstream view shows the remnants of the earthen dam that formed the mill pond used to cut the lumber that built Bill's house and others in the neighborhood in the early 19th century. Wideboard American Chestnut was used for siding. I've watched this area mature for thirty years. What used to be primarily huge white pines is now giving way to maple and oak. Still it's hard to imagine how the three foot diameter Chestnuts must have looked. Or how someone decided "I think I'll pile up this dirt to build a mill and cut these chestnuts (with an axe) and build a house.
Here's a poplar that's surviving insect infestations and the resulting Woodpecker work. When I see woodpecker holes like this, I always hope they're providing Chickadee nests. I've never noticed holes healing over like the bottom one in this picture.
Finally, on the home front, these fall crocuses are blooming. Here's a bumble bee scrounging for a last taste of nectar.
3 comments:
I never knew there was such a thing as a fall crocus. Is this actually a different variety than spring ones?
Seems as if this time of year is bringing out all the different types of birds at once. Today I saw a downy woodpecker at my suet feeder, sparrows at my regular seed feeder, a nuthatch at the sunflowers and a chickadee at the thistle, all at their different preferred posts at exactly the same time. Talk about having particular tastes!
Yes, there are several species of Crocus that bloom in the fall including the famous Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus. The one in my picture is Crocus speciosus. The leaves come up in the spring and leave you wondering, "What the heck is that?" If you don't mistake it for grass and pull it out, it will disappear on it's own in a couple of weeks. Then in October come these lovely little flowers.
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